Martin Amidu Did Not Fight Alone In Waterville Case – AG

Martin Amidu

The Attorney General’s Department has sought to contradict suggestions that former Attorney General, Martin Amidu, was left alone in the fight to retrieve the judgment debt paid to Waterville Holdings saying the state provided him with the needed support leading to the landmark ruling in which the Supreme Court ordered Waterville Holdings to refund tens of millions of Euros to the state.

A statement from the department signed by the Deputy Minister for Justice and Attorney General, Dr. Dominic Ayine stated that “the Attorney General’s office researched and supported the filing of processes leading to our identification with and support for Mr. Amidu.”

Read below the full statement issued by the A-G’s Dept

ATTORNEY GENERAL ON WATERVILLE HOLDINGS JUDGMENT

With reference to the recent Supreme Court judgment ordering the refund of an amount of about €40 million paid to Waterville Holdings, the Ministry of Justice and Attorney General’s Department wishes to state as follows:

1. Contrary to the impression created by various media reports that Mr. Martin Amidu was left on his own to fight this case against Waterville, the Attorney General’s office researched and supported the filing of processes leading to our identification with and support for Mr. Amidu in the matter of Martin Amidu vrs. Attorney General, Waterville (BVI) Holdings, Austro-‐Invest and Alfred Woyome. These are matters of public record and can be verified from the Registrar of the Supreme Court.

2. The Attorney General’s Office is extending similar support to Mr. Amidu in his case against the Attorney General, Isofotun SA and Anana-­‐Agyei Forson for which judgment is expected to be given this Friday June 21. In this instance, the Attorney General’s Office personally researched and supervised the filing of processes in support of Mr. Amidu. This is also a matter of public record and can be verified.

3. Prior to the institution of both cases by Mr. Amidu in the Supreme Court, the Attorney General’s Office had already initiated action in the High Court to set aside the consent judgments in the case against Woyome and Isofotun. These cases were put on hold when Mr. Amidu filed the two cases in the Supreme Court.

4. We also wish to assure the general public that the Attorney General’s Office has officially declared a zero tolerance policy for Judgment Debts improperly/ illegally obtained and has taken a number of steps to defend the State’s interest in that regard. A case in point is SWEATER and SOCKS vrs. AG, where the Attorney–General’s direct intervention saved the state a sum of $28.5 million. She personally led the Solicitor-­‐General and the Principal State Attorney to the High Court 9 of Her Ladyship, Mrs. Elizabeth Ankama to move the motion to set aside the payment order for an amount that the Bank of Ghana had set out a dedicated account to pay, after plaintiffs had garnisheed some Government Accounts. She also moved to deflect the Contempt Motion against the then acting Governor of the Bank of Ghana, Dr. Henry Wampah, in High Court 22 of His Lordship, JUSTICE Godwin Gabor.

5. There are countless instances in which Attorney General’s office has intervened to save the state millions of Cedis including but not limited to Rona Construction Limited v. Ehwiaa Sawmills, Attorney General in the Ashanti Region and Mahogany Furniture Limited v. Attorney General in the Western Region.

6. A monitoring and evaluation mechanism has been set up in the Attorney General’s Department to keep track of all cases involving the State in order to avert losses.

7. We wish to state that we have initiated processes to obtain a copy of the Judgment in order to study it to determine our next course of action.

Finally we wish to express our belief in the work of the Sole Commissioner appointed by H.E. President John Dramani Mahama to look into the phenomenon of judgment debts. We believe this is the way to go as it would offer a more accurate picture and deeper appreciation of the problem and help put in place the necessary institutional reforms that will address the vexed issue of judgment debts once and for all.

HON. DR. DOMINIC AYINE (MP)

DEPUTY MINISTER FOR JUSTICE & ATTORNEY GENERAL ACCRA

[June 18, 2013]

I Am Cool – Says Woyome

Alfred Agbesi Woyome

Embattled businessman Alfred Agbesi Woyome, says he is not the least perturbed by last Friday’s ruling of the Supreme Court, where nine justices unanimously ruled that Waterville Holdings Limited should return the over €25million it obtained illegally from the state.

