Briton Cuts His Son And Daughter’s Throats At French Apartment

A British father was set to appear before a French prosecutor today after admitting cutting the throats of his two young children because of a bitter custody battle.

Julian Stevenson, 47,  was arrested on Saturday after the bodies of son Mathew, 10, and Carla, five, were found in his apartment in a suburb of Lyons, eastern France.

He is said to have carried out the double-murder in a fit of rage before fleeing on a pair of roller-skates.

His ex-wife, who is French, had handed over the children on Friday evening, and they spent a night in the old family home in Saint-Priest, around three miles from the city centre.

This was despite Stevenson being a heavy drinker, and having been violent towards his wife before their divorce up to three years ago.

When the mother, an accountant’s assistant also in her 40s, returned to pick up the children from the second floor apartment at around 5pm on Saturday she saw the father looking ‘panicked and angry’, according to a neighbour.

‘He was in the stairwell of the block, and his clothes were covered in blood,’ said the neighbour. ‘He made off on a pair of roller-skates, leaving his car in the apartment block’s garage.’

Following a short manhunt, Stevenson was found in Lyon’s 8th arrondissement at around 8pm on the same evening.

A judicial source said that a knife which was thought to be the murder weapon had been found in the flat.

The source said the double murder was ‘clearly linked to a painful separation’ and ‘legal procedures concerning the right to access to the children which the father deemed insufficient.’

Stevenson is expected to appear before a judge in Lyon today for a short hearing, when a prosecutor will officially open an investigation.

The session is expected to go ahead on what is a public holiday in France, owing to the significance of the case.

In 2010, Stevenson had attacked his then wife, leading to these rights of access being withdrawn.

This was the first weekend since then that Stevenson had been allowed to have the boy and girl with him without an adult third party.

The Lyon prosecuting source said Stevenson ‘admitted being the murderer’ but ‘did not give many more details.’

The father has been living in France for ten years and was married in 2005.

His wife was finally heard by prosecutors on Sunday, providing them with their details of her troubled relationship with her ex-husband.

Investigators were particularly keen to know who gave the father legal authority to look after the children.

It emerged that the couple had been involved in a further legal dispute over the flat, which is worth around 100,000 pounds.

Ahmed Benguedda, a former neighbour of the couple said the couple had divorced ‘two or three years ago.’

Stevenson, who was unemployed, had drinking problems and was violent towards his wife, Mr Benguedda, who still lives locally, confirmed.

She won custody of the children following the divorce and went to live in the Isere region of France, which is just to the south east of Lyon and an easy drive or train journey away.

Mr Benguedda said the children were ‘well-balanced’ and often played with his seven-year-old daughter. ‘The people who live here are all in a state of shock,’ he added.

A Foreign Office spokesman said the matter was being investigated. ‘We are aware of the reports and we are urgently looking into them,’ said a spokesman.

The man is set to be brought before Lyon prosecutors today, when a formal criminal enquiry will be launched.

On Saturday, the apartment block was surrounded by detectives and forensics teams. A sign across the door contained the single word: ‘Homicide.’

‘We’ve been told to keep away,’ said one neighbour, who asked not to be named. ‘We used to see the man come and go, but until this weekend hadn’t seen him with his children for years.

‘They suddenly turned up out of the blue, and then this. It is deeply shocking. We are all traumatised.’

Other local residents said the man was often seen wandering around nearby shops and bars, and was well known for his ‘British accent’.

A neighbour who socialised with the man before his divorce said: ‘He and his wife used to be like any other young couple – they took the children to the park, they went out for dinner.

‘That all changed with the divorce, however – it was clearly very messy indeed.’

A Foreign Office spokesman said: ‘We are in touch with the French authorities and await the outcome of their investigation.

‘We stand ready to provide consular assistance.’

Dailymail

K’bu Maternity Ward Closed Down

Korle Bu

Pregnant women due for delivery at the maternity ward of the Korle Bu Teaching Hospital were Saturday redirected to the surgical department because the theatre at that ward had been closed down.

Joy News sources said the theatre was shut down due to power failure Saturday.

A staff of the hospital who pleaded anonymity confirmed the closure to Joy News.
He explained that, two stand-by generators for the centre have all broken down resulting in the shutdown.

According to the staff, “all these generators are not working and what this means is that management has not paid real attention” to the problem.
Joy News also understands the wiring systems in the theatre were found to be faulty and were being fixed Saturday night when Joy News’ Fred Smith visited the hospital.
All patients being operated upon had been transferred to the main surgical department of the hospital during Joy News’ visit.
Joy News sources said the transfer of patients is also causing serious congestion at the surgical department and warns of infections at the wards.
Public Relations Officer of the hospital Mustapha Salifu declined to go on record but explained on telephone that a routine maintenance work had been carried out at the maternity ward.

Myjoyonline

Bimobas And Konkombas Smoke Peace Pipe

Representatives of Konkombas and Bimobas in the Northern Region of Ghana have agreed not to use violence but rather resort to dialogue to settle their differences from now on.

The representatives of the two tribes reached this conclusion and issued a communiqué to that effect, at a one-day meeting in Tamale with other stakeholders, under the facilitation of the West Africa Network for Peacekeeping (WANEP).

The meeting was towards the resolution of issues that arose between the people of the two tribes as a result of the Kpemale conflict, which claimed precious lives from the two tribes and injured and dispersed many from the two areas.

“We have mutually agreed to end the violence immediately and ensure that peace holds. We will meet our people to prevail on them to end the violence…We are aware that we have made appreciable progress despite the recent violence and therefore renew our collective commitment and dedication to the search for sustainable and lasting peace in our area and pledge to work tirelessly to build a peaceful relationship among us,” the communiqué noted.

The two tribes have called on the government and all well meaning stakeholders to support the process towards healing and uniting their people, by providing an enabling environment and the needed funding.

The tribes commended WANEP and other stakeholders for their various roles toward achieving sustainable peace in their communities. A total of 23 people signed the communiqué, including the District Chief Executive for Bunkpurugu-Yunyoo, Philip Laari, and the District Chief Executive for East Mamprusi, Adam Imoro.

From: Ebo Bruce-Quansah, Bolgatanga

Robbers Kill Cop

Lance Corporal Korankye

A policeman attached to the Tesano Motor Traffic and Transport Unit (MTTU) lost his life around 2:30am last Thursday after he was shot by a member of a gang of armed robbers.

Lance Corporal George Korankye was part of a patrol team chasing a group of five motorbike riding youth suspected to be armed robbers who had attacked a house in the general area of West Loop, a portion of Tesano in Accra.

Upon spotting the patrol team, the gang fled amidst random firing of gunshots to ward off the cops.

In the course of the chase, one of the five motorbikes with a pillion rider hit a gutter, throwing the occupants off. As the policemen continued their pursuit, they came under a barrage of attacks and the patrol team returned fire.

Lance Corporal George Korankye moved towards the gangsters who had been thrown off the motorbike in an attempt to grab one of them.

Before he could achieve his objective, however, he was hit by a bullet which exited from the left hand side of his chest and he died instantly.

The remains of the deceased cop have been deposited at the Police Hospital morgue as investigations continue into the incident. No arrests have been made.

The Tesano District Police Commander would not release details about the shooting when contacted yesterday, but the incident is said to have attracted the empathy and concern of personnel especially those on night patrols.

It is common for police patrol teams to exchange fire with armed robbers; but in most cases, the cops out-fire the robbers with their superior fire-power and near precision firing.

Motorbikes have become a preference of many armed robbers these days; and they have been used in many armed robbery operations in recent times. Concerns are being raised in many quarters about the menace and whether there is nothing that can be done to curb it.

A few months ago, a police patrol team shot and killed some four or so young men on motorbikes at Accra New Town under hazy circumstances.

While the Police claim they were criminals others said they were not.

In the Ashanti Regional capital, killer gangs are virtually straddling the Garden City, and these miscreants use motorbikes in their daredevil operations, some of which are undertaken during daylight.

 By A.R. Gomda

Kumasi Killer Arrested

Ghana Police

A 23-year-old man has been arrested over the daredevil murder that took place at Ash Town in Kumasi, one of many to hit the Ashanti regional capital in recent times.

The suspect was picked up at about 3:00am on Thursday in the Kumasi suburb of Aboabo for the alleged murder of a staunch supporter of the New Patriotic Party (NPP) Kwadwo Asamoah aka Gawusu.

The suspect, who has already been brought to Accra, was at the time of filing this report being held by the Bureau of National Investigations (BNI).

The Ashanti regional capital has virtually become a theatre of war with hoodlums committing crimes in broad daylight with impunity.

The insecurity in Kumasi is raising a lot of concern among residents, compelling President John Mahama to hold an emergency meeting with security chiefs yesterday.

The suspect was arrested upon a tipoff, which the Police quickly dealt with and nabbed the 23-year-old man in the Kumasi suburb.

Operatives of the Criminal Investigation Department (CID) headquarters yesterday touched base at the BNI headquarters to begin preliminary interrogation of the suspect, even as he remained in the custody of the security agency.

Law enforcement agents were tight-lipped about details of the suspect and how far they had gone with investigations.

The suspect is thought to be part of a gang of hoodlums which shot and later butchered the deceased Kwadwo Asamoah.

The daredevil murder, according to many, was politically-motivated, prompting many questions about the safety or otherwise of Kumasi, especially against the background of previous inexplicable murders.

Gawusu did not die alone, as a certain Victor Ocrah, a bystander, lost his life after he was hit by a stray bullet fired by one of the robbers during the operation.

The deceased, a stoutly built man, was violently attacked by his assailants when he and his friends were drinking in the afternoon of that fateful day as people in the neighbourhood took cover from the flying bullets.

The assailants fled the scene on their motorbikes and in a taxi after completing their bloody mission.

Both persons were confirmed dead upon arrival at the Komfo Anokye Teaching Hospital, prompting a flurry of queries.

While some imputed politics, others pointed at outstanding disagreements between the deceased and his attackers.

Kumasi, in recent times, has been dogged by worrying incidents of murders, with the Ashanti Regional Police Commander, especially being put on the spot for what his critics see as ineffectiveness in the wake of the brazen murders, some of them in broad daylight.

The Regional Police Commander, DCOP Augustine Gyening, was tongue-lashed for downplaying the Kumasi murders, with some even asking for his transfer from the region.

The Defence Minister, Mark Woyongo, has reportedly said that the Kumasi killings are exaggerated and that other parts of the country also suffer murders.

The minister has been put on the spot for making what in the opinion of former MP for Ahafo Ano South, Stephen Balado Manu, is a reckless remark.

By A.R. Gomda

One more person has been shot and killed in the Ashanti regional Capital Kumasi.

The victim has been identified as Joe and was a security man at Ashh-Court, a hotel at Bantama.

He was believed to be in his early or mid-thirties.

XYZ News’ Ashanti regional Correspondent Isaac Bediako Justice reported that his enquiries revealed that the murder took place around 2:30am on Monday May 20, 2013.

The murder is suspected to have been part of an armed robbery attempt at the Hotel where Bediako Justice said, many people who had travelled to the region for a funeral were lodging.

The latest incident follows a streak of similar murderous activities in the region over the past three weeks which has resulted in the death of seven people so far.

radioxyz

The suspected criminals

Sixteen suspected criminals were arrested by a team led by the Ashaiman Divisional Police Command last Friday night during a swoop at Ashaiman and its environs.

The suspects, who arrested at Bediako near Michel Camp, Oyibi, Dodowa, Ayikuma and Ashaiman, were said to be drug dealers, land guards and armed robbers, among others.

Baba Ali, 51, driver, Robert Gbor and Eva Gbor, cement block moulders, were said to have been arrested at Bediako, near Michel Camp with 12 slaps of dried leaves suspected to be Indian hemp also known as ‘wee’.

Emmanuel Adjei-Adjetey had a wrapper of suspected wee when he was arrested by the police team at Ayensu Estate, Oyibi in the Shai-Osudoku District of the Greater Accra Region.

Fati Gariba, 45, unemployed, John Adinortey, 18, Junior High School (JHS) student, Francis Amanya, 27, driver, Michael Tawiah A.K.A Mahama, 21, Asana Mohammed, 20, trader and a certain Fusena were apprehended at Ayikuma near Dodowa for possessing dried leaves suspected to be marijuana, a pair of scissors.

The other suspects, Mawulolo Afeka, 29, carpenter, Mohammed Musah, 28, Adeku Awuni Mustapha, 19, driver’s mate, Kobina Collins, 17, Mechanic Apprentice, were arrested in uncompleted building at Ashaiman Lebanon Lorry Station with 105 wrappers of suspected narcotic substances.

Two suspects, Awudu Alhassan, 20, and Patrick Golo, 23, were noted to have been arrested by the Divisional Night Patrol Team in connection with some robbery cases.

Chief Superintendent David Eklu, Ashaiman Divisional Police Commander told DAILY GUIDE that 50 police personnel including seven senior officers from the Divisional Headquarters, Ashaiman and Dodowa District conducted the blistering six-hour exercise.

According to him, the suspects had been placed in police custody pending an identification parade scheduled to be conducted on May 21, 2013 to assist police investigations.

He appealed to the public to help identify the suspects to expedite their prosecution in court.

Chief Superintendent Eklu assured the residents of police protection tin the discharge of their duties.

Other items retrieved from the suspects included 30 mobile phones and a desktop computer believed to have been stolen from innocent victims.

From Vincent Kubi, Ashaiman

Nana Agyakoma Difie

The queen mother of Asante Mampong, Nana Agyakoma Difie, has decried the devastating effects of illegal mining, popularly known as ‘Galamsey’ on the environment.

She said the upsurge in illegal mining, notably by foreigners who use deadly chemicals in their operations, was rapidly destroying the environment.

Nana Difie said river bodies which serve as potable drinking water for the rural folks were rapidly being destroyed by the illegal miners.

The Maponghemaa wondered why the government and appropriate agencies had failed to protect the environment.

Nana Difie disclosed this while speaking to a section of the press in Kumasi during the fourth and final segment of the Service Management and Leadership for Traditional Authorities programme in Kumasi.

Organized by the Osei Tutu II Centre for Executive Education and Research, the educative programme is geared towards enhancing the knowledge of the traditional leaders.

Nana Difie insisted that it was unacceptable for government to sit aloof and watch the destruction of river bodies and the environment.

She accused the government of not providing potable drinking water for the rural folks, adding that it should assist the rural dwellers by protecting the river bodies.

Nana Difie was not happy with the indifference of chiefs in the wake of the destruction of river bodies in their localities as a result of illegal mining, adding that chiefs were not doing enough to protect river bodies.

The Mamponghemaa charged chiefs to boldly drag government to court in a situation whereby the government sanctioned illegal mining in their localities.

She appealed to the queen mothers to courageously stop illegal mining in their areas.

Nana Difie said the rural dwellers also deserve better in terms of access to potable drinking water, cautioning the perpetrators to stop the destruction of river bodies in the country.

The traditional leaders studied ‘Leadership and Financial Management’ in the final part of the four-month programme. They previously undertook courses such as Service Management and Innovation, ICT and Land Administration and Contemporary Issues in Leadership.

FROM I.F. Joe Awuah Jnr., Kumasi.

One more person has been shot and killed in the Ashanti regional Capital Kumasi.

The victim has been identified as Joe and was a security man at Ashh-Court, a hotel at Bantama.

He was believed to be in his early or mid-thirties.

XYZ News’ Ashanti regional Correspondent Isaac Bediako Justice reported that his enquiries revealed that the murder took place around 2:30am on Monday May 20, 2013.

The murder is suspected to have been part of an armed robbery attempt at the Hotel where Bediako Justice said, many people who had travelled to the region for a funeral were lodging.

The latest incident follows a streak of similar murderous activities in the region over the past three weeks which has resulted in the death of seven people so far.

radioxyz

A scene at the market

Fire gutted the Esiama improvised market along the Esiama-Elubo highway in the Ellembelle District of the Western Region last Thursday, destroying property worth thousands of Ghana cedis.

Although there were no casualties, about four container shops were destroyed by the fire which started at about 3:30 pm.

Most of the burnt shops belonged to traders who deal in mobile phones, assorted drinks and second-hand television sets.

Reports suggest that inferno was caused by an electrical fault at the market.

When DAILY GUIDE visited the ravaged portion of the market, the affected people were busily trying to salvage what they could lay their hands on.

