Iran ‘ready’ for nuke talks with the West

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President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad

President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad

President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad said last night that Iran was ready to sit down with world powers for talks on its nuclear program, as he brushed off the harmful effect of newly imposed sanctions.

“They have this excuse that Iran is dodging negotiations while it is not the case,” the Iranian leader was quoted as saying by state media.

“Why should we run away from the negotiations?”

Mr Ahmadinejad was implicitly responding to comments made by Western officials urging the Islamic republic to return to negotiations over its contested nuclear program.

EU foreign policy chief Catherine Ashton said the previous day that the union had invited Iran “to pick up the issues which were left on the table in Istanbul a year ago”.

The last round of talks between Iran and the major powers — Britain, China, France, Germany, Russia and the US — was held in Turkey last January, but they collapsed.

Mr Ahmadinejad also played down the effect of the newly imposed Western sanctions, saying they would not hurt his nation.

“Once our trade with Europe was around 90 per cent but now it has reached 10 per cent and we are not seeking this 10 per cent . . . Experience has shown the Iranian nation will not be hurt,” he said.

“For the past 30 years the Americans have not been buying oil from us. Our central bank has no relations with you.”

The EU this week slapped an embargo on Iranian oil exports to ramp up pressure over the country’s nuclear drive.

AFP

Libya: Deaths of detainees amid widespread torture

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Libya: Deaths of detainees amid widespread torture

LONDON, United-Kingdom, January 26, 2012/African Press Organization (APO)/ — Several detainees have died after being subjected to torture in Libya in recent weeks and months amid widespread torture and ill-treatment of suspected pro-al-Gaddafi fighters and loyalists, Amnesty International said today.

Amnesty International delegates in Libya have met detainees being held in and around Tripoli, Misrarah and Gheryan, who showed visible marks indicating torture inflicted in recent days and weeks. Their injuries included open wounds on the head, limbs, back and other parts of the body.

The torture is being carried out by officially recognized military and security entities as well by a multitude of armed militias operating outside any legal framework.

“After all the promises to get detention centres under control, it is horrifying to find that there has been no progress to stop the use of torture,” said Donatella Rovera, Amnesty International’s Senior Crisis Response Adviser, from Libya.

“We are not aware of any proper investigations into cases of torture, and neither the survivors or relatives of those who have died in detention have had any recourse to justice or redress for what they have suffered.”

“While many detainees have described their experiences of torture to us, some have proved too scared to speak – fearing harsher torture if they speak out – and just showed us their wounds.”

Detainees, both Libyan and foreign nationals from sub-Saharan African countries, told Amnesty International they had been suspended in contorted positions, beaten for hours with whips, cables, plastic hoses, metal chains and bars and wooden sticks, and given electric shocks with live wires and Taser-like electro-shock weapons.

The patterns of injury observed by the organization were consistent with their testimonies. Medical reports seen by Amnesty International also confirmed the use of torture on several detainees, a number of whom died in custody.

The majority of detainees being targeted are Libyans believed to have stayed loyal to Colonel al-Gaddafi during the recent conflict. Foreign nationals, mostly sub-Saharan Africans, also continue to be randomly detained, including in connection with their irregular legal status, and some are tortured.

The organization found that detainees were usually tortured immediately after being held by local armed militias and subsequently under interrogations, including in officially recognized detention centres. To date detainees have not been allowed access to lawyers. Several told Amnesty International they had confessed to crimes they had not committed just to end the torture.

In Misratah, detainees continue to be tortured in an interrogation centre run by the National Military Security (Amn al-Jaysh al-Watani) and in the headquarters of armed militias.

On 23 January, Amnesty International delegates interviewed detainees in Misratah who had been tortured only hours earlier. One man, still in detention, told the organization:

“This morning they took me for interrogation upstairs. Five men in plain clothes took turns beating and whipping me… They suspended me from the top of the door by my wrists for about an hour and kept beating me. They also kicked me.”

Another detainee told Amnesty International he was beaten on wounds which he had sustained the month before at the hands of the militia. He said:

“Yesterday they beat me with electric cable while my hands were cuffed behind my back and my feet were bound together. They threatened to send me back to the militia who captured me, who would kill me.”