Contrary to suggestions by pundits that the High Court could potentially take a cue from the Supreme Court decision and order Mr. Woyome to cough up the over GH¢51.2million controversial judgment debt paid to him by the erstwhile John Evans Atta Mills’ National Democratic Congress (NDC) government, Mr Woyome said he was hopeful of a vindication in his trial.

“We are a happy people because we’ve gone there and there is a clear decision that my transaction with government was not international business. That’s clear, so we are happy,” he told DAILY GUIDE on Tuesday.

Even though he appeared to put on a bold face, the NDC financier reminisced the blow that had been inflicted on Waterville.

Mr. Woyome contended that he indeed carried out a series of financial transactions for the John Agyekum Kufuor’s New Patriotic Party (NPP) government in 2006 to deserve the claims he got from the government even though he conceded that he had no contract with the State.

“The issue is that; did I work…, did the government engage me to do work for them? Do we have evidence of all those in form of letters, in form of other things? If that is the issue, did I bring the product, or did I create the product that they needed? Yes, I created those products,” he told DAILY GUIDE.

He gave a hint that even if the High Court’s decision did not go the way he expected, he may explore his options in the Appeal Court. “I have always said that I have faith in the judiciary, it does not mean that everybody in the judiciary is a saint, that’s why there are checks and balances and appellate system. The government has option to appeal; I have option to appeal so we would exploit the legal avenues.”

According to Mr. Woyome, he got into an arrangement with the then NPP government in an ambitious plan to secure over €1.2billion to initiate a comprehensive sports tourism enclave. But just after he had expended his time and resources to secure the funds, the Kufuor government cancelled the arrangement and forfeited the funds, hence his claims.

“Did they give me government money to pay the persons that helped me throughout? Did anybody fund any portion, including the partners and the other foreign companies that I brought in?” The beleaguered businessman and bankroller of the NDC asked.

There is no evidence of Woyome bringing a dime onto the table.

The eventual payment of GH¢¢51.2million claims have arguably become Ghana’s longest running financial scandal which has drawn intense public interest and angst.

The scandal has been raging for almost two years now.

Two High Courts are currently trying Mr Woyome with both civil and criminal charges on the scandalous GH¢51.2million judgment debt.

Between 2009 and 2011, Waterville and Mr Woyome were paid the infamous claims by the Atta Mills government, resulting in a plethora of legal suits.

The Ruling

The Supreme Court’s order followed arguments before it by a former Attorney General and Minister of Justice, Martin Amidu, that neither Waterville nor businessman Alfred Agbesi Woyome, who also obtained similar payments, had a valid contract with the state to warrant the payments.

The justices, in a unanimous decision, ruled that the money paid Waterville in the judgment debt scandal was illegal and must be refunded.

They granted six of the 15 reliefs sought by Mr Amidu and only stayed a verdict on parts of the reliefs concerning Mr. Woyome on “jurisdictional grounds” and stayed a verdict on the issue to do with the payment to Woyome because that was before the High Court.

 By: Raphael Ofori-Adeniran

We’re Frustrated. Chinese Ambassador Cries Out

Ambassador Gong Jianzhong

Official representatives of China in Ghana have pleaded with law enforcement agencies tracking illegal Chinese miners to treat them humanely.

The leader of a Chinese delegation which stormed Ghana last week, Qui Xuejun, wanted the law enforcement agencies to treat Chinese nationals in a “mild and humane” manner.

The Chinese delegation, consisting of both government officials and businessmen, met with Ghanaian officials and as part of the discussions, they pleaded with Ghana to give a human face to the crackdown of Chinese nationals in the illegal gold mining business.

According to Mr. Xuejun in a press conference in Accra on Tuesday, law enforcement agencies should “deal with the problem especially carry out law enforcement in a mild and humane manner.”