Members of the public, with assistance from some commercial drivers operating in the area, helped the victims to gather the debris.

Human traffic mounted along the road when anxious residents of Esiama and its environs stormed the place to watch proceedings.

DAILY GUIDE gathered that though personnel of the Ghana National Fire Service responded on time, they found it difficult quenching the fire on time.

An eyewitness told DAILY GUIDE that the Fire Service could not quench the fire on time due to the lack of access routes.

The District Chief Executive (DCE) for Ellembelle Daniel Eshun, as well as some officials from the assembly were at the scene to access the extent of the damage.

It would recalled that last Saturday, the chiefs and people of Esiama held a press conference and accused the Ellembelle DCE of selling a parcel of land earmarked for the construction a modern market and a lorry station to private developers.

At the press conference, the chief of Esiama, Nana Kofi Ampoe IV, indicated that because there was no proper market and lorry station at Esiama, both traders and commercial vehicles had to fight for space along the Esiama-Elubo highway to transact business.

He added that in the event of disaster, people may lose their lives.

 From Emmanuel Opoku, Esiama

Apostle Anthony Kingsley Miah presenting his message from the pulpit

The Koforidua Area Head of the Church of Pentecost, Apostle Kingsley Miah has paid glowing tribute to the founding fathers of the Church of Pentecost for what he termed as great sacrifices they made to give the church very strong bases.

He said the pioneers at the start of the church spent hours in praying to God for revival, reading and sharing the words of God in the Bible and travelling long distances on evangelical missions to win converts.

Apostle Miah said this in a sermon he preached at the Koforidua Jackson Park in the Eastern region. The sermon was under the theme: “Looking unto Jesus In the Christian Race”.

The Area Head continued that the surviving pioneers of the church today should be a source of inspiration to keep the younger converts also actively playing key roles in the evangelical task of the church.

He urged the congregation never to relent on their faith even though times may be rough these days. He also hit at the number of distracting factors such as the “do or die” attitude among the youth to get rich over night, the wrong use of the internet and behavioural attitudes such as blackmailing, gossips and other negative bahaviours which have become extreme sources of worry to the Christian body.

By Solomon Ofori

Ambassador Semadeni exchanging documents on the project with Nii Lante Vanderpuije

Switzerland has renewed its commitment to support Ghana’s economic development by providing the equivalent of US$5.35 million to enhance the export of fruits, cocoa, fish and wood products.

This will be done through UNIDO’s trade capacity building programme for Ghana, Andrea Semadeni, Swiss Ambassador to Ghana, pointed out.

Speaking at the launch of 2^nd Phase of the Trade Capacity Building Programme in Accra Friday, Ambassador Semadeni remarked that “the reason for Switzerland’s continuous support to the programme was the conviction that embracing a quality driven growth path will allow the creation of value addition in Ghana to become a reputable trading partner in the EU. Also, he said, it will create job opportunities for all.

In its previous programme, Switzerland financially supported the conformity assessment institutions in the country in areas of standards, certification, accreditation and testing.

Beneficiaries included the Ghana Standards Board, which obtained accreditation for its system certification body, increased its capacity in standard development and upgraded its testing laboratories in areas of pesticide residue, mycotoxin, textile and microbiology.

The Plant Protection and Regulatory Services Directorate under the Ministry of Food & Agriculture has also improved its inspection of methods for exported fruits and vegetables, upgraded its seed testing laboratory for the analysis of quality seeds thus becomes a European Union competent authority in the field of horticulture.

Other beneficiaries of the Trade Capacity Building programme are the Food & Drugs Authority and the Ghana Export Promotion Authority, which has an established national traceability system that ensures that exported horticultural products can always be traced back to the farms.

Ambassador Semadeni said that the current engagement was a four-year programme, which was aimed at supporting Ghana’s integration into world markets by developing a competitive and sustainable export economy complaint with trade-related standards.

“As the country navigates from a low-income economy into an emerging middle income status, it faces new and more complex developmental issues. Ghana needs to tackle short and medium-term issues to firm to establish growth on a sustainable path towards catching up with its high income peers.”

Switzerland is committed to supporting Ghana in her efforts to diversify the economy and improve trade and investment climate.

Victor Mills, UNIDO Project Coordinator, said his outfit’s primary objective is the promotion and acceleration of industrial development in developing countries and the promotion of international industrial cooperation.

“UNIDO has since 2007, been implementing the trade capacity building programme in cooperation with the Ministry of Trade & Industry. Such collaboration is geared towards improving technical and human capacity in the trade and export industry in Ghana.

“It is envisaged that the upgraded services will enhance the sustainability, quality and export competitiveness of the selected value chains (fruits, cocoa, fish and wood products) by ensuring compliance with international quality standards. The programme will further support the uptake and implementation of private voluntary standards by producers.”

Nii Lante Vanderpuije, Deputy Trade & Industry Minister, who delivered an address on behalf of his boss, Haruna Iddrisu said Ghanaians need to aspire for improved ways of trading with the international market to attract market for their farm produce especially value-added ones.

 By Samuel Boadi

Stephen Kpordzih, MD of ADB in a handshake with Fiifi Simpson, MD of VLA during the launch

Agricultural Development Bank (ADB), as part of its strategic plan of pursuing a retail banking strategy and introducing non-generic banking products, has introduced a new product – ADB Abusua Anidaso onto the market.

ADB and Vanguard Life Assurance (VLA) jointly launched the product with the aim to providing immediate cash payout to policy holders to cover the funeral expenses of their loved ones.

The ADB Abusua Anidaso is an insurance solution from ADB, underwritten by Vanguard Life Assurance, which allows policy holders to contribute towards financing the funeral expenses of their loved ones.

Steve Kpordzih, Managing Director of ADB, speaking at the launch of the product, commented: “The collaboration will afford Vanguard Life an opportunity to use ADB’s extensive network of 77 branches to market otherwise generic insurance products and also offer ADB the opportunity to ride on the success of the Vanguard Assurance brand to sell this product to its customers.”

He said that the partnership between ADB and Vanguard will continue to grow as ADB seeks to align Vanguard products to its generic banking products and fully integrate insurance products in the bank’s range of savings and investment products.

“In addition, we will be setting up a full Bancassurance Unit to make a bold, strategic and innovative statement about the direction we want to go and to fully take advantage of the benefits that the partnership offers to offer our customers products that serve their varied financial needs and expectations.

Fiifi Simpson, Managing Director of Vanguard Life Assurance, in a speech, said the current insurance penetration of less than 2 percent is certainly an indication of the potential which the insurance market holds.

“The need to identify ways of growing the penetration and contribute significantly to the growth of the economy is crucial.

“One of the ways to do this is certainly to look at improving penetration in the formal sector and extending our services to the informal sector which happens to be much larger than the formal sector.

This can be done by using reliable distribution channels. And ADB’s distribution channels have been identified as one of the most reliable.”

The ADB/Vanguard collaboration offers a total welfare package for all Ghanaians and Abusua Anidaso is the embryonic product in the bouquet, Lord Koramah, Marketing Manager of ADB, stressed.

 A business desk report

Diageo, the parent company of Guinness Ghana Breweries Limited (GGBL) has announced finalists of the annual Diageo Africa Business Reporting Awards (DABRA) for 2013.

This year marks the ten-year anniversary of the Awards, initiated by Diageo to recognise journalists and editors who provide high quality coverage of the business environment in Africa.

A statement signed by the Corporate Relations Director of GGBL, Preba Greenstreet said, “Diageo is pleased to announce that two journalists from Ghana have made the shortlist: Thomas Naadi Bitegma (ETV Ghana), shortlisted in the Best Agribusiness and Environment category with his story ‘The E-Waste Menace in Ghana’; and Pauline Bax (Bloomberg, Ghana), shortlisted in the Best Finance Feature with her entry ‘Ivory Coast’s Women Reject Equality in Household Law Debate’”.

Over 1,000 entries were received from across Africa and the rest of the world, representing the very best reporting from print, broadcast and new media.  A panel of eminent judges will now select the winners of each category.

Winners of the ten categories will be announced during the Awards ceremony, which will take place in London on Wednesday 17^th July 2013.

Commenting on this year’s awards, Nick Blazquez, President, Diageo Africa, Turkey, Russia & Eastern Europe, said, “This year’s Awards have once again demonstrated the increasing strength and depth of reporting on African business matters. Our finalists come from across Africa, as well as from Europe and the United States, showing the enormous appetite around the world for insightful and thought-provoking news on Africa’s business and investment climate.

“At Diageo we remain convinced that an accurate and balanced view of the risks and opportunities of doing business across Africa is essential to inform investment decisions. Journalism plays a fundamental role in that process and I am once again highly impressed by the quality of the entries that we have received.  Our finalists for this, our ten year anniversary, are among the best in their field and we look forward to celebrating their achievements at the ceremony in July,” continued Blazquez.

Ms Preba Greenstreet concluded that “the company is extremely proud of the two finalists from Ghana and we hope they bring the awards home to Ghana. Business reporting is key to all major business development on the continent and as the leader in Ghana’s beverage industry and the only beverage business listed on the Ghana Stock Exchange, we acknowledge the vital role informed, accurate and balanced reporting makes in the business world”.

Emmanuel T. Obeng (middle) joined by top executives of BID including Jose E. Prieto (right) to display the award.

Jislah Financial Services, Ghana’s preferred non-bank financial services institution, has been presented with an International Arch of Europe Quality Award (IAE) for being the best financial institution that represents success for Ghana in the business world.

The IAE is an annual programme of the Business Initiative Directions Awards (B.I.D) designed to recognize the prestige of outstanding companies, organizations and businessmen.

This year’s ceremony, which was held on April 28^th, in Frankfurt, Germany, brought together companies from over 72 countries, with leaders from different business fields and professionals from the world of economics.

In attendance were quality experts, practitioners, academic personalities and representatives from the diplomatic corps.

Present also was the president and Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of B.I.D, Jose E. Prieto.

The citation accompanying Jislah Financial Services’ award paid glowing tribute to the company’s commitment to quality, leadership, technology and innovation.

The award was received on behalf of the company by the Chief Executive, Emmanuel T. Obeng.

In a brief acceptance speech, Mr. Obeng commended the organizers of the award for acknowledging the immense services offered by Jislah Financial Services in Ghana and beyond.

He gave the assurance that the company would not relent on its oars but “continue to offer and give out our best to the entire continent.

Jislah Financial Services Limited, located in Accra and headquartered at Kokomlemle, is a subsidiary of Jislah Holdings Limited.

The company has been at the forefront of offering short-term bridge financing and investment opportunities to individuals and institutions in the country and beyond.

Some recent awards won by the company include: West African Regional Magazine 2012 Annual Achievers Award, 2011, Ghana Club 100, Number 75 and award from the Ghana Investment Promotion Company (GIPC) as the 3rd Fastest Growing Company in Ghana for the year 2011.

 A business desk report

Victoria Hamah (middle), Dr. Osei Darkwa (left) with other executives at the conference

Dr. Abdulai Baba Salifu, Director- General of the Council for Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR-Ghana), has stated that Africa should institute the right policies to develop mobile technologies that would attract foreign investments.

He added that the development of mobile technologies in Africa will create a competitive market for both local and foreign investments and improve utilization of mobile technology.

“Mobile telephones can be described as the most pervasively used Information Communication Technology (ICT) with a great deal of impact on our social, economic and political lives. The mobile telephone is now a strategic business tool to enhance the competitiveness of small business in Africa,” Dr. Salifu said.

He said Africa is challenged in achieving the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) of improving maternal health, poverty reduction, and reducing child mortality because of low penetration of internet and broadband services.

Dr Salifu was speaking at a conference at the Ghana Technology University College (GTUC) in Accra, themed, “Applications of Mobile Communications in Africa- Prospect and challenges.”

He said advanced countries have benefited tremendously from the use of various forms of ICT that has resulted in the improvement of human lives, trade, transport, governance, health, research, agriculture and financial services.

Victoria Lakshmi Hamah, Deputy Minister for Communications, speaking at the conference, said in spite of the opportunities mobile communications provide, Africa is faced with a number of challenges that impede growth in telecommunication sector.

“Cutting of fibre cables laid by operators disrupts the quality of service. There is also limited mobile coverage especially in the underserved communities which has also led to poor internet connectivity. Mobile technology is powered by electricity, which is a challenge to most of rural Africa, Ghana inclusive,” she noted.

She said Government has implemented the e-Government Network infrastructure nationwide and has also constructed the Eastern Corridor Fibre project to provide world-class communication infrastructure in Ghana, adding that the projects would offer adequate capacity and connectivity to areas that are not considered profitable by service providers.

Dr. Osei Darkwa, President of GTUC, in a remark, said the rapid adoption of mobile telephone on the African continent has generated a great deal of speculation regarding its effect on socio-economic development.

BY Lady Agyapong

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Yaw Osafo Marfo

Yaw Osafo Marfo, former Minister of Finance, has urged government to allow the election of Metropolitan, Municipal and District Chief Executives (MMDCEs) by people at the grassroots level.

He said the election of MMDCEs would help reduce the ‘winner takes all’ attitude that has characterized Ghana’s political system and deepen grassroots democracy.

Mr Osafo Maafo said this on Thursday at the 2013 B.J. da Rocha memorial lectures on the theme: “B.J. da Rocha, the Politician.”

He said after adopting constitutional rule in 1992, Ghana has come of age to find an antidote to the “winner takes all” attitude which cripples progress.

“One of the best ways to find an antidote to the ‘winner takes all’ attitude is to give power to the people at the grassroots level to elect their MMDCEs where the contesting candidates are from different political parties,” he said.

Mr. Osafo Maafo said if political parties are allowed to present their candidates to contest, the victory of any candidate would heavily depend on the popularity of his/her party in the area and that would allow members of other parties other than the ruling party to also contribute in the administration of the country.

He disagreed with the assertion that if elected, those who do not belong to the ruling party would sabotage the government.

He said they would rather do a good job since they may have to go back to the people to seek their votes.

Mr. Osafo Maafo said there is much suspicion in the political landscape and it is creating barrier for integration.

“I was recently invited by the Harvard University to share my experience to some 20 finance ministers from Africa but unfortunately, I cannot do same with the Finance Minister in my own country because of the suspicion that has characterised our politics,” he said.

Nana Akufo-Addo welcoming Otumfuo Osei Tutu to his Nima residence

The Asantehene, Otumfuo Osei Tutu II, yesterday stormed the capital city, Accra, with a retinue of chiefs on what appears to be a peace mission during which he met political gladiators of the country.

Otumfuo Osei Tutu said he was in Accra to deliver a public lecture put together by the National Council for Civic Education (NCCE), under the theme, ‘Advancing Together’, which was part of its annual Democracy Lectures.

He however seized the opportunity to meet some key and influential people in the country, namely President John Dramani Mahama, whose election is being disputed in court, former President Jerry John Rawlings and Presidential candidate of the New Patriotic Party (NPP) in the 2012 general elections, Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo.

Unfortunately, he could not meet former President John Agyekum Kufuor since he was out of the country.

One thing that ran through his discussions with all three political leaders was the ongoing election petition before the Supreme Court.

He urged all the parties to abide by the outcome of the court process.

First was his meeting with President Mahama at the Flagstaff House where he urged the President to do all it takes to surmount the myriad of problems facing the nation, chief among which was unemployment and what had come to be known as ‘dumsor-dumsor’, the intermittent power outages that had beset the nation.

Flagstaff House

President Mahama seeing off Otumfuo Osei Tutu

President Mahama on his part stressed the belief that the court process would unite Ghanaians more than it would divide them.

“At a time when people think the nation is being buffeted by some uncertainty as a result of this court case, I do think it strengthens our democracy that even though we have a dispute, or somebody contesting the results of the elections, he has decided to go to court and we are giving the court the opportunity to listen to his grievance and find out whether it is genuine or not.
“I think that it goes to strengthen our democracy that Ghana continues to show the way in terms of good governance, democracy and rule of law,” he was quoted as saying.

Rawlings’ Advice

Otumfuo Osei Tutu interacting with Mr and Mrs Rawlings

From there, the Asantehene and his entourage went to meet former President Rawlings at his Ridge office where the NDC founder called on commentators on the election petition to present the facts as they were being told in court and desist from twisting and reshaping facts to fit into people’s prejudices and political agenda.