Deaths in custody

Several detainees have died in the custody of armed militias in and around Tripoli and Misratah in circumstances that suggest torture.

Relatives of a former police officer and father of two from Tajura, east of Tripoli, told Amnesty International that he was detained by a local armed militia in October 2011 and they had been unable to obtain any information about his fate for about three weeks, until he was allowed to call his wife.

A few days later his family was informed by a hospital in Tripoli that his body had been brought in.

Images of the body seen by Amnesty International show extensive deep bruising all over the body and limbs, as well as open wounds on the soles of the feet apparently caused by falaqa (beating on the soles of the feet), a torture method frequently reported in Libya.

The most recent death in custody as a result of torture known to Amnesty International was’Ezzeddine al-Ghool, a 43-year-old army colonel and father of seven, who was detained by an armed militia based in Gheryan, 100 km south of Tripoli, on 14 January

His body was returned to the family the following day covered in bruises and wounds. Doctors confirmed that he had died as a result of the injuries he sustained. Several other men who were detained at the same time as him were also reportedly tortured. Eight of them sustained serious injuries which required hospital treatment.

Amnesty International said that it has received reports of other similar cases which it is investigating.

Lack of investigation

Despite repeated requests by Amnesty International since May 2011, the organization said that the Libyan transitional authorities – both at the national and local level – have failed to conduct effective investigations into cases of torture and suspicious deaths in custody.

The police and the judiciary remain dysfunctional across the country. Amnesty International said that while in some areas courts are reportedly processing civil cases, so-called “sensitive” cases related to security and political issues are not being addressed.

Instead a range of mostly unofficial bodies, with no status in law, including so-called “judicial committees”, have been carrying out interrogations in various detention centres, outside the control of the judiciary.

“So far there has been a complete failure on the part of those in power to take concrete steps to end torture and other ill-treatment of detainees and to hold accountable those responsible for such crimes”, said Donatella Rovera.

“We don’t underestimate the challenges faced by the Libyan transitional authorities in establishing control over the multitude of armed militias operating throughout the country, but we must see them taking decisive action on torture. In the interests of building a new Libya based on respect for human rights, this issue cannot be left at the bottom of the pile.”

Amnesty International called on the Libyan authorities to urgently:

•    Order the closure of all unofficial places of detention and establish mechanisms to bring all places of detention under the control of the authorities and to ensure effective oversight over detention procedures and practices;

•    Ensure that prompt investigations are carried out into all known or reported cases of torture and other ill-treatment, immediately remove suspected perpetrators from any functions dealing with detentions pending the outcome of the investigations; where there is sufficient admissible evidence, bring suspects to justice in fair trials and without the possibility of the death penalty;

•    Ensure that all detainees are allowed access to lawyers;

•    Ensure that detainees undergo regular medical examinations and that medical certificates describing any injuries possibly resulting from torture are provided to the detainees and to the judicial authorities.

Notes for editors

•    Subject to communications, Amnesty International delegates are available for interview from Libya in English, French, Spanish and Italian.

•    In October 2011 Amnesty International published Detention Abuses Staining the New Libya, a report into use of torture and ill-treatment in Libyan detention centres.

SOURCE 

Amnesty International

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Small Dutch city is hub for European khat sales

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A Somali man chews khat in Uithoorn, Netherlands (AFP, Koen van Weel)

UITHOORN, Netherlands — A small Dutch city less than 20 kilometres from Amsterdam’s Schiphol airport has become the hub of Europe’s sales of khat, a plant chewed for its stimulant qualities, soon to be banned in the Netherlands.

In a discreet warehouse tucked away in the city of Uithoorn, around a hundred Somalis and Yemenis were haggling over the latest delivery: a tonne of khat.

“The arrival of the delivery varies daily, depending on the flight from Kenya,” said a khat importer of the plant which drug authorities say produces a natural amphetamine when chewed.

“As soon as we know when, we pass the word by telephone and the buyers arrive at the right time,” said the Somali importer, speaking on condition of anonymity.

Three khat deliveries a day, weighing about a tonne each, are taken to Uithoorn by truck from Amsterdam-Schiphol airport, 15 kilometres (nine miles) to the northwest. From Uithoorn it is sold to wholesale dealers and then resold throughout Europe.