Ghana is currently faced with a disturbing phenomenon where thousands of Chinese nationals have invaded the country due to the lure of gold which they mine from small-scale mining concessions. Unfortunately, the business is exclusively reserved for Ghanaians.

Crack downs

President John Dramani Mahama has set up an inter-ministerial taskforce tasked to track down all foreigners, particularly Chinese nationals engaged in the illegal gold mining business.

Several hundreds of Chinese nationals have been arrested in special military-cum immigration operations to clamp down on illegal Chinese gold miners dotted around countless small-scale mining concessions in the country.

A number of these sting operations set up to stop the invasion of foreigners in the small-scale mining business have resulted in Chinese casualties.

Unlike traditional illegal mining operations known as ‘galamsey’ where artisanal tools are deployed to conduct the mining operations, the Chinese come with heavy duty earth moving machines which have left several farmlands, and forest reserves degraded. Those extracting alluvial gold have also left countless river bodies polluted.

“We have seen for ourselves the mining sites…my impression is that illegal mining cause pollution to the environment,” Mr. Quijun told the media.

Last week, over 200 illegal Chinese miners were rounded up and repatriated to their home countries.  Public Relations Director at the Ghana Immigration Service (GIS) Francis Palmdeti told DAILY GUIDE the Chinese admitted entering the country illegally without genuine work permits and were ready to go back to their country immediately after they were processed.

Last week, several Chinese nationals hit the streets in Ghana to protest what they referred to as inhumane treatment of their compatriots in Ghana.

“This issue should be settled by not only the Chinese government, but also with the Ghanaian government,” stated the Chinese Ambassador to Ghana, Gong Jianzhong.

Frustrating

Ghanaian immigration and Chinese officials have no clue about the actual population of both legal and illegal Chinese immigrants in Ghana, Gong Jianzhong stated.

This consequently meant that there was no way officials can keep track of the number of Chinese immigrants engaged in illegal gold mining operations in the country.

DAILY GUIDE could confirm that scores of Chinese illegal immigrants elude border guards daily to sneak into Ghana, and head straight to the several mining locations.

The Chinese Ambassador, Gong Jianzhong has admitted that the Chinese embassy has not yet developed any scheme to gather database of its citizens in Ghana as several hundreds of them flock the country daily.

Several others are said to enter the country through neighbouring countries. The Chinese Ambassador admitted the frustration of tracking its citizens: “We are very frustrated,” he said.

The bulk of the illegal miners are said to hail from a city in China called Sanglin City where most of the residents are farmers.

It came as a shock to the Chinese authorities how these farmers got to know the topography of Ghana’s mineral-rich zones.

Mr. Xuejun who is the Deputy Director General of the Consular department of the Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs,  believed the influx of the Chinese was aided by some faceless Ghanaian collaborators; “Many of them are farmers, they never go abroad how…how can they know there is gold here [Ghana] in some forest?”

 By Raphael Ofori-Adeniran

Rawlings Praises Martin Amidu

President Rawlings pats Mr Martin Amidu after the latter had lighted the perpetual flame at the 34th anniversary of the June 4 celebrations

Former President Jerry John Rawlings has commended former Attorney General and Minister of Justice Martin Amidu, for his campaign against the payment of questionable judgement debts to certain individuals and organisations.

President Rawlings lamented the fact that Amidu faced embarrassing ridicule from some of his compatriots and fought a lonely fight in his campaign.

Amidu received the commendation when the former President delivered the keynote address at a conference on ‘Emerging Democracies in Africa’, in Abuja on Monday.

The former President said one of the proudest assets of an African must be his sense of nationalism.

Citizens, he said, must be taught to have pride in defending one’s country against corruption.

President Rawlings said: “Only last Friday, a former Attorney General in Ghana, who has waged a relentless campaign against the payment of questionable judgement debts to individuals and institutions, obtained a Supreme Court ruling ordering the retrieval of over €40million from an international company which had earlier convinced government to pay her the said amount over an alleged abrogated contract.