This, he said, was in view of the fact that twisted or misshaped information would not augur well for Ghana’s future and stability.

“It is beginning to seem as if people are listening only to what they want to hear and not the findings and evidence that are being provided daily; this is not right,” Mr Rawlings noted.

On his part, the Asantehene commended Mr Rawlings for the role he played in reinstituting constitutional democratic governance.

Present at the meeting were Nana Konadu Agyeman-Rawlings and spokesman for Mr Rawlings, Kofi Adams.

Nana Addo’s Commitment

Otumfuo and members of his delegation then moved to the Nima residence of Nana Akufo-Addo where he was met on arrival by his host and other high ranking members of the NPP.

After the exchange of conviviality, the two went into discussions during which Otumfuo commended the NPP leader and his supporters for taking the noble decision to challenge the outcome of the 2012 elections in court and not on the streets with protests.

He therefore asked not only Nana Akufo-Addo but all the parties involved in the ongoing election petition to do well in the spirit of nationalism to accept the outcome of the Supreme Court ruling.

As always, the NPP leader pledged his party’s commitment to whatever the outcome of the court case would be since they believed in the rule of law.

That notwithstanding, he said, “I’m confident that when the truth comes out, that is what will bring the peace and unity that we all seek in Ghana.”

Nana Akufo-Addo therefore asked the Ashanti King to advise whoever was involved in the case before the Supreme Court to also accept the verdict in good faith.

Nana Addo reiterated his commitment to maintaining and supporting the peace prevailing in the country.

According to him, NPP members and supporters would not indulge in any acts that would destabilise the country.

He told Otumfuo Osei Tutu that the good record of the NPP was there to show that they were a peace-loving party, and had always accepted the outcome of elections organized by the Electoral Commission.

He however pointed out that the party decided to go to court this time around because of the widespread irregularities that characterized the 2012 December general elections.

Flanked by his wife, Mrs. Rebecca Akufo-Addo, Dr. Bawumia, Party Chairman Jake Obetsebi-Lamptey and a host of other party officials, Nana Akufo-Addo said the irregularities that characterized the 2012 December general elections could not make the results a true reflection of the will of Ghanaians.

“We respect and believe in the Supreme Court, that is why we have petitioned them and we will accept any decision or verdict they make,” he said.

By Charles Takyi-Boadu

President John Mahama

President John Mahama has lauded the ongoing Presidential Election Petition which is challenging his legitimacy as president.

He said the petition will strengthen Ghana’s democracy in no small way.

He was speaking to the Asantehene Otumfuo Osei Tutu II at the Flagstaff House on Friday.

The Ashanti King is in Accra to address a lecture on democracy on Friday. The lecture is being organised by the National Commission on Civic Education.

Describing Otumfuo as a “Solomonic” figure, the President urged the King to use his position and influence to unite the people during the lecture.

Commenting on the ongoing Election Petition the president said contrary to fears that the petition will divide the country he said it would rather strengthen the country’s democracy.

“At a time when people think the nation is being buffeted by some uncertainty as a result of this court case I do think it strengthens our democracy that even though we have a dispute, or somebody contest the results of the elections he has decided to go to court and we are giving the court the opportunity to listen to his grievance and find out whether it is genuine or not.

“I think that it goes to strengthen our democracy that Ghana continues to show the way in terms good governance, democracy and rule of law,” he emphasised.

Joy News’ Presidential Correspondent Seth Kwame Boateng says the president has since moved into a crunch meeting with security chiefs to find lasting solution to the violent gun attacks in parts of the country.

Myjoyonline

Tsatsu Tsikata, counsel for NDC

The persistent argument with panel members trying the landmark Presidential Election Petition currently at the Supreme Court coupled with the use of uncivil language almost landed Tsatsu Tsikata, lead counsel for ruling National Democratic Congress (NDC), in trouble.

For making a statement that, “This is not the time to be retrograde in the way we proceed,” the NDC lawyer was reprimanded by the bench for such indecorous language.

“Counsel, I don’t know whether you are getting angry. Please mind your language,” Justice Vida Akoto Bamfo warned.

Yesterday, while addressing the bench, Mr. Tsikata, who has been criticised several times for using rather strong language in court, described the manner the judges were handling a particular argument as “retrograding”. The Supreme Court judges took particular exception to this statement and were quick to issue him a stern caution.

Warning

“Mind your language,” a soft spoken Justice Akoto-Bamfo, a member of the panel warned the NDC counsel after he made a comment that seemed to have ruffled the feathers of the bench.

Mr Tsikata earned the reprimand while trying to tender a list he prepared exclusively before continuing his cross-examination of Dr Mahamudu Bawumia but Mr. Addison raised an objection.

Mr. Addison: My lords, we are objecting to the tendering of this list… (Justice Atuguba intervenes)

Justice Atuguba: I don’t understand, exhibit 32 is in evidence?

Counsel: No, but this is a further list…

Justice Atuguba: A different 32?

Counsel: It’s not a different 32, my lords, I think I made myself very clear; this list is in reference to exhibit NDC 32, but in this list reference is made to the counterpart serial number information that has been provided, and in addition to that counterpart serial number, we provided the information about the duplicates which is the one the witness has confirmed…(He tries frantically to justify the need to tender this contentious list as part of exhibit NDC 32 which was already in evidence, claiming the witness has confirmed it). The witness has confirmed it and my lords; this is no time to just retrograde in the way that we proceed in respect of… (Justice Akoto-Bamfo cuts in, obviously not pleased with the tone and the choice of words being used by counsel)

Justice Akoto-Bamfo: Counsel, counsel, I don’t know whether you are getting angry…

Counsel: No, my lords, I cannot be angry, your lordships.

Justice Akoto-Bamfo: So please mind your language, that’s all that I can say… (Justice Atuguba adds to the caution)

Justice Atuguba: Yes, let’s avoid presumptuous language…

Mr. Tsikata eventually apologised to the court and offered to explain the context within which he made the statement insisting that he did not mean to be disrespectful to the court.

He said his comments had been misconstrued and that he rather wanted the trial to move speedily.

Controversial Lists

Cletus Avoka (right) interacting with Yaw Osafo Marfo while

On Wednesday when Mr. Tsikata appeared to be ending his laborious cross-examination, he said he would conclude ‘subsequent’ to the petitioners’ provision of a list of counterpart polling stations that shared same serial numbers during the election, which had become a contentious issue in the case.

Dr. Bawumia agreed to provide the list and when it was finally brought, Mr Tsikata said he was not going to tender what the petitioners brought to the court.

As he asked Dr. Bawumia to identify a list he (Tsikata) had prepared and appeared to be asking questions based on that list, the petitioners lead counsel, Phillip Addison, asked him to first tender it and the questions could flow from there.

Mr. Addison: My lords, the questions that counsel has been asking arise out of information that we have supplied to them, and we think that these documents should first be tendered so that the questions can follow.

Counsel (Tsatsu): (Pulling out the supplementary list drawn out of the main list) My lords, we wish to tender that list, a list which reads “Same Serial Number and Counterpart Duplicate”. Reference number NDC 33.

Mr. Addison: My lords, we are saying that list arises out of the information that we have supplied so our document-the pairing-, should go in [for tendering] first…

Counsel: Well, as you can see, we have presented the information from that on this list that we are tendering. So for my cross-examination at the moment, the material is available for him [the witness] to answer.  At the appropriate time, they can tender the information that they have provided in its bulk.

Justice Atuguba: In any case, we also need it. If it is not in evidence, we can’t follow (Counsel explained the rationale for extracting their own list from the petitioners’ master list, but his explanation did not appear to have convinced the bench enough, causing Justice Jones Victor Dotse to step in)

Justice Dotse: Mr. Tsikata, I think the problem really arises because while you and counsel for the petitioners – and possibly the witness-, have new lists which have been formatted according to the list which you presented, we don’t have any. So anytime you make reference to their list, we don’t have anything to match our records with. That is why we think it would be useful to have those lists tendered for us to go on along with you.

Tsatsu’s Insistence

Counsel: Very well…My lords I take it that they are seeking to tender them… (Murmuring in the courtroom) My lords, with respect, we asked for information in order not to have the court’s time taken through every one (of the pink sheets in the list) and the point I’m making is that, in terms of the information provided, and for the purposes of my cross-examination, the information that they have provided is included in what we are tendering [the supplementary list from the petitioners’ list], so what we are tendering actually addresses the issue that his lordship was asking about…we can tender this (the supplementary list), we don’t need to tender their information list because it’s not part of our case…(Justice Atuguba interrupts by trying to seek further clarification on the various lists emanating from the list of duplicate polling stations)

Counsel: My lords, we have no problem with him (witness) refreshing his memory with the list that he composed and that’s exactly what is happening; he is using that. My lords, with respect, I must be clear, I do not intend to tender their list…

Justice Atuguba: That’s why I am saying that if the witness in using his list would facilitate your cross-examination that is going on, why can’t he put it in?

Counsel: My lords, the petitioners are not presenting their case at the moment (Justice Atuguba interrupts)

Justice Atuguba: No, no, no, in cross-examination, it is evidence relating to your questions in cross-examination; it is something that the answers he is giving and it can’t go in [in evidence]?

Counsel: My lords, it cannot at this stage go in as my exhibit.

Justice Atuguba: That’s why I am saying that it will go in as his.

Counsel: My lords, I’m not really familiar with a situation where during cross-examination, you can have counsel for the petitioners tendering exhibits. I’m not familiar with that… (Justice Atuguba laughs and cuts in).

Justice Atuguba: So if you elicit a fact from the witness, and its documentary, and it’s relevant in cross-examination, because it is in cross-examination, it can’t come in (as evidence)?

Counsel: No my lords, I didn’t say it can’t come in; I said I am not tendering it… (Justice Atuguba cuts in again)

Justice Atuguba: That’s why I told you that if it goes in, it’s standing to their name, not yours.

Counsel: My lords, at this point, I’m in the process of cross-examination, that’s why I say I am not familiar with the process that you appear to be describing. The process that you appear to be describing is of petitioners tendering an exhibit in the middle of my cross-examination. I’m not familiar with that, that’s the honest truth; I’m not familiar with it.

Justice Atuguba: You are saying he can use it to refresh his memory, isn’t it?

Counsel: I don’t have a problem with that.

Atuguba ‘Puzzled’

Justice Atuguba: The question you have posed is puzzling because this one, he is not tendering any real document, he is only using as a cross-reference to your list. It is a cross-reference facilitating the reference to the references you are making in cross-examining him and to facilitate the tracking of this and you say this cannot go in?

Counsel: My lords, I say I am not seeking to tender it…

Justice Atuguba: That’s why I’m saying if it goes in, it goes in his name, and you still seem to have a problem with that?

Counsel: Yes, but if I’m not tendering an exhibit, then in what sense is it going in? I am cross-examining him at the moment.

Justice Atuguba: It is part of his answers to your cross-examination…

Counsel: My lords, respectfully, the part of the answers that I needed for the sake of my cross-examination I reproduced in the list that I am tendering and he is confirming the information on the list by reference to his own information.

Ruling

The judges then went into a snap conference in the presence of the audience and delivered a ruling to the effect that the tendering was differed till re-examination stage.

Justice Atuguba said “the witness, it is said by Ansah, Rose Owusu, Annin-Yeboah and Gbadegbe JSC, can identify the document and tender it later. Adinyira, Dotse, Baffoe-Bonnie and Akoto-Bamfo, the witness can tender it during re-examination.”

“Atuguba JSC, the court has power under section 69 of the Evidence Decree to allow the tendering of the document at this stage. Section 69 (a) of the Evidence Decree provides as follows: (He quotes the relevant section)….Per Annin-Yeboah JSC, “the court must have the document or else the cross-examiner cannot proceed any further.”

It was after the ruling that Mr. Tsikata made those statements, receiving a reprimand from the court.

Sitting continues on Monday May 20, 2013 for Mr. Tsikata to continue his eleventh day of cross-examination.

By William Yaw Owusu & Raphael Ofori-Adeniran

Nana Akufo-Addo, Dr Mahamudu Bawumia and Tsatsu Tsikata leaving the Supreme Court yesterday

The Supreme Court yesterday declined a request by National Democratic Congress (NDC) lead counsel in the ongoing Presidential Election Petition Tsatsu Tsikata, and others, who sought to cross-examine some witnesses of the petitioners, including two New Patriotic Party (NPP) Members of Parliament (MPs).

The nine-member panel threw out the motion asking the court to enable the respondents, including President Mahama and the Electoral Commission (EC), to cross-examine Freda Prempeh, MP for Tano North, Dr Kwabena Twum Nuamah, MP for Berekum East and four other witnesses of the petitioners, saying that they had enough information.

The motion on notice, seeking leave of the court to cross-examine the witnesses, was first filed by the ruling NDC (3^rd respondent) and followed by President John Dramani Mahama, and the Electoral Commission who are 1^st and 2^nd respondents respectively.

The Ruling

The nine-member panel, chaired by Justice William Atuguba, held that with all the evidence available in the petition, the court did not need any further evidence.

He explained that the cross-examination had already covered every ground, saying, “They are all covered; we are saying that we have enough materials to cover. The evidence is flowing and it’s enough….that’s what we are saying. We don’t need all those things.

“We have considered the three applications for leave to cross-examine the various witnesses and have come to the conclusion that various types of evidence have been supplied on these matters, both by the evidence of the second petitioner in the ensuing cross-examination and the pink sheets and affidavits filed by the parties.

“We think that these and any further evidence would suffice to enable us assess the various factual matters involved without the protraction in the cross-examination of the witness covered in these applications. In the circumstances, the applications are refused,” the court held.

Witnesses

The respondents were seeking to cross-examine Kwabena Twum Nuamah, NPP MP for Berekum East, Eugene Sackey, Freda Prempeh, NPP MP for Tano North in the Brong Ahafo Region and Abdulai Abdul Hamid who all swore affidavits as witnesses for the petitioners.

The witnesses had alleged in their affidavits in support of the petition that the Electoral Commission (EC) annulled some of the polling stations’ results in their constituencies where there were over-voting and other alleged irregularities.

The Motion

The NDC motion filed by its lead counsel Tsatsu Tsikata could not be moved on May 14 because President Mahama and the EC had just filed similar applications and the court’s registry had given President Mahama and the EC returning dates of May 16 for their motions to be moved.

As a result, the court pushed the NDC motion to same day so that all the three motions could be moved at the same time.

Before the applications were moved, the court directed that once they were on the same subject-matter, the respondents should consolidate the motion before moving, after which other counsels could make addresses.

Tony Lithur, lead counsel for President Mahama then told the court that he would prefer Mr. Tsikata to move the motion.

Mr. Tsikata then took the floor advancing his argument to the effect that inviting the witnesses to be cross-examined would serve the interest of justice since they would help the court to ascertain the truth.

“The truth of the matters that each of those witnesses has testified to before this court is a very important basis. There is no allegation before you that any of those witnesses is not available for cross-examination…and we may well wonder why a party which has proffered the testimony of certain witnesses be so eager to protect them from cross-examination.

“It is also clear that in the testimony of the main witness of the petitioners, they have also sought to rely on the allegations in those affidavits, so the testimony of the main witness which has been challenged is very much the subject matter of, not only the continued cross-examination of that witness, but would clearly be the subject matter of the cross-examination of these witnesses,” he added, in reference to Dr. Mahamudu Bawumia, a principal witness in the case.

Mr. Tsikata noted that “it is also clearly the case as we take each of those individuals that they claim to have personal knowledge of the matters in respect of which they have deposed to their affidavits.

“In the case of Abdulai Abdul Hamid, he was actually a presiding officer at a polling station in respect of which there has been testimony before this court. There is no better person than Mr. Abdulai Hamid-the presiding officer at that polling station-to provide evidence, and the petitioners did provide his evidence and they should not run away from the cross-examination of their own witness…”

He also said that the evidence of Kwabena Twum Nuamah, Eugene Sackey and Freda Prempeh were important, adding, “If indeed, these are people who have personal knowledge of the matters, then under cross-examination, we would be able to establish whether they are telling the truth in their affidavits or they are not telling the truth.

“It is our submission that this court and the process before this court would be well served by obtaining testimony from people who claim to have personal knowledge of the fact to which they depose.”

He described the petitioners’ opposition to the application as “somewhat strange, because these are their witnesses and they have deposed to affidavit filed on the 13^th of May and deposed to by Dr. Bawumia.