Kenyan farmer Isiah Ntonyi harvests khat leaves in Meru, northeast of Nairobi (AFP, Str)

But 15 of the European Union’s 27 states and Norway have already listed khat as an illegal narcotic and the Netherlands too announced earlier this month it would ban khat.

Local businesses have also complained about the commotion at the “khat market,” one of the reasons for the Dutch decision.

“Some days there may be more than 200 cars in the street,” sighed Uithoorn mayor Dagmar Oudhoorn.

Residents are tired, she said, adding “there is a real fear of crime and traffic problems.”

“Today it’s relatively calm, but there are days when things heat up a bit,” added one khat buyer, a Somali from Germany. “Three or four times a year, knives are even drawn, usually over unpaid debts,” he added.

Smiling khat buyers left as quickly as they arrived, carrying two or three cardboard boxes in their arms.

Each box contained about fifty bundles made up of 20 khat stems of 30 centimetres (12 inches) in length, wrapped in banana leaves.

“I came to buy about 300 bundles of khat which I am going to get to Norway tonight,” a 27-year-old Somali told AFP.

“I buy them here for 2.5 euros $3.3) a bundle and in Norway they are sold for 25 euros a bundle. Not a bad business, eh?” he said smiling, but like everybody else at the market, declining to give his name.

This buyer however is pressed for time. The khat needs to be consumed fresh, within 48-hours of being picked, he said.

Two-thirds of the khat at Uithoorn were exported illegally from the Netherlands, mainly to Scandinavia, the Somali importer told AFP.

The bundles will be sold mainly in khat houses where Somalis traditionally gather to chew it, while mulling over the latest news, including about friends and family back home in Africa.

Somali khat traders said they could not understand why the Dutch are banning khat.

“It’s ridiculous. They put I don’t know how many millions of euros in their pockets in import taxes,” the Somali importer said crossly.

“Chewing khat is one of our traditions. Why ban it?” said another buyer, angered by what he called a “lack of tolerance.”

But while some Somali khat buyers said they won’t break Dutch laws, others seemed unconcerned.

“You know, we always find a solution,” said one smiling buyer.

Copyright © 2012 AFP. All rights reserved

German Human Rights Commissioner congratulates Egypt on the anniversary of the revolution

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German Human Rights Commissioner congratulates Egypt on the anniversary of the revolution

BERLIN, Germany, January 26, 2012/African Press Organization (APO)/ — Exactly one year ago in Egypt, the revolution began that led, among other things, to Mubarak’s fall. The parliament met yesterday for the first time. Federal Government Human Rights Commissioner Markus Löning issued the following statement in Berlin today (25 January):

“I congratulate the people in Egypt on the first anniversary of the revolution. They took to the streets to demand dignity, human rights, and freedom. The Egyptian people have made great sacrifices to make democratic change possible. I am confident that the elected parliament will shape Egypt’s future according to the principles of human rights.

The Supreme Council of the Armed Forces’ announcement that the state of emergency would be lifted for the most part is a positive step. This must now be implemented unconditionally.

I am very pleased to see that 1955 prisoners condemned by military courts have been granted amnesty. I call on the Egyptian Government to promptly release the other 1433 people who have been condemned by military courts and to see to it that military courts are not permitted to try civilians in the future.

I am especially glad about the release of Maikel Nabil Sanad, on whose behalf the Federal Government and I myself have repeatedly been active.”

SOURCE 

Germany – Ministry of Foreign Affairs

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Louvre’s Da Vinci restoration ignites art world row

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The cleaning of Leonardo’s 500-year-old painting, The Virgin and Child With Saint Anne, has divided the Louvre’s advisory committee for its restoration. – AFP Photo

PARIS – Delicate work to restore a Leonardo Da Vinci masterpiece, to be unveiled in March, has turned into a headache for the Louvre, after experts accused the Paris museum of putting the precious oil work at risk.

Da Vinci began painting “The Virgin and Child with Saint Anne” in 1503 and when he died in France in 1519 the unfinished work, depicting Christ beside his mother and grandmother with a sacrificial lamb, was acquired by King Francis I.