“The former Attorney General, who at times faced serious ridicule from his compatriots, stood his ground against all odds and won the case for Ghana. Today, he is ironically being touted as a hero. But did he have to fight a lonely fight in defence of his country’s meagre resources?” Rawlings queried.

It will be recalled that President Rawlings invited Mr. Amidu and two others to light the perpetual flame at the 34^th anniversary celebrations of the June 4, uprising earlier this month. Incidentally, the theme for the celebration was, ‘Patriotism, Key to Nation Building’.

Court Stops Raped Girl’s Burial

Beatrice Qansah, the victim

The Abeka Magistrate Court in Accra has stopped the burial of a 12-year-old girl and ordered a fresh post-mortem to be conducted on the deceased to ascertain the real cause of death.

The court directed that the exercise should be done at the Police Hospital in Accra to nullify a previous autopsy report from the Korle Bu Teaching Hospital.

The deceased was set to be buried next Saturday but the family had been compelled to reconsider their decision following an order from Emmanuel Nana Antwi-Barima, the Magistrate at the Abeka Court, that another post-mortem examination should be carried out.

The fact of the case is that, Beatrice Quansah, a 12-year-old girl, now deceased, was raped on May 5, 2013, at Agape Down, a suburb of Accra by one Kwame Adjetey, a barber.

According to the girl’s father, who reported the case to the Anyah Police in Accra, his daughter complained of abdominal pains and when she was asked of the cause she said she had been defiled by the barber.

Efua Mensah, Grandmother of the victim and Francis Quansah, father of the victim

The victim told her father that the suspect warned her not to inform anyone, but upon persistent queries she accompanied the father to the barbering shop and identified the man who had defiled her.

With assistance from three friends, the father of the victim arrested the suspect and took him to the Anyah Police Station.

After filing a report with the police, on the same day, the victim unfortunately died at about 10:30pm, while she was being conveyed to the Korle Bu Teaching Hospital for treatment.

She was pronounced dead on arrival at the hospital.

Later, the post-mortem report did not state that she was defiled while the police only stated in their report that the suspect was being charged for murder.

The magistrate, who had earlier remanded the suspect in police custody,  later suspected foul play after listening to the prosecuting officer and reading the facts of the case.

A visibly furious magistrate said “the court prudently negates the medical report devoid of the defilement charge since the accused was never charged on the criminal defilement before instituting murder charge against the accused.”

He ordered that “all previous pathological research made on the corpse of Beatrice Quansah ” be set aside.

“Court orders that the appropriate mechanism be enhanced through the periods the deceased was defiled by the accused and before May 4, 2013 when she complained to her parents of being defiled by the accused person.”

Before adjourning, the court ordered the accused to reappear on June 28, 2013, while directing that the corpse of the deceased was to be sent to the Police Hospital in Accra for a fresh post mortem examination “for the basic truth to be unearthed.”

By Emelia Ennin Abbey

Alfred Agbesi Woyome

The Minority in Parliament has charged the Attorney General to apply to the High Court for Alfred Woyome to deposit with government the judgment debt paid to him by the state pending the final determination of the case in court.

Addressing the media, Member of Parliament (MP) for Bekwai, Joseph Osei-Owusu, said per the Martin Amidu/Waterville ruling, the substance of Alfred Woyome’s claims have been rendered weak.

Last week, the Supreme Court ordered construction company Waterville Holdings Ltd to refund €25 million ($47 million) it received illegally from the state in 2009.

The NPP MPs are hopeful that the ongoing investigations by the Sole Commissioner, Justice Yaw Appau, would unearth fraudulent dealings similar to that of the Waterville case.

According to the MPs, notwithstanding the fact that the High Court did not make pronouncements on the Woyome case, the Attorney General, Marietta Brew-Appiah, must apply to the High Court to order Mr Woyome to deposit some monies pending the final determination of the case by the Court.