“Essentially, their claim in opposing the application is that there is some other testimony before this court from the second respondent. We ought to be allowed to cross-examine them, and it’s clearly in the interest of fairness and of justice in this proceeding that they be cross-examined to test the veracity of the allegations that they have (made).

“There is no basis in the affidavit in opposition for denying us our entitlement to cross-examine witnesses on evidence that is being put before you,” he held.

EC Supports Tsikata

James Quarshie-Idun, representing the EC, said the subject matter of the evidence of the affidavit that they were seeking to cross-examine the deponents on, was not pleaded either in the original petition, the first amended petition or the second amended petition.

“We stated this in paragraph 12 of the affidavit sworn to by Amadu Sulley, Deputy Chairman of the second respondent on 16 April, 2013. If these material facts had been pleaded, we would have had the opportunity of responding to them in our answer or amended answer.”

Addison’s Opposition

In his response, Phillip Addison, lead counsel for the petitioners, vehemently opposed the respondents’ attempt to cross-examine the witnesses.

He said matters under discussion were no longer in controversy since the EC, in its own affidavit, had confirmed the cancellation.

He told the court that the petitioners were not opposed to the request to cross-examine Abdulai Abdul Hamid and one Fuseini Safianu who were said to be Returning Officers during the election.

Mr. Addison told the court that the EC at some stage in the trial tried to have the petitioners’ pleadings in respect of the subject-matter struck out but the court refused and since that move failed, the commission never gave any indication they were contesting the issue.

He said the matters that the EC is seeking to cross-examine the witnesses on were not in dispute, asking, “What purpose does cross-examining the witness serve when the EC in its own affidavits show that some polling station results were annulled?”

He also held that both President Mahama and the NDC did not challenge the piece of evidence on the annulments and that no supplementary affidavit was filed by the 1^st and 3^rd respondents after the EC had filed their response and therefore the court should dismiss the application.

By William Yaw Owusu & Raphael Ofori-Adeniran

Management member of Okwawu United Charles Boahen has attributed his side’s current razor-sharp form to proper administrative work.

Boahen mentioned that the Soccer Mountaineers are close to a premiership return, having gained a ticket to play in the National Middle League.

The former premiership side have wallowed in the lower league for seven years. The last time they came close to returning to the elite league, they incurred the wrath of the country’s football governing body, GFA, after conceding over 30 goals against Nania FC in Takoradi.

Boahen explained on ‘Stage Africa’ a GTV sports show hosted by Jerry Kwame Ayensu four days ago that the club’s management identified its problems and drew a strategy to arrest its problem.

He revealed that the ‘sole proprietorship style’ of administration had a telling effect on the team’s performance, and so they decided to form a board to ensure the day to day running of the club.

“Running of the club in the past few years used to be a one-man show business and that didn’t work, so we decided to form a board and things have turned around since.

“We have been in the Middle League three times, we have enough experience now to rejoin the premier league. We have been in Division One for seven years and have vowed not to return after gaining promotion from the forthcoming Middle League,” Boahen said.

He noted that the countless disciplinary issues that bedeviled their operations last season have stirred management to educate their large following.

Okwawu have qualified for this year’s Middle League, sitting on top of the Zone 3B table after amassing 25 points followed by Danbort FC.

By Kofi Owusu Aduonum

Serena Williams

Serena Williams clinched her fourth consecutive title in a comprehensive fashion as she beat Victoria Azarenka 6-1 6-3 in the final of the Italian Open yesterday.

In the process, the World No 1 extended her winning streak to 24 matches – the last time she tasted defeat coming against Azarenka in the final in Doha back in February.

There never appeared to be any real prospect of the Belarussian emerging triumphant in the Italian capital from the moment Williams reeled off the opening three games of the match, claiming two breaks of serve on the way.

Azarenka pulled one back to get on the board as she punished a poor attempted drop-shot from her opponent, but a series of crunching returns from Williams in the next ensured another break.

The American’s string of winners continued leading Azarenka to slam her racket to the floor in frustration when she let a rare opportunity of her own pass.

The third seed did stave off two set points on her own serve to get to deuce in the seventh game, but a fortunate net chord brought up another for Williams and this time she took it as her opponent sent a backhand long.

The second set proved a more evenly-contested affair, Azarenka showing commendable courage and nerve to fend off break points in her opening two service games to stay level.

Williams did break through in the sixth game, though, Azarenka unable to return a thumping backhand as her rival moved into a 4-2 lead.

But the Belarussian gave herself renewed hope as she broke straight back, only to then surrender another break with a double-fault to leave Williams serving for the match at 5-3.

She duly did so in convincing fashion, clinching her first Rome title since 2002 with a stunning backhand winner down the line.

Romelu Lukaku

Sir Alex Ferguson brought the curtain down on his glorious 39-year managerial career in astonishing fashion as Manchester United drew 5-5 at West Brom in a match of incredible twists.

Goals from Shinji Kagawa and Alex Buttner either side of a Jonas Olsson own goal put the champions three goals ahead with barely a third of the 1,500th and final game of Ferguson’s United career played.

James Morrison and half-time substitute Romelu Lukaku reduced the deficit to a single goal with strikes either side of the half-time break but Robin van Persie’s 30th goal of the season and a Javier Hernandez tap-in appeared to have handed United a comprehensive win.

But two more goals from Lukaku, whose hat-trick spanned just 40 minutes, either side of Youssouf Mulumbu’s strike, in a five-minute spell late on gave West Brom a share of the spoils.

It marred the send-off for Sir Alex, whose 26-and-a-half years in the United dugout ended shortly before 6pm when referee Michael Oliver blew the whistle on one of the most memorable Premier League matches of all.

Before the match, the Scot had been given a guard of honour by the two sets of players as he entered the pristine Hawthorns pitch on what was a glorious afternoon.

With both home and away fans rising to their feet to give the 71-year-old a standing ovation, he responded by lifting his arms above his head and waving to all parts, including his family in the Cyrille Regis suite.

One of the many Ferguson banners in the away end summed up the feelings of the United fans lucky enough to get tickets for this landmark fixture: ‘For 26 years, you gave us the world’.

Ferguson was not the only giant of British football ending his top-flight career. Paul Scholes, in his 718th and final United game, had a 26-minute cameo that featured a series of tackles that verged on the reckless.

David Beckham in tears

David Beckham left the pitch in tears as he completed the final home match of his 20-year career.

Paris St-Germain’s game against Brest was briefly halted as Beckham, captain for the night, was substituted after 81 minutes, his team-mates congregating in the middle of the pitch to applaud him.

PSG president Nasser Al-Khelaifi said afterwards: “It’s up to the coach but I think that will be David’s last match.”

PSG, who are already champions, won 3-1 against relegated Brest.

Reports before the match suggested Beckham will not be involved in his side’s trip to Lorient on the season’s final day.

After the game, he indicated he expected to be part of the PSG squad next Sunday but did not know whether he would play.

“I want to say thank you to everybody in Paris – to my team-mates, to the staff, to the fans,” Beckham said as he addressed PSG supporters after the final whistle. “It’s been very special to finish my career here. It could not have been any more special.

“I just feel that it’s the right time [to retire]. I feel that I’ve achieved everything that I could in my career. I wanted to go out as a champion. I’ve finished my career in a team that has treated me like I’ve been here for 10 years.

“After 22 years of playing football I’m going to take a few months to enjoy time with my family.”

Beckham, who was clearly emotional in the five minutes preceding his substitution, embraced manager Carlo Ancelotti as he made his way off the field to a standing ovation from supporters at the Parc des Princes.

After the game, the former England captain, watched by a crowd including wife Victoria and former French president Nicolas Sarkozy, was repeatedly thrown into the air by his team-mates.

The 38-year-old announced on Thursday that he was to finish his career at the end of the season, although it now appears doubtful that he will feature in his side’s final fixture on 26 May.

Beckham marked his last home appearance with a trademark assist, as his corner was volleyed into the net by Blaise Matuidi.

That was PSG’s second goal, sandwiched between two strikes from Sweden international Zlatan Ibrahimovic.

Brest pulled one back through Charlison Benschop but never threatened a fight-back.

Didi Dramani

LEAGUE LEADERS Kumasi Asante Kotoko might not last long at the summit of the Glo Premier League, if Aduana Stars’ threat is anything to go by.

The Dormaa-based club has threatened to stop Kotoko when the two clubs clash at the Sunyani Stadium on Sunday.

George Gyawu, top member of Aduana Stars, said “we shall beat Kotoko this Sunday.”

Ideally, the game should have come off at the Baba Yara stadium in Kumasi, but it was rescheduled to Sunyani following the GFA’s ban on Kotoko.

Gyawu noted that Aduana Stars wished the game was played at the Baba Yara stadium where they usually play well.

He said however that there was no way Kotoko could pick a point from the contest, stressing that Aduana Stars were going for a convincing win on Sunday.

 FROM I.F. Joe Awuah Jnr., Kumasi

A British father was set to appear before a French prosecutor today after admitting cutting the throats of his two young children because of a bitter custody battle.

Julian Stevenson, 47,  was arrested on Saturday after the bodies of son Mathew, 10, and Carla, five, were found in his apartment in a suburb of Lyons, eastern France.

He is said to have carried out the double-murder in a fit of rage before fleeing on a pair of roller-skates.

His ex-wife, who is French, had handed over the children on Friday evening, and they spent a night in the old family home in Saint-Priest, around three miles from the city centre.

This was despite Stevenson being a heavy drinker, and having been violent towards his wife before their divorce up to three years ago.

When the mother, an accountant’s assistant also in her 40s, returned to pick up the children from the second floor apartment at around 5pm on Saturday she saw the father looking ‘panicked and angry’, according to a neighbour.

‘He was in the stairwell of the block, and his clothes were covered in blood,’ said the neighbour. ‘He made off on a pair of roller-skates, leaving his car in the apartment block’s garage.’

Following a short manhunt, Stevenson was found in Lyon’s 8th arrondissement at around 8pm on the same evening.

A judicial source said that a knife which was thought to be the murder weapon had been found in the flat.

The source said the double murder was ‘clearly linked to a painful separation’ and ‘legal procedures concerning the right to access to the children which the father deemed insufficient.’

Stevenson is expected to appear before a judge in Lyon today for a short hearing, when a prosecutor will officially open an investigation.

The session is expected to go ahead on what is a public holiday in France, owing to the significance of the case.

In 2010, Stevenson had attacked his then wife, leading to these rights of access being withdrawn.

This was the first weekend since then that Stevenson had been allowed to have the boy and girl with him without an adult third party.

The Lyon prosecuting source said Stevenson ‘admitted being the murderer’ but ‘did not give many more details.’

The father has been living in France for ten years and was married in 2005.

His wife was finally heard by prosecutors on Sunday, providing them with their details of her troubled relationship with her ex-husband.

Investigators were particularly keen to know who gave the father legal authority to look after the children.

It emerged that the couple had been involved in a further legal dispute over the flat, which is worth around 100,000 pounds.

Ahmed Benguedda, a former neighbour of the couple said the couple had divorced ‘two or three years ago.’

Stevenson, who was unemployed, had drinking problems and was violent towards his wife, Mr Benguedda, who still lives locally, confirmed.

She won custody of the children following the divorce and went to live in the Isere region of France, which is just to the south east of Lyon and an easy drive or train journey away.

Mr Benguedda said the children were ‘well-balanced’ and often played with his seven-year-old daughter. ‘The people who live here are all in a state of shock,’ he added.

A Foreign Office spokesman said the matter was being investigated. ‘We are aware of the reports and we are urgently looking into them,’ said a spokesman.

The man is set to be brought before Lyon prosecutors today, when a formal criminal enquiry will be launched.

On Saturday, the apartment block was surrounded by detectives and forensics teams. A sign across the door contained the single word: ‘Homicide.’

‘We’ve been told to keep away,’ said one neighbour, who asked not to be named. ‘We used to see the man come and go, but until this weekend hadn’t seen him with his children for years.

‘They suddenly turned up out of the blue, and then this. It is deeply shocking. We are all traumatised.’

Other local residents said the man was often seen wandering around nearby shops and bars, and was well known for his ‘British accent’.

A neighbour who socialised with the man before his divorce said: ‘He and his wife used to be like any other young couple – they took the children to the park, they went out for dinner.

‘That all changed with the divorce, however – it was clearly very messy indeed.’

A Foreign Office spokesman said: ‘We are in touch with the French authorities and await the outcome of their investigation.

‘We stand ready to provide consular assistance.’

Dailymail

Yusuf Hameed says he has been knocked back from dozens of jobs over the last year because of his appearance

A job-hunter claims he has been left unemployable because he is covered in tattoos.

Yusuf Hameed, 40, has been knocked back from dozens of jobs over the last year because of his unconventional appearance.

His body art includes a Buddhism symbol on his forehead, two Thai boxing tattoos on the back of his head, and a yin yang on the back of his head.

He said he has applied for 450 jobs including a car wash attendant and a street cleaner but receives the same feedback – employers cannot hire him because of his tattoos.

Mr Hameed, from Batley, West Yorkshire, said: ‘It is really getting me down and it is so hard to think that these tattoos are such a strong barrier against me getting a job.

‘I came to Batley from Pontefract after being made redundant from a meat manufacturing company.

Mr Hameed got his first tattoo at the age of 14 but now wishes he had never had them done. His body art includes a Buddhism symbol on his forehead, two Thai boxing tattoos on the back of his head, and a yin yang on the back of his head.

‘I’ve been doing everything the job centre has told me and attended all my interviews but they take one look at my tattoos and won’t give me a chance.’

Muslim convert Mr Hameed got his first tattoo aged 14 but wishes he had never had them done.

He said: ‘I used to hang around with a lot of lads older than me and they started getting them.

‘I suppose it was peer pressure but as a mature person I would not have got them, especially seeing the reaction from strangers.
‘When I go to interviews I can just see the person opposite me lose eye contact and focus on my tattoos,’ he said.

‘I’m more than qualified for a lot of the jobs I have been for but they all tell me my tattoos do not fit the company image.’

Mr Hameed is hopeful an employer can look past his ink and give him an opportunity.
He said: ‘People generalise me and think I am not bothered about working and that I am a freeloader.

‘I want employers to judge me on my skills and they will find out I’ve got lots to offer.

‘Even if it is a week’s trial, I just need that chance.’

Dailymail

A policeman guards the crime scene in Bloomsbury, central London, as floral tributes are left outside the flat for the married couple, named locally as Robert and Margaret Mercati

The sons of a couple found dead in their flat in an exclusive part of London today paid tribute to their mother, who is believed to have been strangled by her husband.

A note left outside the Bloomsbury flat where Robert Mercati, 63, is said to have attacked his pensioner wife Margaret before kiling himself, pays tribute to a mother described as ‘our strength’ whose lose will ‘leave a hole in our hearts’.

Mr Mercati and his wheelchair-bound wife, who leave sons aged 32 and 29, were found in their flat in Rugby Street, close to Russell Square, on Wednesday afternoon.

The note believed to be from their sons reads: ‘In loving memory of Mum.  Words cannot express the hole that will be left in our hearts.  You was (sic) our strength and the best of us. We’ll love you forever and live for your memory.

‘You’re with your brothers and sisters …and your Mum and Dad..’ and is signed: ‘Your sons and family & the bubbas’.

Another note left at the scene said: ‘We are so sorry to have lost two beautiful, special people. You will always be in our memories.’

Ambulance crews had found the female victim in her 60s, then found her husband’s body elsewhere in their flat.

A Scotland Yard spokesman said it was a murder investigation but at this early stage officers were not looking for anyone else in connection with the deaths.

Police were called by London Ambulance Service to the flat shortly before 1.45pm on Wednesday, following reports that a woman had been found injured.

The woman was treated at the scene following an apparent assault but was pronounced dead at 2.10pm. The man was pronounced dead one minute later.

They confirmed the deceased are a husband and wife and next of kin have been told of their deaths.

Post-mortem examinations took place yesterday at St Pancras Mortuary and gave the causes of death as strangulation for the woman and injuries consistent with hanging for the man.

In 2011 Robert Mercati was convicted of shoplifting from a designer store in Bicester Village and given a 12-month suspended jail sentence and ordered to do 250 hours of unpaid work.

