Cape Coast, Jan. 25, GNA – Professor Kobina Yankson, Chairman of the University of Cape Coast Anniversary Celebration Committee, has said the university would remain committed to the training of qualified teachers to meet the needs of the nation.
UCC Still committed to the training to people – Prof Yankson
Let us prevent non-Ghanaians from enlist on electoral roll-Gbedemah
Ho, Jan 25, GNA-Mr Kofi Tenasu Gbedemah, a Public Rights Worker, has called for more purposeful inter-agency efforts to prevent non-Ghanaians from registering as voters.
Atwima-Mponua appeals for more health professionals
Nyinahin (Ash), Jan 25, GNA – The Atwima-Mponua District Director of Health Service, Madam Elizabeth Danso Abentwi, has appealed for the posting of more health professionals to the area.She said inadequate midwives, community health nurses and medical assistants was a major challenge that needed to be tackled head-on to enhance health care delivery to the people.She also complained about the lack of residential accommodation and encroachment on lands belonging to health facilities by developers.This was at an annual review meeting held at Nyinahin to assess performance during the past year and discuss ways of improving performance.Madam Danso Abentwi said the district saw significant rise in the cases of malaria, diarrhoea, anaemia, intestinal worm infestation, ulcers and skin diseases at the Out-Patients Department (OPD).Available statistics showed malaria went up to 48,939 cases from the 2010 figure of 43,718.During the same period, patients who reported to the facilities with diarrhoea stood at 3,777 as against the previous year’s total of 2,360.Madam Danso Abentwi praised the health workers for their hard work, dedication and professionalism and said this should be sustained.GNA
NGOs on Health discuss strategies to achieve MDG goals
Wa, Jan. 25, GNA – The Coalition of Non Governmental Agencies (NGO) in Health in the Upper West Region is repositioning itself to become more relevant in health service delivery in the region.The coalition, with the collaboration of the International Medical Monitoring Committee a Danish NGO has started networking and pooling their resources to support the government to achieve the Millennium Development Goals (MDG) on Health which relates to maternal and child health.Members of the Coalition are currently brainstorming to find ways of strengthening public-private collaboration for improved sexual and reproductive health service in the Upper West Region at a four-day workshop in Wa.Mr. Osman Kanton, regional chairman of the Coalition, told the participants to build their capacities in their areas of work and improve upon the credibility of their organizations in order to remain relevant.He noted that the country was not doing well in maternal and child health and therefore achieving MDG Four and Five was therefore a task which called for the support of everyone including Civil Society Organizations (CSO) Alhaji Issaku Saliah, the Upper West regional Minister, called for a new outlook to health care delivery in the region so as to achieve the MDG four and five.GNA
NDC demonstrates to compel NPP to cooperate with EOCO
Accra, Jan. 24, GNA – The Concerned Members of National Democratic Congress on Tuesday embarked on a demonstration to ask government to compel the Cabinet of 2005 and 2006 to cooperate with Economic and Organised Crimes Office (EOCO) to scrutinize the Woyome judgement debt saga.
NLA to ensure that revenue is not compromised
Accra, Jan.24, GNA – The National Lottery Authority (NLA) on Tuesday said it would continue to work assiduously to ensure that the security of its generated revenue was not compromised and ceded to institutions or persons.
16 Burnt To Ashes
The burnt bus with the trapped passengers
A TECHIMAN-bound commercial Ford bus and a Daewoo taxi heading towards Berekum in the Brong Ahafo Region yesterday collided, resulting in the death of 16 people including a baby boy on the spot.
All the passengers on the Ford were burnt beyond recognition, except one person who was occupying the front passenger’s seat who managed to escape.
Two other people in the taxi were also burnt, according to an eyewitness.
The Ford passengers were trapped as the door was automatically locked following the head-on collision.
The taxi driver was also trapped by his seat-belt.
The accident occurred around 3pm when the two drivers were travelling on a section of the road which had been engulfed in thick smoke due to bush fires.