Restoration carried out in the past century left the “Saint Anne” disfigured by stains, on the Virgin’s dress for instance, due to the ageing of a substance in the varnish and in 2010 the museum decided to restore the work once more.

The “Saint Anne” is to be unveiled to the public in March as the highlight of a major exhibition built around it.

But the project hit trouble last autumn as critics warned that cleaning could damage the masterpiece, and two experts have since resigned in protest from the advisory committee set up to oversee the work.

Both are art world heavyweights: Segolene Bergeon Langle, who left in December, is a French national heritage curator, while Jean-Pierre Cuzin who left in the autumn is former chief curator of the Louvre’s painting department.

A French arts journal first sounded the alarm in October with an article entitled “Leonard in danger”.

At stake was the type of solvent used to dissolve the yellow-brown coat of varnish covering the painting, deemed too harsh by critics who fear it could remove the actual paint.

Experts especially feared damage to the faces of Saint Anne and the Virgin Mary, and more broadly to the “sfumato” – layers of clear paint used by Da Vinci to produce smoky, softened contours, on this work as on the “Mona Lisa”.

Contacted by AFP last week, the curator Bergeon Langle said she left the advisory committee for several reasons.

“I deemed that the restoration was not being carried out in line with what I imagined was necessary for this Louvre painting. That is my firm belief.”– Louvre insists ‘Saint Anne’ is not at risk – One critical point was the question of whether to remove a white patch on the body of the baby Jesus.

The museum’s chosen restorer Cinzia Pasquali, who worked on the paintings of the Chateau de Versailles’ Hall of Mirrors, was convinced it was a patch of varnish, turned white by microscopic cracks, and wanted to remove it.

Bergeon Langle believed it may have been added by Da Vinci’s own hand – and was wary of any intervention.

Finally Vincent Pomarede, the head of the Louvre’s painting department, went ahead and green-lighted its removal after having it analysed.

“On that issue, we were in disagreement,” he told AFP. “But I have the laboratory results and they are conclusive. I was certain it was a cracked varnish, and you can see plainly from the final result that it is.”

”I have no regrets,” said Pomarede, who has insisted the Louvre is not putting the work at risk.

Last autumn the Louvre invited journalists to view the painting in the workshops of the French Museums’ Centre for Research and Restoration, the C2RMF, next to the Louvre, to defuse tensions.

In 1994, the Louvre had to abandon an earlier plan to restore the “Saint Anne”, over fears for its delicate “sfumato”.

At the time, explained Pomarede, the Louvre did not have the technical know-how to protect the work. Now, however, he said it was possible to measure the thickness of the varnish down to the last micron.

On the subjects’ fragile faces, for example, the restorer left an extra thickness of varnish: 16 to 17 microns, against 8 to 12 microns elsewere – and down from 30 to 35 microns previously.

Early this month the scientific committee met and handed down a “positive verdict on the thinning of the varnish and the removal in places of additional layers of paint,” said Pomarede.

“Two or three experts even wanted to go further” including removing secondary tree trunks that are thought to have been added in the 19th century,”said Pomarede – who ruled to keep the trunks as they are.

Since then the Louvre says tensions have simmered down with the dissenting experts.

Pasquali is putting the finishing touches to the work but this phase of the work is all reversible unlike removing varnish, and “should be a more serene period,” Pomarede said.

But Bergeon Langle, who was received by the head of the Louvre Henri Loyrette early this month and has another meeting planned with Pomarede, told AFP she still had “doubts” over the progress of the work.

“As a general rule, I prefer old works to be cleaned only very lightly. You can never retrieve the original colours, what you get instead is the current state of the painting materials. Leaving a slight veil over the work makes it more harmonious,” she explained.

AFP

4 Ministers Sacked In Cabinet Shake-up

Daily Guide Africa
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Fritz Baffour

President John Evans Atta Mills yesterday carried out his much-anticipated ministerial reshuffle, resulting in minor casualties.

Among those dropped are Information Minister John Akologo Tia, Health Minister Joseph Yieleh Chireh, Upper West Regional Minister, Issahaqu Salia and Deputy Volta Regional Minister Col. Cyril Neku (rtd).

Some other ministers and their deputies were reassigned to other ministries while some new faces were introduced. Sources say more ministers are on the firing line and that yesterday’s exercise was just a dress rehearsal.