Oxford Crown Court heard that Mercati stole two Alfred Dunhill coats on January 8 2011, and was also present at an earlier theft when his friend Peter Ladlow, also from London, stole a designer bag from Christian Dior a month earlier.

Mercati’s lawyer told the court that his client lived on benefits and cared for his wheelchair-bound wife.

Dailymail

Patricia Rushby with son John. Her son Michael Rushby, 16 (pictured), spent eight months agonising over a lump in his testicle. He died two weeks after being diagnosed with cancer

A teenager waited an agonising eight months before finding the courage to mention he had found a lump – and died of testicular cancer just two weeks later.

Now the heartbroken of family of Michael Rushby, known as Mikey, has urged young men to check themselves after the death of the much-loved 16-year-old.

His mother Patricia, 52, said today: ‘He was my baby. I loved him to pieces. I want other young people to know what we have gone through. I wouldn’t want any family to go through what we have.’

Mikey, the youngest of six brothers and sisters, was having a drink with older brother John, 22, at the family home on April 17 when he finally spoke up.

‘He said he had a problem and showed me one of his testicles,’ said John.

‘The lump was obvious so I took him straight to A&E. The doctor said just by looking at it there was an 80 per cent chance it was cancer.’

Mikey, of Grangetown, Teesside, went home for the night and went back to Middlesbrough’s James Cook University Hospital the next day for tests.

Testicular cancer was diagnosed and it was also found the cancer had spread to his abdomen and chest. He was then transferred to Newcastle Royal Victoria Infirmary for treatment.

Despite the eight-month delay in diagnosis, Mikey was still given a 75 per cent chance of beating the disease.

He had a week of chemotherapy and was allowed to go home on Friday, April 26 at his own request.

He was due back at the hospital on Monday April 29 and had got himself up, had a bath, and was heading down the stairs when he lost his strength and collapsed four steps from the bottom.

He was taken by ambulance to James Cook hospital, where he died later that day, it is believed from an infection.

His mother said: ‘I think he knew himself he was dying. He was adamant about coming home and he never complained.

‘I want to say to anyone who ever thinks they might have a problem, go to your mam, go to your dad, go to someone. Mikey could have come to his mum – I wouldn’t have been embarrassed.’

Mikey is survived by his father Michael Rushby, 61, his sisters Lisa, 30, Jacqueline, 27, Michelle, 26, and Leanne, 21, and his six nieces and nephews.

They described him as a ‘little charmer’ who would always play jokes on people and had nicknames for everyone.

Jacqueline said: ‘Words can’t describe how much he will be missed. The house is so different, so quiet.’

His brother John said: ‘He will never be replaced. He wasn’t just a brother, he was a mate as well. A best mate.’

An inquest into his death has been opened and adjourned at Teesside Coroner’s Court.

Dailymail

The plane crashed while trying to land at Jomsom airport in northern Nepal, injuring all 21 people on board. No one was killed

A plane crashed while trying to land at a mountain airstrip in northern Nepal early today, injuring all 21 people on board.

Four of the injured are in critical condition, police officer Bhim Bahadur Chand said.

No one was killed in the crash.

Nine passengers are Japanese tourists, and the three crew members and the other passengers are all Nepali.

The plane belonging to state-owned Nepal Airlines was trying to land at Jomsom airport, some 125 miles northwest of Katmandu, when it crashed on the banks of Kaligandaki river.

The injured were rushed to the local hospital, and those with serious injuries are being airlifted to nearby Pokhara town for treatment.

The area is popular with foreign trekkers visiting the Mount Annapurna area and Hindu pilgrims visiting the revered Muktinath temple.

Fifteen people were killed last May when a plane crashed while attempting to land at the same airport.

The lure of the Himalayas attracts more than 100,000 trekkers, including 40,000 Brits, each year to Nepal.

Visitor numbers to Everest have doubled since the end of the civil war there in 2006 – but plane crashes have become worryingly frequent in the Asian country.

Pilots and experts in Nepal fear more accidents will happen in a country where political failure and poor regulation are undermining its vital tourist industry.

Pilots say they are under too much pressure from their bosses during busy periods and that the Civil Aviation Authority of Nepal (CAAN) isn’t capable of addressing the problems undermining safety.

They worry that heavy traffic in the Everest region could lead to a mid-air collision.

The European Aviation Safety Agency has written to CAAN asking what is being done about improving safety.

Some experts believe that one or more of Nepal’s domestic airlines will soon be placed on the EU’s blacklist.

Dailymail

R2Bees

It was all thrills and surprises at this year’s edition of the Vodafone Ghana Music Awards (VGMA) at the Accra International Conference Centre (AICC) as the sensational R2Bees took home the Artiste of the Year Award.

The event, held on Saturday, May 18, was organized by Charter House to reward Ghanaian music icons for their commitment, hard work and dedication in the music career.

R2Bees also walked home with five other awards including High-life Song of the Year, Hiplife Song of the Year, Group of the Year, Vodafone Most Popular Song of the Year and Hiplife/Hiphop Artiste of the Year.

As a surprise package, members of R2Bees received a brand new MG Rover vehicle and Samsung Galaxy S4 phones from Vodafone as part of the awards.

It was a night of musical fireworks as some of the awardees and other artistes took turns to dish out splendid acts that got the audience dancing, or simply hiking up their seats for a better view of proceedings.

The event, which attracted a large number of personalities, stakeholders in the music industry and music fans from all walks of life, kicked off with a brilliant performance from Efya.

She set the auditorium into frenzy when she took the stage and treated the audience to an unforgettable performance.

Efya, who kept the audience on their feet throughout her act on stage, dazzled them with her hit songs.

Herty Borngreat, also took the stage and performed her hit song to the delight of the audience.

4×4 thrilled the audience with their good stagecraft and electrified the venue with ‘Mokoni‘, ‘Anadwo Yede’ and ‘London Bridge’.

Their stagecraft, dynamic movements and general stage charisma got the audience applauding non-stop during their performance.

Manifest who also performed, ‘Makaa Maka’, paved way for Amandzeba who performed several hit songs including the popular ‘Wogbe’.

He was exceptional, brought back loving memories for the few who were his age, but the many who were in their 20s and 30s, could also not help but danced to the rhythmic highlife tunes. His rendition of ‘Wogbe’was just overwhelming.

Akatakyie, who have been out of the music scene for some time now,  electrified the ambiance with old hit tunes that moved almost everybody to  feet, especially when they did a rendition of their ‘Odo Esisi Me’.
Kontihene, who also performed gave out his best as he performed several songs including, ‘Esi’, ‘Aketesia’ and ‘Asesa’.

Rapper E.L., also won the heart of the audience when he performed ‘Kaalu’ backed by some sexy dancers.

The event also witnessed performances from Keche, the King of the Streets; Kwaw Kese, Nigerian music star Banky W, who also brought his sleekness onto the stage. The Nigerian music icon got patrons on their feet. When he dropped his smash hit ‘Yes/No’, the crowd couldn’t stop singing along.

The fastest rapper, Sarkodie rocked the stage like never before and his entire performance on stage was simply fantastic.

Sarkodie, who has carved a niche for himself, has been branded as one of the leading Hiplife icons with good stage performances.

R2Bees who stage a brilliant live musical performance rocked the audience to some of their hit tunes. Patrons danced to songs like, ‘It’s Alright’, ‘Life’ and ‘Odo’.

All those who had the opportunity to watch all the artistes live on stage would attest to the fact that Ghanaian music icons are ready to take the local music industry to another level.

Full list of winners:

Artiste of the Year

R2Bees

Vodafone Song Of The Year

‘Life (Walahi)’ – R2Bees

Best Collaboration Of The Year

‘Ka No Seyaa’ – Herty Bongreat & Trigmatic

Hip Hop Song Of The Year

‘Makaa Maka’ – Manifest

Hip Life Song Of The Year

‘Life (Walahi)’ – R2Bees

Gospel Artiste Of The Year

Herty Bongreat

Afro Pop Song Of The Year

‘Antenna’ – Fuse ODG

Hip Life/Hip Hop Artiste Of The Year

R2Bees

Gospel Song Of The Year

‘Zaphanat Panea’ – Nicholas Omane Acheampong

African Artiste Of The Year

Wizkid

Best Group Of The Year

R2Bees

Highlife Song Of The Year

‘Odo’ – R2Bees

Highlife Artiste Of The Year

Afriyie

New Artiste Of The Year

Kaakie

Reggae Dance Hall Song Of The Year

‘Toffee Pon Tongue’ – Kaakie

Album Of The Year

‘Something Else’ – E.L.

Gospel Album Of The Year

‘Mercy Project’ – Cwesi Oteng

Best Male Vocal Performance

Knii Lante – ‘House Of Pain’

Best Female Vocal Performance

Efya – ‘Best In Me’

Song Writer Of The Year

Kwame Nsiah Apau – ‘Sika’

Record Of The Year

‘Best In Me’ – Efya

Best Rapper

Manifest – ‘Makaa Maka’

Producer Of The Year

Killbeatz

By George Clifford Owusu

Jojo Abot

Ghanaian Afro-beat and jazz singer Jojo Abot would on Saturday, May 18, 2013, rock the Alliance Française in Accra with Ofie Kodjoe and Gyedu Blay-Ambolley as guests.

Abot, who was originally based in New York City (USA), combines an impressive vocal talent and stagecraft in her performances that are characterized with high energy and compositions that simply impress.

Influenced by Afro-beat legend Fela Kuti, highlife maestro; Ebo Taylor, Nigeria’s neo-soul singer; Asa, Australia’s jazz singer; Sia and jazz greats like Billie

Holiday, Abot has featured prominently in Accra’s independent music festivals such as “IndieFuse” and “ChaleWote”.

Her major solo shows include appearances at the Alliance Française, Goethe-Institut, National Theatre and the Movenpick Ambassador Hotel. She has also performed in many live shows at Accra’s best jazz spots like +233 Jazz, Bat & Grill, Taverna Tropicana and a number of live venues in New York City.

A talented entertainer, she has also worked as a model and actress, most recently as the lead actress in ‘Kwaku Ananse’, a focus feature that was premiered at Berlinale Film Festival in February and recently won the prestigious African Movie Awards.

Instrumentalists Band from the Tema International School(TIS), would open the concert, which is being sponsored by Institut Français(Ghana) and the Alliance Française (Accra)

By George Clifford Owusu

R2Bees

Vodafone has promised Ghanaians that this year’s Vodafone Ghana Music Awards (VGMA) would be a memorable one for patrons and music lovers across the country.

This year’s awards ceremony, according to the organizers, Charter House, would take place at the Accra International Conference Centre (AICC) tonight in Accra, Saturday, May 18.

In line with the theme, ‘The Next Level’, Vodafone aims at taking the Ghana Music Awards and the experience a notch higher; and would bring back the ‘Red Room’ this year as well as introduce a ‘Fun Park’, where music lovers could assemble to watch the award ceremony live on giant screens for free, with the complement of performances from several top artistes.

Uche Ofodile, Chief Marketing Officer of Vodafone explained,“We are bringing back the ‘Red Room’ bigger and better this year.  Just imagine, you have been given an exclusive invitation to the ‘red room’, we pick you up from the Movenpick Hotel and drive you to the venue to experience the ‘red room’ experience. We are trying to over-deliver on the expectations from last year, so there will be a lot of surprises in store for guests at our red room.”

“Secondly we have the fun park. So we are going to have huge TV screens at the Trade Fair and we are going to have it free for people to come and watch. In addition to that, we are going to have some of the artistes come through to perform as well. So if you are unable to come to the Conference Centre and you don’t want to watch it at home, and you want to watch it with a bunch of friends and music lovers, then Trade Fair is the place to be on Saturday,” she added.

Uche said although it was unfortunate that the VGMA could not be held at the Dome this year, Vodafone would make sure that the event still becomes a memorable one. She hoped that the Fun Park would help to bring the excitement closer to more people at the Trade Fair centre.

She said, “We intend to look at the silver lining in every challenge, so we will host it at the Conference Centre. It’s a nice venue and we are going to make sure the experience there is as amazing as we can. And the Fun Park will ensure that it even becomes bigger than then Dome because it can hold a lot more people. We are bringing through Ghana’s best. So a couple of nominated artistes will be performing at the Fun Park as well as a few upcoming artistes.”

Kofi Okyere Darko, aka KOD

Reports reaching BEATWAVES reveal that Kofi Okyere Darko, aka KOD, has been chosen to host this year’s Vodafone Ghana Music Awards which takes place tomorrow, Saturday, May 18, at the Accra International Conference Centre.

A suave man of style and an affable personality, KOD is undoubtedly one of the finest showbiz impresarios in the sub-region and a pioneer of private radio broadcasting in Ghana.

KOD is one of the most sought after national, corporate and social events hosts today, having hosted events like the United Nations-Waipa Gala Night, Nescafe African Revelations, Bands Alive on TV3, the maiden Edition of Miss Malaika, TV3 Mentor, Miss Ghana UK, Ghana@50 Celebrations in England and Switzerland, the annual Ghana meets Naija musical extravaganza, among others.

The trained Broadcast Journalist (with Radio Gold) has been part of Ghana Music Awards from its inception and served on both the selection and Academy for 12 years. KOD has also been the face of the VGMA’s Red Carpet for several years.

It has been an amazing journey for Kofi in showbiz, his passion for the music industry saw the establishment of Blaq Kapricorn, an events, artiste management company and record label before his 25^th birthday.

He was instrumental in the rise to fame of notable award-winning musicians like Tinny, 4X4, Wutah, Ofori Amponsah, Praye, Kofi B, among others.

KOD has gone through so many phases as a man of style and made his subtle debut on the continental platform when he designed an outfit for Kwaku T when he represented Ghana at Big Brother Africa 2008.

KOD, who owns Nineteen 57, a fashion house, is the brain behind the Rhythms On Da Runway fashion show and is one of the best fashion show organizers in Ghana today.

He has designed clothes for notable personalities including President Rawlings, late President Atta Mills, RLG Boss Roland Agambire, former Black Stars skipper Stephen Appiah, Michael Essien, Emmanuel Adebayor, Jamaican Reggae Star Buju Banton and Ghanaian International Gospel Star Sonnie Badu.

By George Clifford Owusu

Amandzeba Nat Brew, GHAMRO board member

The relentless war on piracy by the Ghana Music Rights Organization (GHAMRO) dubbed ‘Operation Jail the Pirates’ has resulted in a two-year jail term at the Nsawam Maximum Security Prison for 230-year-old Kofi Gyamfi for copyright infringement.

This occurred when AMA Motor and Sanitation Court at Abeka sentenced Gyamfi to a fine of six thousand Ghana Cedis (60 million old cedis) or in lieu of that, serve two years in prison after he pleaded guilty to the offence of reproducing and distributing musical and audiovisual works contrary to section 42(1) of Copyright Act 690.

Prosecuting, Inspector Hansen Armah told the court that on January 28, this year, the complainant, Eric Tetteh, together with his colleague members of the GHAMRO Taskforce in collaboration with the police, proceeded to Achimota and Lapaz lorry stations and found seven men, namely Kofi Gyamfi, Louis Ahiableh, Yaw Asante, Sampson Amegator, Justice  Oppong, Yaw Mike, and Nicholas Nuamah, 1^st to 7^th accused persons respectively, with laptops and other devices copying and selling songs unlawfully for commercial purposes  without  authorization of Music Right Owners represented by GHAMRO.

They were subsequently arrested, sent to Tesano Police Station and processed for court. Gyamfi pleaded guilty and was sentenced, but the other six who pleaded not guilty were remanded at Nsawam Prison and subsequently granted bail in the sum of one thousand Ghana cedis each. They have since appeared before court several times.

In another development, the GHAMRO Taskforce has conducted a massive raid on music pirates simultaneously in three different locations- Osu, 37 and Labadi Palm Wine junction, during which several persons illegally downloading and selling songs were apprehended and sent to the Tesano Police Station. They are to appear before court on Friday May 17.

GHAMRO Taskforce head Daniel Adjei, aka Dan Ray stated that the war on piracy will continue until sanity prevails in Ghana’s Music Industry.

The Kantamanto market land is still an issue and would be so for many months to come. With the Ghana Railway Development Authority laying bare its plan to develop the place into a modern terminal, the plans announced by the Chief Executive Officer of the Accra Metropolitan Assembly (AMA) sound like a kind of joke full of weirdness given the assortment of claims over the land in question.