According to Kwadwo Nimo, an eyewitness, he had alighted from the Daewoo taxi cab before the accident occurred.
He said soon after getting off at the Kwagyasco farms junction where there was a raging bushfire, he saw the taxi taking off but it soon crashed into the oncoming Ford due to poor visibility in the thickly wafting smoke.
Nimo said following the collision, the taxi veered off the road and fell into the nearby fire and caught fire instantly as it was filled with gas.
Two passengers on board the taxi escaped while one was able to escape from the Ford.
He stated that by the time the Fire Service vehicle got to the scene, the two vehicles and the 16 people were burnt beyond recognition.
Most of the horrified drivers who arrived at the scene attributed the tragedy to the rampant bushfire in the area.
As at the time of filing this story, the police were collecting the remains of the victims to be deposited at the Sunyani Regional Hospital morgue.
The police personnel on the ground were not ready to talk as they said they needed permission from their superiors.
From Vivianna Mensah, Anyakamaso
Atomic Workers Freed
The freed Atomic Energy security men at the Cocoa Affairs Court yesterday
The over 30 security and senior officers of the Atomic Energy Commission who were grabbed by the police for allegedly setting a sales point belonging to a Chinese investor at Dome-Kwabenya on fire, were yesterday given a hero’s welcome to the 28th February Road Courts as their colleague workers cheered them when they arrived in pick-up vehicles.
The workers, who arrived at the court in their hundreds in anticipation that their arrested colleagues would be brought to court for trial, were pleasantly surprised as the suspects were transported from police custody and let off the hook at the court. They sang and chanted, calling the security men and their boss, Felix Adeku, and one Major Samuel Kuleke heroes who had risked their lives to ensure that the right thing was done.
More workers who heard that their colleagues had been released without being tried rushed to the court to show solidarity, openly jubilating that the plans of the Chinese investor had come to naught.
All this while, some of the senior officers including the Director-General, Prof. Edward Akaho and Prof. Francis Allotey, a board member of the commission who were with the workers, said they were informed that the arrested workers would not be charged.
Prof. Akaho did not say much, except that they were waiting for the other workers as some of them were taken to other courts at Osu.
Prof. Allottey, in an interview with the media, urged the government to protect the commission from encroachers as failure to do so would taint the image of Ghana on the international scene.
He said the workers were threatened with guns so they had to defend themselves and ensure that the interest of the organization was protected.
Prof Edward Akaho at the court yesterdayAccording to him, the International Atomic Agency was holding a meeting on the development in Ghana and said the decision to prosecute the workers could affect the way the international community perceived Ghana.
He said the action by the commission was to protect lives and property in case of any eventuality, noting that the commission would not want to be held responsible for anything unpleasant happening to any citizen.
Explaining further, he stated that the land in question belonged to the commission.
It would be recalled that on Monday, Professor Edward E. Akaho, together with 35 other security and senior officers of the commission, were arrested by the police for allegedly setting ablaze a sales point office structure belonging to a Chinese investor at Dome-Kwabenya in Accra.
The office structure belonging to Anaiana International Company Limited, the Chinese company, was razed down by fire following an attack by the men in the early hours on Monday
The commission and the Chinese company are both laying claim to a 164-acre piece of land in the area.
According to the police information, the Atomic Energy Commission officials arrested included Professor Akaho, Major Samuel Kuleke, Chief Security, and Felix Adeku, Administrator.
A police source said the security officers attacked the company on the orders of Professor Akaho.
By Fidelia Achama
NDC Supports Woyome
Hajia Sharifatu
Some members of the National Democratic Congress (NDC) yesterday demonstrated in Accra in support of the embattled self-styled party financier, Alfred Agbesi Woyome, who has been paid GH¢58million without a contract with government.
The group paraded with similar typed placard messages through the streets of Accra, singing, “I will follow you, Woyome, you are the one I will forever follow.”
They demanded that some leading members of the New Patriotic Party (NPP) be compelled to cooperate with the Economic and Organised Crime Office (EOCO) which has been tasked by President Atta Mills to probe the Woyome scandal.