Dr Benjamin Kunbuor, who was moved from the Interior Ministry to be the Minister of Justice and Attorney-General, is gradually becoming the most reshuffled minister in the Mills administration.

He replaces Martin Amidu who was sacked from his position by the President after threatening to expose a colleague minister and some members of the ruling National Democratic Congress (NDC) he claimed were concealing ‘gargantuan crimes against the people of Ghana.’

Though the President has already directed Dr Kunbuor to pursue the Woyome case to its logical conclusion, it is not too clear whether he would continue from where Amidu left off by demanding a refund of the amount of GH¢51million paid to the self-acclaimed NDC financier, Alfred Woyome as judgment debt.

Water Resources, Works and Housing Minister Alban Bagbin, has been moved to the Ministry of Health while Employment and Social Welfare Minister E.T Mensah goes to Water Resources, Works and Housing Ministry.

President Mills has appointed Nabdan MP, Moses Asaga, as Minister for Employment and Social Welfare and appointed former CID Director, William Aboah, as Minister for the Interior.

Ghana’s High Commissioner to South Africa, Lee Ocran returns home to take the position of Mrs Betty Mould-Iddrisu who resigned her position as Minister of Education a couple of days ago amid the Woyome scandal.

With the entry of Lee Ocran, the Western Region can now boast of a cabinet minister after George Sipa Yankey was shown the exit over the Mabey and Johnson bribery scandal.

Ace-comedian and Member of Parliament (MP) for Ablekuma South, Fritz Baffour, is taking over from John Tia as the third Information Minister in three years.

A group describing itself as ‘Concerned NDC Youth of Ablekuma South’ has already raised issues with Fritz’s appointment as a minister.

According to the group, the President seems to endorse him as his preferred choice for the impending Parliamentary primaries for the area after endorsing his candidature during a recent visit to the constituency.

The country’s ambassador to Egypt, Amin Amidu Sulemani, also returns home to serve as the Upper West Regional Minister whilst NDC kingpin, Said Sinare, who is of Egyptian parentage, goes to replace him as ambassador in the Arab nation.

He had earlier rejected an appointment as a board member of Ghana Post on the basis that he was not a post master.

MP for Garu/Timpane, Dominic Azembe Azumah, gets called up to be added to the numerous appointees serving as Ministers of State at the Presidency, with Mfantseman West MP Aquinas Tawiah Quansah leaving the Ministry of Local Government for the Central Region as a deputy to Ama Benyiwa Doe.

James Agyenim-Boateng returns to the Information Ministry from Tourism to be replaced by Baba Jamal who turned the Information Ministry into propaganda machinery for government. Dr Edward Omane Boama now heads for the Ministry of Youth and Sports as a Deputy Minister.

Henry Ametepey has been appointed the Deputy Volta Regional Minister whilst Dr Mustapha Ahmed replaces Dr Boamah as the Deputy Minister of Environment, Science and Technology, with Nii Nortey Dua now going to Water Resources, Works and Housing as a Deputy Minister.
Among the new faces are Steven Ackah and Isaac Vanderpuije, who are going to the Local Government Ministry and Greater Accra Region respectively as Deputy Ministers.
Some of these ministries have had not less than three ministers since President Mills assumed the reins of power.

These include the Ministry of Works and Housing; from Albert Abongo to Alban Bagbin and now E.T Mensah, Health; Health; from Sipa Yankey to Benjamin Kunbuor, Yieleh Chireh and now Alban Bagbin, Upper West; from Mahmud Khalid to Alhaji Issahaqu Salia and now Amidu Sulemana, Attorney-General; from Betty Mould-Iddrisu to Martin Amidu and now Benjamin Kunbuor, Education; from Alex Tettey-Enyo to Betty Mould-Iddrisu and now Lee Ocran whilst the Employment and Social Welfare Ministry has had Stephen Amanor Kwao who failed to retain his position as NDC Parliamentary candidate for Yilo Krobo,  E.T Mensah  and now Moses Asaga.

By Charles Takyi-Boadu

Atta Wayo Hits Accra

Daily Guide Africa
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The Alliance for Accountable Governance (AFAG) yesterday embarked on a massive demonstration in Accra to express its dissatisfaction with a number of challenges, prominent among which is the Woyome judgment issue.