If there is anything like confusion among government agencies over a piece of public land, this is a typical example and it is a sad reflection of how governance has been reduced in the country today.

The traditional owners of the land have also jumped into the fray demanding a renewal of the deal, which led to the ceding of the land to government.

The whole episode gives the subject a non-serious posture. In the face of the confusion and somewhat bad faith, the victims of the controversial fire stand helpless not knowing what to believe.

A certain meeting is said to have been planned for next week by the fire victims and government agents but we wonder whether there is any iota of sincerity in such engagements when there is confusion about the legal status of the land in question.

Did the AMA chief not understand what was at stake when he made his controversial announcement about a so-called modern market? He surely did not know that with the rule of law prevailing in the country today such undertakings call for adequate research before the campaign trail-rating announcement he spewed soon after the inferno.

From all indications, the AMA has no authority talking about developing the controversial land into a modern market, the place being the property of another government agency.

According to the Transport Minister, Gifty Attivor, the acquisition of the property dates back to 1901.

Hearing her yesterday even as she applied diplomacy, lest she sounded bellicose, it was not difficult to deduce that the Kantamanto land will remain in the doldrums for a long time to come.

The primary responsibility of every government is to provide for the needs of its people. The victims of Kantamanto could easily say they have been let down by their own government given their helplessness in the wake of what befell them.

Having suffered the rubbing of salt into the injury inflicted upon them after the blaze which reduced their fortunes to ashes recently, they are being subjected to confused remarks by various state agencies.

In this traumatic state of theirs, the last thing the victims of the Kantamanto fire should countenance is outright mendacity from government officials, who without doubt, are confused about what to do.

Telling the victims the truth at this stage would be more beneficial to them than keeping them in perpetual limbo.

Joe Ghartey

Hon. Joe Ghartey has called for the telecasting of future high-notched corruption cases. What a fantastic proposal. We could not have agreed more with the position, whose many advantages towards reducing to the barest minimum, the endemic graft threatening our political morality is beyond reproach.

Given the uselessness of the varied interventions so far to reduce graft in public institutions and others outside them, such novelties as giving opportunities to many Ghanaians to simultaneously listen to and watch proceedings about corruption cases in court should not be hushed.

The negative repercussions of graft in any given community are too apparent to be ignored, more so, in a newfound oil-driven economy.

Our economic status as an oil-exporting country predisposes us to corruption, something civil society organisations and politicians claim have started showing up already. When such cases pop up, as they surely will, the courts must deal with them. Being novelties when they occur, the need to give ample opportunity to curious Ghanaians to learn and know the issues at stake should not be overlooked.

We have heard many contributions supporting the Honourable gentleman’s position and encourage others who would not see the goodness in the arrangement to remove their political lenses and be objective, for once, about the proposal.

As we advance in experience in our practice of democracy, unknown challenges are bound to emerge and these must be tackled in the best of forms so that questions about bias or objectivity would not rear their heads.

We can bet our last cedi that the advantages inherent in the novelty of opening up the Supreme Court to television cameras far outweigh shutting the bowels of the courtroom to the public.

We recall how some opponents of the novelty, even when it was already operational, sought to give it a bad name and hang it; an undertaking which matched attributes of political machinations. With a general consensus about the goodness of the undertaking, it has survived the intrigues and even waxed stronger with the passing days.

In a similar vein, it is our take that Parliament should, as a matter of urgency, give a legislative backing to the proposal so that Ghanaians would not be victims of propagandists, who would stop at nothing to throw dust into the eyes of their compatriots.

When persons entangled in graft are showed live defending themselves against the facts of the case in full glare of the public as they view the proceedings, the war against corruption would gain an important impetus.

Understanding how corrupt public officials ply their trade is an important way of discouraging others from meddling in graft. Naming and shaming corrupt public officials and their accomplices in the private sector will be enhanced when television cameras are allowed in the courtrooms.

Morality in officialdom is now an endangered virtue. Instances of top public officials resorting to outright lies when they are especially ensnared in the web of immorality are worryingly rampant.

The moral anomaly instructively goes hand-in-hand with graft. Most of the lies recorded in officialdom are spewed to protect corrupt activities- an aberration which appears to be mutating dangerously and pervading all public institutions, leaving in its wake major structural cracks.

So endemic has it become today that it is losing its importance, even as front page stories in media establishments. This is an apt indication about how deep the aberration has eaten into the social fabric.

The Government information machinery must work hard to restore its lost image among most Ghanaians. The perception that this department is largely a propaganda outfit whose releases must be ingested with a pinch of salt is responsible for its image predicament.

A few months ago the information minister struggled to correct credibility-deficient disclosures emanating from his office, among which is the name-change of the Flagstaff House. His stuttering efforts left him bereft of the confidence and virility needed for his occupation.

Sincerity in government and public institutions no longer matter in the scheme of things. Public servants and political office holders through public relations officers throw so much dust into the eyes of members of the public that it would seem like these persons are not answerable to the people they are supposed to serve.

One of the leading private newspapers did a story recently about how an American company accused the Chief Executive of the Accra Metropolitan Assembly of demanding bribe from them before a certain contract could materialize in their favour.

The money was going to be shared among some top men at the Finance Ministry, he allegedly explained to the foreigners who lost the deal because they did not play ball. Nothing has happened since the publication and the official has not been questioned about the allegation.

We have had cause to point out the many anomalies regarding recruitment into the Police Service including promotion – something the administration always denies through its PR department.

A recent story about how some top officials were caught red-handed engaged in the recruitment anomalies, confirmed the widespread instances of graft in the law-enforcement agency.

Even before the foregone, some officers were nabbed at the Police Hospital engaged in medical examination procedures for some willing bribe payers. Although the story made disgusting headlines, the public is yet to hear what punitive action was taken against the culprits.

The toddling oil industry is already mired in widespread graft, as a mafia fiefdom is gaining root. Perhaps it is already suffering the resource curse associated with the natural endowment.

Our country is close to the precipice, propelled by an accelerated and multifaceted incidence of graft, leaving no institution untouched.

Korle Bu

Pregnant women due for delivery at the maternity ward of the Korle Bu Teaching Hospital were Saturday redirected to the surgical department because the theatre at that ward had been closed down.

Joy News sources said the theatre was shut down due to power failure Saturday.

A staff of the hospital who pleaded anonymity confirmed the closure to Joy News.
He explained that, two stand-by generators for the centre have all broken down resulting in the shutdown.

According to the staff, “all these generators are not working and what this means is that management has not paid real attention” to the problem.
Joy News also understands the wiring systems in the theatre were found to be faulty and were being fixed Saturday night when Joy News’ Fred Smith visited the hospital.
All patients being operated upon had been transferred to the main surgical department of the hospital during Joy News’ visit.
Joy News sources said the transfer of patients is also causing serious congestion at the surgical department and warns of infections at the wards.
Public Relations Officer of the hospital Mustapha Salifu declined to go on record but explained on telephone that a routine maintenance work had been carried out at the maternity ward.

Myjoyonline

A Pregnant Woman

Ghana’s hope of meeting the Millennium Development Goal 5, to improve maternal healthcare is under threat despite the introduction of programmes such as the Free Maternal Care Initiative (FMHCI) in July 2008, to accelerate the process.

A survey conducted by the Alliance for Reproductive Health Rights as part of its Transparency and Accountability Project and copied to the Ghana News Agency indicated many women continue to deliver their babies outside health facilities.

The study utilised a Citizen Report Card (CRC) to assess the FMHCI as well as to ascertain gaps in its implementation.

It revealed that issues of hidden cost at the level of the health facility discouraged pregnant women from accessing the free maternal care.

The CRC is a social accountability tool used to assess public service delivery in terms of quality, reliability, satisfaction, corruption and usage.

According to the statement, the study sought to, among others, understand the extent to which rural women in three districts were benefitting from the free maternal health care initiative.

It also ascertained the existence of corruption, problem redress, factors affecting access and usage, levels of satisfaction and the quality and reliability of skilled delivery services by September 30, 2012.

The study was conducted within three regions in three administrative districts – Juaboso (Western Region); Offinso (Ashanti Region) and Bongo (Upper East Region) based on the relatively low uptake of skilled delivery.

It was apparent that the mere removal of usage charges was not enough to persuade a significant majority of women to utilise delivery care services because many of them did not have the wherewithal to pay for the related hidden charges or costs.

These charges included payments for antenatal cards, hospitals supplies like soap, beddings, Dettol, cost payment for burying placenta, mackintosh, food and some items, which should be available, but unfortunately were not supplied at health centres.

The study noted that: “Health Promotion Educational campaigns aimed at improving comprehensive knowledge about the entire benefit package of the Free Maternal Healthcare Initiative should be strengthened”.

“The campaign should be targeted towards giving reliable, factual and comprehensive information and describing the full range of FMHCI as well as benefits of accessing free delivery care.”

The study recommended that the implementation of the policy as evidenced by the responses of both health officials and patients alike indicated that the operational barriers that hindered the successful implementation of the initiative must be addressed in a holistic manner in order to ensure progress.

“Hidden cost associated with deliveries, which should be available, but unfortunately, are not available at health centres; among others must be removed if indeed the initiative was meant to be free,” the study concluded.

GNA

Irene Joyce Acquah receiving one of the streetlights from Nana Ato Arthur at Kissi

The Member of Parliament (MP) for Komenda-Edina-Eguafo-Abrem (KEEA), Dr Stephen Nana Ato Arthur, has presented 50 streetlights worth GH¢15,000 to three health centres and some communities in his constituency in a bid to improve the lighting systems in the area.

The beneficiary centres are Kissi Health Centre, Abrem-Agona Health Centre, Elmina Heath Centre, Eguafo Senior High School and the Elmina Market.

At the ceremony, Dr Ato Arthur stated that the donation was in response to the requests made by the organizations when he visited them to ascertain some of the problems confronting them.

At Elmina, the KEEA Municipal Director of Education, Quaning Kofi Mends, made the donation of streetlights which he said would help improve the healthcare delivery systems in the district. He thanked the MP for the kind gesture and appealed for more help from other organizations since government alone could not assist in the healthcare delivery of the country.

At Kissi, the medical assistant in charge of the centre, Irene Joyce Acquah applauded Dr Arthur for his prompt response to their request and urged him to speed up works on the deplorable roads that they have in the community which was making access to healthcare difficult.

Mrs Acquah used the occasion to appeal to the MP to also solve the accommodation problems facing staff of the health centre.

The Queenmother of Kissi and Adontenhen of Komenda Traditional Area, Nana Efua Badu II, appealed to the MP to help construct drainage systems in the community to prevent flooding anytime it rained.

At the Elmina Market, the MP noted that the streetlights would help improve the security situation in the area, especially for the traders.

From Sarah Afful, Elmina

Drugs

Pharmacists across the country under the leadership of the Government and Hospitals Pharmacists Association (GHOSPA) would begin rendering emergency services to HIV/AIDS and critically ill in-patients at psychiatric hospitals.

This followed an assurance by the government through the Minister of Health, Sherry Ayittey, to resolve the issue of their conversion difference and agreed structure within 30 days.

Stephen Okoe Corquaye, GHOSPA president who confirmed the decision of the association to DAILY GUIDE said the association’s agreement to provide services for HIV/AIDS patients and in-patients of psychiatric hospital was as a result of the  impact of the strike action on these two categories of people.

“Those with HIV/AIDS may develop resistance to the drugs they are taking and that may increase their health bill and in-patients at the psychiatric hospitals may have a withdrawal syndrome or relapse,” he said.

Mr Corquaye however noted that the association had not called off its strike action but was rather putting a human face to the situation as their issues were being resolved by government.

“We have said we are not happy with the situation more so when the Fair Wages and Salaries Commission (FWSC) is not complying with the National Labour Commission’s (NLC) ruling to use the agreed structure,” he said.

He added that government, through the NLC, should enforce their ruling for the FWSC to comply with the verdict that the agreed structure and conversion difference be used for grading the pharmacists.

“For four months now, the FWSC have not complied with the directive of the NLC and the NLC have done nothing about it but in the case of the Ghana Medical Association (GMA), they went to court to enforce their ruling, why are they not doing the same for us?” he asked.

The president of GHOSPA further indicated that the association was willing to call off the strike, should they have a written commitment from government to solve their grievances.

“We have already dealt with the issue at the NLC, and we want a written commitment from government that will make us rescind our decision so the other issues can be addressed within the 30-day period,” he said.

Mr Corquaye urged the public not to put the blame on the pharmacists but the authorities who had failed to implement the decision of the NLC.

GHOSPA intensified its month-long strike action two weeks ago, by withdrawing emergency services to psychiatric patients and the provision of Anti Retro-Viral (ARV) drugs.

The action was necessitated by the Fair Wages and Salaries Commission’s (FWSC) failure to abide by the ruling of the National Labour Commission (NLC) to use the grading structure provided by the Ghana Health Service (GHS) for pharmacists.

The NLC had, in an earlier hearing of the case, dismissed an application by the Fair Wages and Salaries Commission (FWSC) which sought to stay execution of its ruling that the FWSC should use the grading structure provided by the GHS for pharmacists.

The NLC in their ruling directed the FWSC to put the pharmacists on the right levels as stipulated in the salary structure presented by the GHS and also resolve the issue of market premium; however, the FWSC had done nothing about the directive given by the NLC.

By Jamila Akweley Okertchiri

Some of the beneficiaries

The National Lottery Authority (NLA) last Thursday registered about 500 people under the National Health Insurance Scheme (NHIS) in Cape Coast, in the Central Region.

The beneficiaries who could not afford to register under the scheme were drawn from Brofoyedur, Kadadwen and Aboom and were between the ages of 18 and 70.

Addressing the beneficiaries, the Director of Specialist Project at NLA, George E. Gyamfi-Osew said the registration cost GH¢5,000.

He stated that the registration formed part of the company’s corporate social responsibility.

Mr Gyamfi-Osew said that they consulted the chiefs in Cape Coast about a year ago on some of the things they wanted NLA to do for the community and the chiefs mentioned renovation of the Cape Coast Metropolitan Hospital and registration of NHIS for the less privileged in the area.

He revealed that the NLA would renew the cards when they were due for renewal.

Mr Gyamfi-Osew disclosed that the NLA had two big projects to be completed this year, namely, the renovation of the Cape Coast Metropolitan Hospital and the registration of the people under the NHIS in the area.

The Director of Specialist Project noted that the NLA believed a healthy people made a healthy nation; hence, the need to help improve on the health sector of the country to enable people to contribute their quota towards the development of the country.

Later in an interview, a 70-year old fisherman, Kweku Mensah, thanked the NLA for the registration and said he would not have gotten money to register if they had not come to their aid.

He appealed to Non-Governmental Organizations (NGOs) and other benevolent organizations to come to the aid of the unemployed in the country.

 From Sarah Afful, Cape Coast

Kwasi Ansu-Kyeremeh

It is a Swahili road sign, which etched somewhere in my brain system when I saw it in Mwalimu Nyerere’s Dar-es-Salaam in the early 1970s. Pole, pole, kabisa, I am told means slow, slow, completely slow or slow down completely; slow to a stop.

At the time, little could I have conjectured that my motherland, our motherland, would someday be dragged slowly, slowly through a judicial process in search of election justice.

It’s been drama, mainly a tale of two. One is thick-lipping, perhaps lisping haggardly looking and lawyerly struggling like to nowhere. Haggardness and desperados are kin. The other is lip-thin smart, brilliantly answering his way into history as an enviable well-composed witness before the highest adjudicating assembly of the motherland.

They are asking, that is, my compatriots of the motherland and I too. We are asking whether a law lord (bench) can stop his learned colleague (bar) to stop talking a talk that looks like talk, an ordinary talk. We are wondering about a pole, pole talk that is clearly kabisa leading.

Our world has many twists and turns. Our world is such that humility and modesty seem to have lasting positive impressions than boastful braggadocio attitude by which egos are bloated and therefore easily crash below expectation.

It is now a drama of pink-sheeting. Thank God it is a double ‘e’ that is not replaced with an ‘i.’ It is boredom. It is dourly and of dourness.

Long rope, long, long rope is what I hear the masters and mistresses of peace give to parties to put it to witnesses and themselves. They say the appeal trick is now so apparently tricky that any tricks to trick my compatriots would turn out to be too overtly tricky. And so the rope must be even longer. No shortness for any appeal plans to easily succeed.