Prominent in the demonstration was Hajia Sherifatu, the lady who led a similar protest against National Security Coordinator, Larry Gbevlo-Lartey, last year, accusing him of doctoring security reports meant for the President.
The group which calls itself Concerned Members of the NDC failed to attract the large numbers it had expected for the demonstration.
They demanded that former President John Agyekum Kufuor, Nana Akufo-Addo, NPP flagberarer and Jake Obetsebi-Lamptey, NPP National Chairman, be hauled before EOCO to answer questions regarding their roles in the controversial Woyome judgment debt scandal.
Former Sports Minister Yaw Osafo Maafo and the then Chairman of the Local Organizing committee of CAN 2008, Dr. Kofi Amoah, have both declined EOCO’s invitation to assist in the President’s ordered probe into the case.
Mr. Osafo Maafo’s court action seeking an order to stop EOCO from compelling him to appear before it has been granted.
The demonstration started at about 10.30am at the Obra Spot, Kwame Nkrumah Circle and wound its way through Farisco, TUC and ending at the Hearts Park within one hour.
Some of the placards they bore read ‘EOCO, Arrest Them’, ‘NPP, You Can’t Dictate To Ghanaians,’ ‘NPP, You Can Run But You Can’t Hide,’ ‘Osafo Maafo, Runaway Man’ and ‘No Way For You Akufo-Addo.’
They presented a petition to a Presidential Staffer, Nii Lantey Vanderpuije.
“It is natural for the criminals in the NPP to quarrel over court judgments which implicate them. But it is not for criminals to determine how they should be investigated. The president must stamp his authority by bringing them to justice,” a portion of the petition read.
Paul Semey, a spokesperson for the group, did not spare organizations such as the National Media Commission, Ghana Bar Association, Ghana Trades’ Union Congress and the Ghana Pentecostal Council which he said had turned a blind eye to the NPP which was hiding behind the media in the face of huge crimes committed against the state.
The group called on Nana Akufo-Addo to resign as a presidential candidate until he purged himself of all the allegations of fraud which led to the huge judgment debt imposed on the state.
They also called on Justice I.O. Amadu, the judge who ruled in favour of Woyome on the infamous judgment debt issue, to stand firm despite vilifications following his ruling on the case.
Nii Lantey Vanderpuije received the petition on behalf of the president and promised the group that the government would act on their request.
In an interview with Africawatch magazine, Mr. Woyome justified the money paid to him by the state, claiming that he only received a little over GH¢51million.
He gave the breakdown of the payments he had so far received from the Controller and Accountant General as GH¢17, 094, 493. 50 on October 5, 2010, GH¢10million on February 11, 2011, another GH¢10million on April 20, 2011 and GH¢14, 188, 897.06 on October 4, 2011, a few days after the shocking reports of the judgement debt payments became an issue.
By Cephas Larbi
Woyome scandal stinks, it’s an albatross on our neck – Allotey Jacobs
Ben Allotey Jacobs
Central Regional Communication Director of the ruling National Democratic Congress (NDC), Bernard Allotey Jacobs, says the Woyome scandal is an albatross on the neck of government.
Describing the controversial payment of GHS58 million judgment debt to the NDC financier as stinking, Mr Jacobs admitted: “It has become an albatross on our neck as a party and as a government…”
He was, however, quick to assure Ghanaians that President John Evans Atta Mills is “resolute to unravel this mystery and axe will fall where it must fall.”
Allotey Jacobs was speaking on Peace FM’s current affairs programme Kokrokoo on Wednesday.
He pleaded with Ghanaians not to pay attention to attempts by opposition parties whom he said were trying hard to narrow down the scandal to the president.
Despite the difficulties, Allotey said it was better to entrust the country into Mills’ hand than that of Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo, leader of the main opposition party, New Patriotic Party (NPP).
He also called on all NDC members to take the wise counsel of Mr Sam Pee Yarley and stay clear of the case and allow the courts to determine Woyome’s innocence or otherwise.