They are also demanding that the Economic and Organised Crime Office (EOCO) make public its findings on the payment of judgment debts.

Businessman Alfred Woyome is in Court over judgment debts he allegedly fraudulently obtained. Woyome has been paid a total of GHS 42 million in judgement debt for a contract he claimed was abrogated by the previous government.

The state, following investigations into the matter by EOCO, went to court alleging fraud.

Myjoyonline

AN ACCRA Land Court has set aside an earlier judgment against the Lands Commission concerning the ownership of the Shiashie registered land which is being claimed by the Apantse We family.

The court, presided over by Justice Ernest Obimpe,  further set aside a purported registration of parcels of  land  by the then Land Title Registry, now Registration Division of the Land Commission,  which did it in the name of the Apantse We family  based on the previous judgment.

According to the court, it was wrong for the High Court to have entered judgment in favour of Apantse We family when it had failed to describe clearly the boundaries of the land in question.

Justice Obimpe’s judgment was in respect of a suit filed by the family for a judicial review against the Land Commission reliefs such as injunction, prohibition, certiorari, and mandamus, among others.

The applicant family had wanted the court to stop the commission from granting portions of the family land to individuals and institutions and to compel the commission to register and process application for the registration of lands granted to people by the family.

However, the court observed that the suit constituted an abuse of the court’s process because the family, led by Nii Tetteh Opremreh, knew that the commission had commenced an action against him to set aside the judgment and yet brought the application for review.

The court also observed that apart from the claim of the plaintiff that government had allocated parts of the said land to individuals for private use, no further evidence was led on this assertion.

“Which parts of the disputed land were allocated to individuals and organisations as complained of, for what purpose were those lands put to by the said individuals and organisations etc. No such particulars were provided by the plaintiff and the judgment of April 1999 is also silent on it,” Justice Obimpe noted.

The applicant, in applying for the review, sought damages for the loss of the family and its grantees suffered during an illegal demolition exercise undertaken by the commission.

The court upheld the arguments raised by the Land Commission and concluded that “it was wrong for the trial judge in April 1999 judgment to have applied the provisions of Article 20 of the 1992 Constitution to the matter arising from acquisitions made in 1944”.

Justice Obimpe observed that at the time of giving the judgment, the trial judge did not know that the village of Shiashie and three other villages were allowed under the authority of government to continue staying there and, therefore, there was no issue of adverse possession in favour of the applicant.

The Apantse We family’s case was that it was in possession of the land in question when it was compulsorily acquired by the then colonial government in 1944 for the construction of an Airfield for the use of the Air Force of the Allied Forces during the Second World War.

When the war ended in 1945 the colonial government abandoned the project without taking possession of the land at all.

The family, therefore, remained in possession of the land as owners without the consent or the authority of the colonial and post-colonial government till date.

They subsequently went to the court to enforce their right of ownership of the land and it was granted by the court.

The commission, in opposition to the family’s claim, asked the court to dismiss their application for review because it was based on a flawed judgment.

The commission contended that the land the family was fighting over was acquired by the State in 1944 under the Public Lands Ordinance (CAP134) for the purpose of extending the existing airfield and not for the construction of an airfield for the use of the Allied Forces in the Second World War.

In line with CAP 134 the La Stool headed by Nii Adjei Quano, the Mantse of Labadi, was adjudged the rightful owner as against the competing claims by the Osu Stool and the Ga Stool.

Subsequently compensation was received by La Stool, which was apportioned among the various families under it.

The court then issued a certificate of title registered at the Deeds Registry to the state.

The commission argued that the state, in the 1970s, designated the area south of the Accra-Tema Motorway, which is a part of the land, to be used for commercial purposes such as the development of hotels, offices, shops etc.

The area north of the Accra-Tema Motorway was also designated as a residential area (East Legon).

The erstwhile lands department then made several allocations of the land to individuals and organisations.