But my compatriots, I wish you knew the repercussions of the long, long rope for a fledgling economy, an ecomini.

The Kufuor boom years seem to have masked what is now, by all indications, a bust. Not much, maybe even nothing seems to be coming in from anywhere.

Even the ‘galamsey’ trade-off for the three and a something billion loan does not seem to see the Sino billions materializing anytime soon. So everywhere you go, it is a failing economy. From what I hear, the longer rope is given for he puts boringly to continue to put, the more whatever is left of the economy also suffers.

They, on whose behalf the putting is being put, care less. They have stuffed their cheeks and lined their pockets to the chagrin of my compatriots. Bones are what they have left for my compatriot Lazaruses.

Going by the Joshua hosanna during which my compatriots were trampling over each other, overwhelming numbers seem most willing and perhaps even able to play the Lazarus suffer-to-gain game.

These numbers probably care less about whether putting it to witnesses thick-liply ends today, tomorrow or never.

They could, possibly, be interested in the cross-examination life-span if someone would promise them good time in the life hereafter.

It is so because they have given up any kind of hope. He who is in charge of distributing the meat says it is left with bones. And a compatriot observed they recently found axes to smash the bones for the marrow.

Pole, pole we can march with cross-examination. Pole, pole, kabisa we can crawl towards election petition judgment. It is still well, maybe even very well for some of my compatriots who care more about life hereafter than claiming a piece of the marrow which is the only thing close to meat left in the bones.

Someone, once, used to sing: ‘Fish head, fish head; bony, bony, fish head; fish head fish head, eat them up yumm.’ Boiled, not fried tilapia head, maybe yum for some of my compatriots; though not for all. A deep fried or grilled head may not be that yummy.

Fish head smoked could be worse for an appetite. Whether some want, and may or may not have part of the leftover bones or would want none of it, cross-examination continues.

It may be hard to guess the direction. But one day one day my compatriots and I would get to know if the point being made that the errors pointed out by the petitioners were not the only ones; that they the petitioners selectively chose what pleased them or would help their course.

None will dare say by the petitioners committing errors in their evidence, massive election errors cannot be a big deal; that such errors always occur and cannot be used to annul results. Of course, minor errors may be forgiven; massive errors mean cheating, naked robbery and therefore election results that deserve annulment.

Bible

THE HUSBAND’S LOVE

“Love…. is not proud”(1 Corinthians 13:4-6) is one of the great precepts preached by St. Paul concerning husband-wife relationship in the Christian Home. This applies to the husband’s emotional attitude as well as to that of the wife. But for the meantime, we shall look at that which pertains to the husband.

A proud husband is full of self-esteem. That is to say, he regards himself so much that he always looks down upon the wife and considers her as an inferior person from a poor home or clan. Usually, a proud husband is the no-nonsense type.  For instance, he would go out and come back home late, rather suspiciously; but he is not a person to brook any whys-and-wheres questions from the wife. To any such questions, either he would be annoyed and fall into fierce tantrums, banging on the tables or threatening the wife with beatings or he may arrogantly throw an irate glance at her, and like a dumb person, silently dash down to bed; damn the wife’s serious concerns!

Do you know there are homes where some husbands are so proud; they will not talk in a friendly way to their wives? Those husbands squeeze their faces or always frighteningly scowl at their wives, and won’t talk, but merely shout orders.

That is really bad! Husbands should always open up to their wives. However busy they are, they should find time to chat with their wives, joke with them, laugh together and sometimes play happily together like brother and sister, such games as ludo, snakes and ladders, cards, etc.

Really, social scientists are of the view that nowadays, owing to the influence of television, husbands and wives scarcely have time to play together. Instead, they love to sit by the television watching films. But TV entertainment should not in anyway be made to take the place of husband-wife fun or friendly games; for these have the more positive psychological effects of bringing them together or ever uniting their hearts much more firmly. Definitely, such indoor games have the capabilities of freezing or completely dissolving any pride in either of the couple.

Next is –“love…is not rude”. The word rude comes from the Latin ‘rudis’ which means ‘rough’. In other words, St. Paul’s statement, “love is not rude” means love is not rough or ungentle. That, in turn, means husbands should not treat their wives rudely or roughly, but speak to them or behave to them in a gentle way.

By the way, this word ‘rude’ is different from what is obtained in St. Paul’s remark in Second Corinthian’s 11:6 –“though I be rude in speech, yet not in knowledge”. That doesn’t mean St. Paul was rude, so we should imitate him. No, never! The phrase “rude in speech” in this context means: frank in the art of speaking.

Now to the seventh of the Pauline precept: “love….is not self-seeking”. Have you heard of a husband who always seeks the best of everything for himself the best of meals, –the best of clothing, food, etc. –whilst disregarding the best of what the wife is to get?

The husband takes rich, nourishing diet: rice water with milk and sugar; with margarine, jam, fried eggs and salad to boot, whilst the wife is consigned to the hard banku ke shito ke kenam meals (a type of kenkey plus ground pepper and hard fried fish).

Look at a self-seeking man who doesn’t mind buying much beer for his friends, or who doesn’t care giving plenty of money away as funeral donations, all to court cheap popularity and fame for himself, whilst his wife and children languish in poverty and hunger! A husband in real love thinks about his wife first, for the best of things in life.

Come to St. Paul’s next assertion: “love is not easily angered”. A husband who has genuine love for his wife is never easily provoked into anger. On the contrary, he ignores any provocative action or statement of the wife, and forgives her. In fact, it is suggested that if a husband always easily reacts angrily to a wife’s kind statement, it means his love for the wife is either at a low ebb or has fallen to zero degree.

And such husbands lay themselves open to suspicion –suspicion that they have got some other women somewhere, that they are playing a double game, which makes them disregard the ‘old’ wives and adore the ‘new’ women. But this should not happen in Christian Home. Of course, disagreements are bound to occur in Christian marriages; but when they degenerate into angry exchanges, then the devil, with his destructive devices, has jumped into the couple’s relationship, intending to snap it asunder.

“Love…..keeps no record” is our next consideration. Do you know there are some husbands who strangely keep secret dairies about their wives so-called misbehavior? At any explosive moment such offended husbands begin to read out all such wrongs to their mothers or father-in-law, for the purpose of seeking justification for whatever action they intend taking. Other men keep dairies in their hearts, and would not easily forget even the minor mistakes these wives commit. This is most unfortunate. After all, which person does not commit mistakes in this world? No one is an angel. So if the wife offends, it is for the husband to forgive.

Our discussions on husband’s love towards the wife shall be continued later.

THE WIFE’S LOVE

Having dealt with some aspects of the husband’s love towards the wife in the Christian home (according to St. Paul’s talks on love), I shall now deem it expedient to turn to the wife’s love and discuss it in terms of the same Paulian scriptures.

First of all, it is to be borne in mind that St. Paul’s admonition, “Husbands, love your wives as Christ also loved the church and gave himself for it, so should man love their wives as their own bodies” (Ephesians 5:25-28) does not imply that it is the husband who alone should love or show love, thus ruling out the manifestation of the wife’s love towards the husband. No!

Love in marriage is a two-way affair, and this is re-echoed in St. Paul’s assertion: “for you yourselves have been taught by God to love each other” (1 Thessalonians 4:9) which contextually implies ‘mutual love’, what in Greek is known as ‘philadelphia’.

Thus the kind of love also expected from a wife should operate on four planes –spiritual, mental, emotional and physical. The spiritual love of the wife towards the husband can be expressed variously: through intercession or praying for the husband’s well-being; for success in his business, good health, promotion in his job, and protection; or through her joining the husband in worshipping the Lord in private devotions at home and in church.

In some Christian homes, there unfortunately exists that sort of spiritual or religious disagreement in which the wife is seen to be a member of a different denomination, say Methodist or Presbyterian or Lutheran or Pentecost, whilst the husband is a Catholic or vice versa. When for instance, a Pentecostal wife refuses to join her Catholic husband in the Catholic Church, both of them find it difficult to come together to pray or worship at home, because of certain doctrinal differences.

There is a spiritual disunity here. If care is not taken, this disunity may often work itself up into sharp dissensions over some Bible doctrines, in which for example, the Pentecost wife may frivolously or impiously deride the Catholic husband’s use of the rosary, or may ignorantly denounce the husband’s use of a statue on the prayer altar as amounting to idol worshipping; and this may explode in serious quarrels that might land the marriage into troubles.

The solution to this often lies in the wife’s consent to attend the husband’s church; and that compromise is in fact the highest expression of her spiritual love for the husband. But where, both have agreed to let each other go to his or her church then there must be such mutual tolerance as may sometimes impel them to pray together.

In fact, spiritual unity between husband and wife is a point stressed more cogently by Prophet Amos who rhetorically asks: “Can two walk together, except they have agreed to do so”? (Amos 3:3). The key word here is ‘agreed’, which means a spiritual fusion. Love in this respect, means: readiness to agree with one’s partner. So if the wife really loves her husband, she quickly agrees to the husband’s loving suggestion to attend the same church or to pray together.

Where there is such agreement, spiritual love is richly intensified or heightened to lofty heights, and this may express itself also in the wife’s act of inviting the husband to pray together or fast or sing or learn the Scriptures together. It is to be noted that singing religious songs is either a form of praying or praising God, and it conduces to a great spiritual growth, if the couple often sing together. Fasting can also be done by the wife alone (or plus the husband) if she needs something very urgent from the lord on behalf of her husband. And such an initiative, of course, show great love.

Next is ‘mental’ love from the wife which expresses itself in the act of studying the Word of God with the husband. Oftentimes, the wife plays second fiddle in this exercise, but where the husband is deficient in Bible Knowledge and the wife is more proficient, then it is incumbent on her to lead in Bible studies and discussions in a brother-sister mood. This should be devoid of derision or unnecessary rebuke when either wife or husband goes wrong.

Studying the Word of God may take the form of reading a passage of the Bible and discussing its context or meaning, and general relevance to various aspects of life. Notes can be taken where necessary. Thus armed with very good knowledge of the Bible, the couple can teach the children some Scriptures or give them simple Bible quizzes. At least the weekends can be allotted for husband-wife Bible studies and Bible teachings.

In all these Bible studies and teachings, the wife is expected to play a pivotal role. She may have to prepare the Bible studies table and chairs, assists in the teaching of the Bible to the children, etc. Her interest or enthusiasm in Bible studies and religious discussions in the Christian home is always very essential.

By Apostle Kwamena Ahinful

Ghana Flag

“Eloi, Eloi, lama sabachthani?” – which means, “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?”

-  Mathew 27:46

“A crisis that reoccurs a second time is a crisis that must not occur again. A well-managed plant, I soon learned is a quiet place. A well-managed factory is boring. Nothing exciting happens in it because the crises have been anticipated and have been converted into routine”.

-  Peter Drucker

I wonder what comments Peter Drucker would make of the Ghanaian situation if he were around.

This is a country where crisis keeps on occurring and we move from one crisis to another without any solutions.

We create problems rather than finding solutions.

I wonder what comments Lee Kuan Yew would make if he were to visit Ghana for the second time and assess the Ghana he saw over 40 years ago when he first visited the country.

Corruption is destroying this country. This is a country born into corruption, baptized in corruption, nurtured in corruption, brought up in corruption, educated in corruption and spent all its adult working days in corruption and made to believe that the only way to salvation is to die in corruption. Today, the corruption which had engulfed our leaders during the Kwame Nkrumah era has assumed an unprecedented gargantuan proportion moving from Kalabule and Gyinabu of Acheampong NRC administration to Woyomegate and Akomfemgate under the Mills and Mahama NDC administration. Contracts are packaged and awarded to only those who are prepared to pay bribes.

Our greedy leaders, both appointed and elected, with high propensity and insatiable gluttony for corruption are heavily involved in shady deals robbing the country of needed limited resources for development and growth. Our greedy leaders, both appointed and elected, with high propensity and insatiable gluttony for corruption, are not just involved in outright theft of state resources but are also selling the country to pale faced crooked foreign businessmen.

Our greedy leaders, both appointed and elected, with high propensity and insatiable gluttony for corruption personally move from one office to another of crooked foreign businessmen, many of them without entry permits, resident permits and working permits, collecting envelopes stuffed with $10,000 as a price for selling the country.

It is a fact that our greedy leaders, both elected and appointed, with high propensity and insatiable gluttony for corruption, no longer wait in their offices to receive the bribes consisting of $10,000 stacked in envelopes.

Expensive vehicles and houses in foreign countries are very often thrown into the bargain as the purchase price for selling off the country to these crooked foreign businessmen.

Our greedy leaders, both appointed and elected, with high propensity and insatiable gluttony for corruption, virtually beg for admission and scholarship for their children in foreign universities from crooked foreign businessmen as prices for selling the country’s resources cheaply. Our greedy leaders, both elected and appointed, with high propensity and insatiable gluttony for corruption, offer themselves at very cheap prices for their treachery and the crooked foreign businessmen in turn offer cheap prizes. Our leaders, both elected and appointed, with high propensity and insatiable gluttony for corruption, nowadays take the short route to the offices of these crooked foreign businessmen to collect these bribes themselves. They then sell the nation so cheaply to these foreign crooks. The foreign crooks come into the country without the requisite entry and resident permits as well as working permits and establish businesses such as ICT schools and centres, vehicle distribution companies,  retail businesses, enter into the oil and gas industry, involve themselves in galamsey, evade taxes and custom duties, carry out illegal electricity and water connections, involve themselves in businesses reserved for the locals, take over prime areas for massive residential building projects, establish churches where massive collections are made weekly which eventually find the way out of the country.

These crooked foreign businessmen claim dual nationality while they siphon all the cedis they earn out of the country in the form of United States dollars by beating the foreign exchange legal regime. Very often, these crooked foreign businessmen come with little or no working capital to their names. However, the local banks open their doors to them offering them mouthwatering credit facilities and within a short time they become dollar millionaires. Our greedy leaders, both appointed and elected, with high propensity and insatiable gluttony for corruption fly out on holidays arranged for them free of charge paid for by these crooked foreigners. Our greedy leaders, both appointed and elected, with high propensity and insatiable gluttony for corruption, compromise their entrusted positions and sell the nation’s birthright to these crooked foreigners mostly made up of Chinese, Indians, Pakistanis, Syrians, Lebanese, Malaysians and some western businessmen.

The largesse appears massive for the greedy and unpatriotic leaders, both elected and appointed, with high propensity and insatiable gluttony for corruption. However, they are chicken feed to these crooked foreign bribe payers. However, they come at a big cost to the nation.

The illegal Chinese galamsey operators can gun down locals with impunity without the law dealing with them. Taxes and custom duties which could be used for development and growth are lost to the state and channeled into private pockets, the collection of government revenue can be compromised and taxes meant for the consolidated fund swept under the carpet.

The additional  price the nation pays for these heinous crimes is that our environment is degraded and  destroyed, our forest reserves are  depleted, our water bodies are polluted, Ghanaians workers employed by these pale faced foreigners are paid peanuts as starvation wages which amount to hand to chin wages and as part of the bargain treated as dirt with no rights to form unions or access to SSNIT contribution,  our telephone system can be operated at the lowest level of inefficiency to the discomfort of the suffering consumer illegal electricity and water connections suddenly become legal without any punishment to the offenders.

Illegal and unaccustomed goods like textiles, counterfeit products including fake drugs and expired consumer products can be allowed through our borders and onto the market. Cocoa and coffee, minerals like gold and diamond can be smuggled across the border with impunity.  I can still recollect the day Anas Arimiyaw Anas famous exposure on customs broke out. All what our late President Mills could do was to explode with righteous indignation and threaten the men and women of the custom institution on TV that the next time such callous atrocities are allowed to occur, there would be massive transfer of staff. In this country transfer is seen as punishment. The worst which happens to corrupt people is just to name them when the right thing to do is to name, shame and jail them. Who can doubt that fact that the impunity at the lower levels keep on occurring with persistent accuracy and timing because those at the top benefit from it and are worse offenders.

It took the courage of a late IGP Bawa Yakubu to admit there could hardly be any police officer who had not taken bribe before, (perhaps with the exception of the fine police officer of blessed memory famously called “Abban”). Can anybody show me a virgin in maternity hospital?