The demonstration was attended by thousands of people from different political parties and institutions draped in red amidst drumming and dancing.

The demonstration started at about 10:15am at the Obra Spot, Kwame Nkrumah Circle and wound its way through Farisco, TUC and ended at the Hearts Park at about 1:30pm.

Some of the placards they bore read, ‘Atta Will Go’, ‘Atta Nie, Wayo Nie’, ‘Corruption Na Double Double’, ‘Reduce Petrol Prices Now’, ‘NDC The Gargantuan Family’ and ‘Wayo Beko Nsawam’.

At the Hearts Park, the group pointed out that the government, for the past three years, had failed to take care of the people’s wellbeing even as members of the Mills/Mahama administration lived in opulence.

“As a group, it has always been our humble opinion that governments are instituted for the welfare of the masses. Events in the past three years have however proven otherwise. Today, while the masses live in difficult economic times, members of the Mills-Mahama administration continuously display opulence and waste,” it pointed out.

The group said never in the history of the country had Ghanaians witnessed such spate of labour agitations and unrests, levels of insecurity, graduate unemployment and record-breaking corruption.

It said, “But in the midst of all these, what is appalling is the fact that, from President Mills down to the last person in the NDC, we are forced to accept that life under the Mills-Mahama government is much better than any other Government in our history as a country.”

The group said, “The obvious fact is that if there is  indeed a better Ghana, then it is being felt by only the few ‘greedy bastards’ who are enjoying the largesse of state and profiting from the massive corruption which has been institutionalized by the Mills/Mahama government.”

The group noted that in the 2012 fiscal year, none of the social intervention programmes of government attracted an allocation of more than the GH¢58million that was given to Woyome who had no contract with government.

The group said SADA attracted GH¢30million, Capitation Grant- GH¢25million, Schools Under Trees- GH¢28million and MASLOC- GH¢35million. The group therefore said the loss of GH¢58million was a very serious matter.

Another issue, the group said, was the construction of a $20m party headquarters at Adabraka.

AFAG is demanding that Kwame Peprah, Board Chairman of SSNIT, comes clean in the role he played in divesting 61.1% of SSNIT shares in The Trust Bank.

“AFAG is therefore giving him a two-week ultimatum to come out or be exposed.”

According to the group, the demonstration would be the beginning of a series of mass actions which would allow Ghanaians to express their dissatisfaction with the insensitivity of the Government.

The AFAG demonstration comes a day after a group of NDC supporters petitioned President Mills to compel former government officials to cooperate with Economic and Organised Crime Office as it investigates the Woyome saga.

The demonstration appears to be the largest ever to be organized by AFAG.

When the demonstrators reached the multi-million NDC headquarters at Adabraka, they halted and hurled insults at the party for using the taxpayer’s money to put up such a mansion.

A platoon of policemen was on guard to provide security.

By Cephas Larbi

Smelly Arbitrariness

Daily Guide Africa
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Dr Grace Bediako – Government Statistician

People of goodwill must view the order on the Government Statistician and her deputy to proceed on leave as a serious occurrence, so says Prof Mike Oquaye, 2nd Deputy Speaker of Parliament.

The political scientist and lawyer’s admonition could not have come at a more useful time. We are confronted with a number of governance challenges under President John Evans Atta Mills. Impunity, arbitrariness and acting in flagrant violation of the constitution by the President are disturbing features of governance.

The order on the Government Statistician, Dr. Grace Bediako, to proceed on leave, local euphemism for dismissal, has erased all doubts about whether good governance is prevalent in Ghana or not.

In an election year, any attempts at introducing novelties which border on mistrust should attract the attention of people of goodwill who abhor turmoil and strife.

Unfortunately, President Mills is oblivious to such realities. If the President has placed election matters on the lower rungs of his scale of preference and therefore thoughtlessly committed the blunder of dismissing a high-profile personality with no regard for possible consequences, then there is cause for apprehension.

We still have not been told the reason behind the dismissal of Dr. Bediako and would never be told because the truth is that it is political.

Ours is a system in which impunity has found a haven, affording political players at the helm an opportunity to do as they please, regardless of constitutional norms.