According to the Commission, in 1976, Nii Anyetei Kwakranya II the then La Mantse and president of the La Traditional council, submitted a petition to the then Head of State, General I.K. Acheampong, to permit the La villages of Shiashie, Okponglo, Bawaleshie and Abotchiman to remain within the East Legon residential area on humanitarian grounds.

The government, after recommendations of the Alomatu Committee, permitted the said four villages to remain within the East Legon residential area.

Therefore, the purported land under dispute, according to the Commission, is a state property. The plaintiff could, therefore, not raise any right of adverse possession because no such right ever accrued under the circumstance.

 By Mary Anane

Ambassador Gong Jianzhong

Official representatives of China in Ghana have pleaded with law enforcement agencies tracking illegal Chinese miners to treat them humanely.

The leader of a Chinese delegation which stormed Ghana last week, Qui Xuejun, wanted the law enforcement agencies to treat Chinese nationals in a “mild and humane” manner.

The Chinese delegation, consisting of both government officials and businessmen, met with Ghanaian officials and as part of the discussions, they pleaded with Ghana to give a human face to the crackdown of Chinese nationals in the illegal gold mining business.

According to Mr. Xuejun in a press conference in Accra on Tuesday, law enforcement agencies should “deal with the problem especially carry out law enforcement in a mild and humane manner.”

Ghana is currently faced with a disturbing phenomenon where thousands of Chinese nationals have invaded the country due to the lure of gold which they mine from small-scale mining concessions. Unfortunately, the business is exclusively reserved for Ghanaians.

Crack downs

President John Dramani Mahama has set up an inter-ministerial taskforce tasked to track down all foreigners, particularly Chinese nationals engaged in the illegal gold mining business.

Several hundreds of Chinese nationals have been arrested in special military-cum immigration operations to clamp down on illegal Chinese gold miners dotted around countless small-scale mining concessions in the country.

A number of these sting operations set up to stop the invasion of foreigners in the small-scale mining business have resulted in Chinese casualties.

Unlike traditional illegal mining operations known as ‘galamsey’ where artisanal tools are deployed to conduct the mining operations, the Chinese come with heavy duty earth moving machines which have left several farmlands, and forest reserves degraded. Those extracting alluvial gold have also left countless river bodies polluted.

“We have seen for ourselves the mining sites…my impression is that illegal mining cause pollution to the environment,” Mr. Quijun told the media.

Last week, over 200 illegal Chinese miners were rounded up and repatriated to their home countries.  Public Relations Director at the Ghana Immigration Service (GIS) Francis Palmdeti told DAILY GUIDE the Chinese admitted entering the country illegally without genuine work permits and were ready to go back to their country immediately after they were processed.

Last week, several Chinese nationals hit the streets in Ghana to protest what they referred to as inhumane treatment of their compatriots in Ghana.

“This issue should be settled by not only the Chinese government, but also with the Ghanaian government,” stated the Chinese Ambassador to Ghana, Gong Jianzhong.

Frustrating

Ghanaian immigration and Chinese officials have no clue about the actual population of both legal and illegal Chinese immigrants in Ghana, Gong Jianzhong stated.

This consequently meant that there was no way officials can keep track of the number of Chinese immigrants engaged in illegal gold mining operations in the country.

DAILY GUIDE could confirm that scores of Chinese illegal immigrants elude border guards daily to sneak into Ghana, and head straight to the several mining locations.

The Chinese Ambassador, Gong Jianzhong has admitted that the Chinese embassy has not yet developed any scheme to gather database of its citizens in Ghana as several hundreds of them flock the country daily.

Several others are said to enter the country through neighbouring countries. The Chinese Ambassador admitted the frustration of tracking its citizens: “We are very frustrated,” he said.

The bulk of the illegal miners are said to hail from a city in China called Sanglin City where most of the residents are farmers.

It came as a shock to the Chinese authorities how these farmers got to know the topography of Ghana’s mineral-rich zones.