In all these criminal endeavours, these crooked foreigners are very often aided by locals who find themselves in leadership positions like chiefs, assembly men and women and opinion leaders. These locals are paid pittance either for acting as front men or conduit pipe for these crooked foreign businessmen

There is so much corruption in this country presently because right from the dawn of independence, the epicentre of the corruption industry has always been at the seat of Government. Subsequent governments we have had have all polished up and oiled the corruption machinery they met, researched into it, perfected the way the loot stolen can be hidden while covering their tracks. We have reached a state in the corruption industry where an alleged criminal standing trial for illegal collection and receipt of state funds can hold a press conference, exuding self-confidence and clothed in moral fibre, threatening to name names of his alleged accomplices and everybody who matters in the society keeps quiet instead of daring him to a duel of conscience to name names. We have reached a stage in the corruption industry where the highest officer entrusted with the affairs of the state can announce loudly and clear that the entire flesh belonging to the nation has been eaten away leaving a bone which is even useless to the dog with the toughest teeth and strongest jaws to munch and yet it takes only a lonely Man of God from Obuasi, the Soweto of Ghana, to challenge him to come out with names of the people who ate away the entire flesh.

Indeed, just as any idiot can go to court and such idiot is already  in court, any idiot can ascend to the highest office of the land with so much sycophancy, bootlicking, hen-pecked husband attitude towards affairs of the state and dog in the manger attitude and give it to God syndrome on the part of the citizens.

The sad situation and the reality facing this country today is that we have criminals in government who came to power through criminal ways, we have criminals managing our state institutions and who are all looting the state coffers with impunity. As if that is not enough these greedy bustards are also selling the nation’s birthright to crooked foreigners and are diligently and with impunity introducing tribalism into our national life, a canker Dr. Kwame Nkrumah fought to a standstill and won.

Suddenly persons with certain tribal names or deemed to be coming from certain parts of the country or are known not to belong to the ruling party are treated as second class citizens. Certain particular region in the country has been declared no go area by criminal gangs in full glare of the security services. Ghana, forget, we can never make it. Every morning when I hear the song birds singing telling me it is time to wake up, I look at my black skin and look up to the heavens and I exclaim, Oh Allah, why did you bring me here.

E-mail: makgyasi@ug.edu.gh

By Kwame Gyasi

Kwesi Biney

To Be Honest, As This World Goes, Is To Be

One Man Picked Out Of Ten Thousand

(Hamlet, Shakespeare)

Sometimes my diminishing hope for the future of this country under John Mahama and his team of corrupt incompetent fortune grabbers of no comparison in the history of the leadership of this country is stalled, when a glimmer of hope from an unknown quarter shines out there. One of the major reasons why this country is taken for granted by politicians is the fact that many organized groups and leaders of very influential bodies prefer remaining silent, at least publicly over actions and inactions of governments which affect their lives and the nation as a whole.

I remember that in the Gen. Acheampong era when the fortunes of this country were moving slowly but unstoppable into an abyss, a number of bodies and individuals rose up in defence of this country at the peril of their lives. I remember the late Mr. Amarteifio, who became known as Mr. No because of his public opposition to the UNIGOV referendum introduced by the regime. I remember the Professional Bodies Association of Ghana which stood up and spoke publicly against the government’s governance style and in the interest of the nation.

I also remember the Movement for Freedom and Justice (MFJ) which brought together all people from various political divides to challenge the state of affairs and call for a return to a constitutional democratic means of governing this country. The now moribund or toothless National Union of Ghana Students (NUGS) which in the years of yore was the intellectual lamp for this country where opaqueness and non-accountability in governance were exposed while the ‘Legon Observer’ brought to the nation the intellectual angle of what was going on. The Bishops Conference of the Catholic Church contributed immensely to the struggle to correct the aberration in governance in those times.

Indeed, it was the collective non-violent actions of the above groups and individuals like Nana Addo Danquah Akufo-Addo, Kweku Baako, Kwesi Pratt and others who have passed on to glory, which led to the Palace Coup of Gen. Akwasi Akufo and finally the June 4^th Revolution. Over the years, many such organizations have either been dissolved or the individuals have taken a different position in life because of changing circumstances. It must be stated, however, that the underlining principles which led to the actions of the above groups and individuals still stand. Some progress has been achieved but the mismanagement of our collective resources still prevails and the magnitude is dependent on which group of people are in power.

My rekindled hope for this country under John Mahama stems from the most profound question from Rev. Stephen R. Bosumtwi-Ayensu of the Obuasi Methodist Synod to John Dramani Mahama, the President of the Republic of Ghana. The simple question from the man of God is: ‘Where is the meat, who ate them and left the bones to the rest of us?’ President Mahama in his State of the Nation’s Address to us said that the flesh on the thigh of whether the cow or the guinea fowl is left with a bone. The question which has been asked on behalf of the people by Rev. Stephen Bosumtwi-Ayensu in Obuasi is who and who ate the juicy meat and left the bone for the rest of us. This question to President Mahama is very important because at the time the meat was being chewed ‘yafuyafu’ by who ever, John Mahama was in charge of this country.

As the Vice President of this country and later the President of this country, John Mahama was in charge of the financial management among other things in this country. Indeed, his own former Attorney General, Hon. Martin Amidu says that as a result of certain financial malpractices in the procurement of certain things which were led by then Vice President Mahama, the late President Atta-Mills set up a committee to investigate that act of suspected impropriety. Then Vice President Mahama never allowed the committee to do its work, according Martin Amidu. Is it when the ‘yafuyafu’ consumption of the meat began?

What about the numerous judgement debt payments made without any work done by the claimants at the time when he was the Vice President of this country? Did the consumption of the meat not begin from that point even when as we were told later, the late President had ordered the arrest of the payments?  President Mahama, your own Minister for Finance and Economic Planning had told this nation and the world that during the last three months of your leadership as the President of this country, you spent over GH¢8billion of our monies which were not approved by Parliament. Where did these funds go to and who and who ate the meat leaving only the bones?

Today, the NADMO Boss is complaining about the lack of relief items for his organization, yet we all know that NADMO is one of the organizations which overspent its budget during the last quarter of the year 2012. In the last quarter of the year 2012, there is no record of disasters which warranted the over expenditure of the organization aimed at bringing reliefs to the affected people. The monies spent and over spent in that organization were used for political gains other than investments in their core activities. Having chewed the meat and left only the bones, Kofi Porthurphy is complaining of lack of this and lack of that. NADMO needs to be seriously audited to prove where its portion of the meat went to.

Yes, you and your cohorts dissipated this huge sum of money without solving a single social problem confronting this nation. Students on Government Scholarships overseas were being thrown out because their fees had not been paid. The meat had been chewed under your leadership.  You bought cars for young ladies and men when you had legitimate bills to pay to your employees which you did not. You spent millions of our resources mounting giant bill boards which were virtually changed every day when electricity generating bodies had no money to import crude oil to provide us with electricity energy. A question of misplaced priorities by a President who comes back to tell its citizens that all the meat is gone and that we are left only with the bones. Who ate the meat, President Mahama needs to tell this nation.

NEW PINK SHEETS BEING PRINTED?

Hmmmm, this country is always full of rumours particularly when issues of national interests rear their heads. Some of them may look absurd if they are not scientifically and biometrically verified, one’s decision on such rumours may either lead to under voting or over voting on the face of the information available to you. In fact, the colour of the sheet on which one finds the information may either authenticate the information or be categorized as human error, clerical error or administrative error. One is even likely to find error of declaration of a winner in an election in the face of massive clerical, human, administrative and trans –positional errors. Well it seems that as a nation, we will reward our staff whose outputs in the organizations in which they have been employed are based on clerical, human, and administrative errors and at the end of the year we declare results based on those errors.

A bird rumoured into my ears just a few days back that some people ooo, are printing new Pink Sheets and others to refill and present to the court as what they have. I told myself that oooo, this cannot be possible. But you see, in this country, anything can happen ooo.  Ooo, my source said that until they finish printing the documents and get them filled and signed by some faceless people, Uncle Tees’ cross-exams would continue. Well, I still have my doubts but the Petitioners should shine their eyes and remove the cobwebs in their ears because some people are dangerous in this country, the Printing House which is also doing that must know the implications of what they are doing if indeed it is true and they are found out.

Well, two shots of very well verified mahogany bitters, but please make sure that they are not in any form of error, clerically or administratively. Daavi, please do not trans-pose alomo bitters for mahogany bitters.

Kwesibiney2009gh@yahoo.com.

By Kwesi Biney

Baaba Eshun-Wilson

(This article is based on the shooting incident between some illegal Chinese miners and locals in the Obuasi area on Wednesday the 8th of May, 2013 in which two Ghanaians were killed. It goes to show how Ghanaians, as a people have sat back, watched and done pretty much nothing about the invasion of foreigners in our land.)

Ghana has morphed into a land where foreigners come to try their luck and if they succeed at any business, they hit the jackpot. This country is a land of vast opportunity waiting to be explored by her own people. Nevertheless, the people have neglected their own land, only finding employment when the White man takes advantage of those opportunities. We worship foreigners, revere and respect them more than we do our own fellow Ghanaians.
I can quite recall an incident that shocked me to the marrow in this regard. With the intention of conducting a transaction in a well-known bank, I was in a very long queue waiting to be served. Customers making deposits and withdrawals from various bank accounts were all crammed up into the same queue; making it very long indeed.

Those sending money to other countries and receiving money in foreign currency formed a different queue within the bank.

However, because of the length of the queue, I found myself standing beside the foreign transactions lane, where I heard the most disgraceful conversation ever. A woman, probably in her 40s, who was next in line to the customer being served, was being coerced by a white man to let him stand in front of her to be served quickly because he said, “he was obviously more in a hurry than her as he had a flight to catch.” I looked at her with a stern look, a look I hoped relayed the message instructing her not to give this disrespectful foreigner the chance. How dare he? If he was in his own country and this lady approached him with such a request would it have been granted? She ignored my look and allowed him to take her place. I shook my head in utter despair.

Ghanaians, as a people, have not put any price on the dignity and worth of this country and that is why foreigners come here and dictate to us how to run our affairs.

We seem to have the capacity to endure unnecessary suffering and have a timid subservience to oppression. That is why when foreigners are engaging in illegal practices on our own soil and we get killed in the process of trying to protect what our forefathers left for us. That is why most of Ghanaians who work under foreigners endure all kinds of unfair treatment on our own soil, to the extent that they are even denied their salary when payday is due!  How pathetic! How sad! It almost seems as if we are being colonized all over again by foreigners.

Regarding the case of the illegal Chinese miners attempting to mine on land that was not legally given to them, one should have in mind that these foreigners would not have attempted to take any land without the help of some local collaborators. Some of our very own people, knowing the illegality of this act, allowed these foreigners to mine on Ghanaian land, of course, for a fee. If our own people can go that far to betray Ghana in such a manner, then are we patriotic at all? Reports say the Mayor of Accra instructed the traders not rebuild their shops after the recent fire outbreak at Kantamanto because of plans to sell the land to a group of interested Chinese businessmen.

Even though the mayor insists that there are plans to build an ultra modern market for these traders, these people suspect a case of arson.

Ghana is in a very sad and sorry state. The mere fact that these Chinese men even brought guns with them on their mission to takeover land for their illegal mining practice speaks volumes about the way foreigners view our motherland.

Yes, indeed, WE ARE SLAVES IN OUR OWN LAND.

-       baaba.lou@gmail.com

By Baaba Eshun-Wilson

Improved: Scotland-based Touch Bionics says the latest i-limb boasts unparalleled dexterity and superior control and ease of use

A teenage boy who lost an arm and a leg as a baby has become the first person in the UK to be fitted with a prosthetic hand that is so advanced it can be controlled via a smartphone app.

Patrick Kane, 16, is now sporting the i-limb ultra revolution, which can be remotely-controlled and comes complete with an iOS app allowing the wearer to control its grip.

Patrick can also take advantage of five individually powered digits – including a rotating thumb – on the prosthetic, which is Scottish firm Touch Bionics’ most advanced yet.
The teenager, from London, lost all of the fingers on his left hand after contracting meningococcal septicaemia – the virulent form of meningitis – when he was just nine-months-old.
Doctors were also forced to amputate Patrick’s right leg below the knee, and part of each finger from his right hand.

The student – who was fitted with his first prosthetic through the NHS shortly after his first birthday – previously wore an i-limb ultra, but has now become the first person in the UK to be fitted with the new, more advanced version from the brains at Touch Bionics.

Featuring a rotating wrist and an aluminium chassis, the firm claims their creation is the most dextrous prosthetic limb ever made.

It’s unique app capability means the wearer can choose from a range of 24 different grips at the touch of a button. The app can also offers training on how to best use the device and can diagnose problems with it.

Previously Patrick could use only four pre-set grips on the go, and would have to return to his computer to alter the settings.

The i-limb is so sensitive it can be used to grip a single sheet of paper, play Connect Four or tie shoelaces – but it is also powerful enough to withstand the strain of 90kg weights in the gym.

The covering can be made to match the wearer’s natural skin tone, but Patrick chose a jet black version of the i-limb, which costs from £25,000 to upwards of £80,000, depending on how far up the arm it needs to extend.

‘I have only had it for 24 hours and it’s not so much that it allows me to do new things but it will allow me to do things more smoothly and naturally,’ Patrick said.

‘The movement runs much more smoothly. I have been practising playing Connect 4 with it.

‘There are custom grips I can choose so if I have a certain tennis racquet or cricket bat I could choose a grip for it to fit it perfectly and it will remember that.

‘I also use it in the gym, on the rowing machine and using weights and pulleys,’ he said.

The advanced prosthetic uses muscle signals to shift into a series of pre-set patterns.

It achieves this by using electrodes in the wrist to pick up electrical impulses created by contracting muscles, which are interpreted by a computer in the back of the hand.

Each of the fingers bends at the joints and can be adapted to fit around any shape of object the owner wants to hold.

These pictures show Patrick using his new bionic hand to grasp a range of items from a smartphone and a water glass to a rubber ball and a single coin.

The bionic hand can also be used for various tasks from typing to tying shoe laces.

It comes in black or neutral, can automatically return to a natural position after a period of inactivity and is powered by a battery.

The device is so technical that users have to undergo rigorous training in order to get the most out of it.

 Dailymail

A phone too far? The Samsung Galaxy Note smartphone was the first ‘phablet’ but now an even bigger version has been launched

It is the biggest smartphone on sale, with a giant 6.3inch screen.

Samsung’s new Mega Galaxy handset look more like a tablet than a phone – and has already been slammed as ‘just too big’.

Samsung hopes the big design will appeal to commuters and others who regularly watch films on their gadgets.

Tecno N7

TECNO GHANA, a leading dual SIM mobile phone brand, has launched its new 3.75G Android smartphone – TECNO N7– onto the Ghanaian market at a short but colourful ceremony in Accra.

Designed for users with high demand for smartphones, the TECNO N7 will be available at all TECNO outlets in Ghana, the company noted.

Building on the success of the popular TECNO N3, the TECNO N7, a dual SIM smartphone, features the combination of Android 4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich with a 1GHz dual core CPU and runs on a 5-inch touch screen.

“With the TECNO N7, we want to offer young Ghanaians a more superior smartphone with high-end performance and a better user experience,” Mounir Boukali, PRO of TECNO Mobile, commented.

With a 1GHz dual core processor, the device offers users a fast data processing speed and the ability to use multiple applications at the same time, along with a smooth web browsing experience.

TECNO N7 users can download over 800,000 innovative and interesting apps.

The TECNO N7 presents users with an amazingly smooth operation experience while viewing messages, multimedia, web content or games, among others.

The device comes with a variety of applications that allow the consumer to connect to their social networks with ease.

And one such application worthy of note is Flash Share, a unique transfer software that allows one to share files of any format and size at an amazingly fast speed and does not require internet connectivity, WIFI or SIM card.

Other notable features of this Android-driven smartphone include a 5 mega pixel rear camera with flash, a 0.3 mega pixel front camera and a powerful 2,300mAh battery, which allows the users to enjoy five hours of talktime. Also, the device combines a 4GB ROM and 512GB RAM with expandable memory of up to 32GB.

TECNO also offers an 8GB memory card.

“We always endeavour to provide suitable products to the consumer based on market demand. There is no doubt that people’s demand from smartphones is met in the N7. We will have more smartphones coming onto the market soon, which will meet the needs of diverse groups of people,” Boukali confirmed.

By Samuel Boadi