We bemoan the tendency by the Presidency to dismiss people of such rare calibre and skills as Dr. Grace Bediako.

She is not the first victim of such arbitrariness from the Presidency and would perhaps not be the last under a Mills/Mahama administration.

As noted by Prof Mike Oquaye, such arbitrariness can impact negatively on state institutions. Our state institutions by such arbitrariness will remain weak in the face of a barking and ready-to-dismiss executive.

If there is any reason little or no progress is made in our development and other efforts as a nation, it is because of the weak state of our institutions.

When President Obama said Africa needs strong institutions and not personalities, he was right on target. Whoever is appointed as a replacement for Dr. Bediako will definitely not command the necessary respect and therefore the cooperation of the staff within the establishment to perform effectively. Ghana will be the loser. What will the international organizations which deal directly with the dismissed mathematician think about us? A reckless bunch of people who have no regard for experience.

Professionals heading state institutions stand the risk of losing their jobs when they refuse to undertake assignments inconsistent with their professional standards.

For those who want to maintain such employments, conducting themselves in contrast with the ethics of their professions should be the order, regardless of the impact of the anomaly on the fortunes of the country. Is that what we want of our country?

Herbalist Dies At Prayer Camp

Daily Guide Africa
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Anthony Kofi Busu

A 62-year-old herbalist at Kwahu in the Eastern Region, Anthony Kofi Busu, who went to the Edumfa Prayer Camp on Tuesday to seek spiritual healing, has died at the lavatory belonging to the camp.

Busu was said to have reported at the camp on that fateful day around 5:30pm.

The body has since been deposited at the Abura Dunkwa Government Hospital morgue awaiting the arrival of his relatives before a post-mortem can be conducted on him.

Briefing DAILY GUIDE on Wednesday, the Abura-Asebu-Kwamankese (AAK) District Police Commander, DSP Bernard Twum-Barimah, stated that his outfit received information around 7pm on Tuesday that a man had died at Edumfa Prayer camp’s lavatory.

DSP Twum-Barimah said he dispatched some of his men to the scene where they found the body of the man seated on the water closet toilet. The men later took the body to the Abura Dunkwa Hospital morgue.

He noted that a search conducted on the man revealed a certificate indicating that he was a member of the Okwahuman Traditional and Alternative Medicine Practitioners Association (OTAPA).

The DSP noted that a National Identification Authority receipt found in his bag also indicated that he was a native of Anfoega, near Kpando in the Volta Region.

DSP Twum-Barimah therefore cautioned persons to always carry their identification cards or insurance cards whenever they travelled so that they could be easily identified when there was any problem.

From Sarah Owusu-Darlington, Edumfa

Man Impregnates Sister

Daily Guide Africa
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Kofi Mensah

A 22-year-old driver, Kofi Mensah, who lives at Abaka in the Abura-Asebu-Kwamankese (AAK) District of the Central Region, has impregnated his 19-year-old biological sister, Ama Essumanba at Abaka.

Essumanba, who is five months’ pregnant, has not had any antenatal treatment since she was impregnated.

Their mother, Adjoa Francisca, was staying in the same house with them but had to relocate when she was beaten up by the sibling lovers for advising them to put an end to the shameful act.

Briefing DAILY GUIDE on Wednesday, Madam Francisca said Essumanba, who lived in Liberia, returned home when she got pregnant a few years ago to have a son.

Francisca was shocked when two of her children told her that their brother Mensah had been having sexual intercourse with the sister, a situation which compelled her to monitor them.

“Although, I advised my children who informed me about it not to tell anybody since it was a taboo, I monitored their movement and I caught them red-handed having sex,” she said.

Mensah, who was ready to do everything possible to protect his relationship with his sister, threatened to kill his mother, if she did not leave the house.

In an interview with Essumanba at the house where she lives with her two-year-old-son, she cried for more than five minutes before she could be consoled to speak to DAILY GUIDE.

She confirmed she was impregnated by her brother.

Kofi Mensah, on the other hand, nearly insulted this reporter when he was asked whether Francisca was his mother.

He said: “Go and report me to the police so they can come and arrest me, Francisca is my grandmother.”

By Sarah Owusu-Darlington

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