Mr. Xuejun who is the Deputy Director General of the Consular department of the Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs,  believed the influx of the Chinese was aided by some faceless Ghanaian collaborators; “Many of them are farmers, they never go abroad how…how can they know there is gold here [Ghana] in some forest?”

 By Raphael Ofori-Adeniran

Beatrice Qansah, the victim

The Abeka Magistrate Court in Accra has stopped the burial of a 12-year-old girl and ordered a fresh post-mortem to be conducted on the deceased to ascertain the real cause of death.

The court directed that the exercise should be done at the Police Hospital in Accra to nullify a previous autopsy report from the Korle Bu Teaching Hospital.

The deceased was set to be buried next Saturday but the family had been compelled to reconsider their decision following an order from Emmanuel Nana Antwi-Barima, the Magistrate at the Abeka Court, that another post-mortem examination should be carried out.

The fact of the case is that, Beatrice Quansah, a 12-year-old girl, now deceased, was raped on May 5, 2013, at Agape Down, a suburb of Accra by one Kwame Adjetey, a barber.

According to the girl’s father, who reported the case to the Anyah Police in Accra, his daughter complained of abdominal pains and when she was asked of the cause she said she had been defiled by the barber.

Efua Mensah, Grandmother of the victim and Francis Quansah, father of the victim

The victim told her father that the suspect warned her not to inform anyone, but upon persistent queries she accompanied the father to the barbering shop and identified the man who had defiled her.

With assistance from three friends, the father of the victim arrested the suspect and took him to the Anyah Police Station.

After filing a report with the police, on the same day, the victim unfortunately died at about 10:30pm, while she was being conveyed to the Korle Bu Teaching Hospital for treatment.

She was pronounced dead on arrival at the hospital.

Later, the post-mortem report did not state that she was defiled while the police only stated in their report that the suspect was being charged for murder.

The magistrate, who had earlier remanded the suspect in police custody,  later suspected foul play after listening to the prosecuting officer and reading the facts of the case.

A visibly furious magistrate said “the court prudently negates the medical report devoid of the defilement charge since the accused was never charged on the criminal defilement before instituting murder charge against the accused.”

He ordered that “all previous pathological research made on the corpse of Beatrice Quansah ” be set aside.

“Court orders that the appropriate mechanism be enhanced through the periods the deceased was defiled by the accused and before May 4, 2013 when she complained to her parents of being defiled by the accused person.”

Before adjourning, the court ordered the accused to reappear on June 28, 2013, while directing that the corpse of the deceased was to be sent to the Police Hospital in Accra for a fresh post mortem examination “for the basic truth to be unearthed.”

By Emelia Ennin Abbey

KATH

A patient on admission at the Komfo Anokye Teaching Hospital (KATH) jumped to his death from the fourth floor of the “D” Block where terminally and critically ill patients are hospitalised.

The patient, Owusu Ansah, allegedly removed the louvre blades from one of the windows in the ward about 3.50 a.m. Tuesday and hurled himself from the opening to land on the concrete roof of the nearby Chest Clinic of the hospital. 

Ansah, believed to be in his early 40s, died instantly. 
His ailment was, however, not disclosed.

The incident sent shock waves through the hospital, since it was the first time such an incident had occurred at KATH.

According to the police, it was professionally incorrect to disclose Ansah’s ailment, saying that was between the patient and his doctor.

His remains were taken to the morgue after security officials at the hospital had informed the police.
Pathologists are yet to work on the body, as the police have just started their investigations.

Ansah had been on admission at the hospital for some time and was put on the “D” Block.

According to the Second in Command at the Ashanti Regional Police Public Relations Office, Sergeant Godwin Ahianyo, the police were, in the meantime, treating the case as suicide.

Giving details, Sgt Ahianyo said a nurse on duty who was attending to an aggressive patient at the ward heard an unusual noise from an end of the ward.

She rushed to the scene and saw Ansah, who was on oxygen support, struggling to force his frame through a human-size gap in the window.

The nurse pressed the alarm bell at the ward and other hospital staff rushed in in response to the alarm in a desperate attempt to stop Ansah from falling.

However, it was too late because the patient had managed to squeeze his body through the window. 
The staff and other patients could, therefore, only watch the man plummet to his death.

“The scene was horrendous and had never been seen at the hospital before,” a worker at the hospital told the Daily Graphic.

According to him, there was nothing the nurse on duty could have done to prevent what happened.

Daily Graphic

The Minister of Education, Professor Jane Naana Opoku-Agyemang, has stated that government will do everything possible to ensure that special schools in the country are given the needed attention.

She said the Ministry of Education will liaise with the Ministry of Finance to ensure that grants for the schools are released on time to avert the current hardship some of the schools are facing.

“Generally speaking, sometimes the money is not released on time and it is always a challenge for the schools, especially those that have special needs. So we are going to liaise with the Ministry of Finance to do whatever we need to do to ensure that the monies are released on time,” she said.

She said the Ministry will also make a case for funds to be released for the completion of structures in the various schools to cater for the increasing number of children.

“We need to make a case for the structures to be completed because we know that the students have special needs and we need to help them as much as we can,” she noted.

Prof. Opoku-Agyemang gave this assurance when she visited some schools in the Greater Accra and Eastern regions to supervise the commencement of the 2013 Basic Education Certificate Examination (BECE).

At exactly 9:00am most students were ready for the English Language paper one which was followed by part two of the same paper and Social Studies paper one to be written later in the afternoon.

The minister, together with the heads of department of her ministry toured the Kanda Cluster of Schools, Achimota School, Accra Girls Schools, Anunmle Junior High School and the Legon Junior High School in the Greater Accra Region and the Mampong Demonstration School for the Deaf and the Akuapem Mampong School for the Blind.

At the Accra Girls School, one of the centres for the examination, 457 students from 15 schools were expected to sit for the English Language paper one examination, but four students were absent as at 10:00am when the minister visited the school.

There were two students from the 220 students expected to take part in the exam that did not turn up At the Anunmle Junior High School

Nine deaf students and 24 blind students also took part in the exanimation.

Prof. Agyemang expressed satisfaction at the smooth commencement of the examinations and encouraged the students to abide by the regulations of the exams adding that she had confidence they will make good grades.

At the Ledzekuku Municipality some teachers were seen as early as 8:00am in classrooms leading students in morning devotion to seek the face of God for the exams.

Teachers and head teachers who were present at morning assembly of the LEKMA Cluster of School told candidates to remember the rules and regulations guiding the examinations and also reminded them not to forget their index numbers since failure to indicate it could affect them adversely.

It was noticed that some students writing a major examination for the first time were accompanied by their parents apparently to give them moral support with some expressing high confidence.

Examination papers had also arrived early that morning and supervisors together with some policemen were on guard, indicating that the seal will only be broken after all students were set for the paper at 9:00am.

Kanda Schools

At the Kanda Cluster of Schools, candidates were busy with Social Studies paper one when the newspaper visited the school in the afternoon.

The supervisors in charge, Nutifafa Mortey and Mrs. Odame-Larbi indicated that a total of 494 students from nine public schools which include Nima no. 1 and 2 JHS, Ring Road East JHS and the Institute of Islamic Studies and St Kizito RC JHS.

They stated that the number this year is an improvement on that of previous years, adding that most students, in recent times, have attached some seriousness to their academic work except for two students who travelled outside the country and so have absented themselves from the exams.

Some students in the primary schools in the capital were, however, asked to stay home and report after the completion of the ongoing examination.

Teaching staff in various schools left the school premises when the examination begun. Some schools were seen with police officials and others had no police official or health personnel.

Minna Oye Mensah, chief examination supervisor at Grace Preparatory School said the school is hosting six additional schools in the municipality, adding that, there was no record of special students except one student from Grace Preparatory who had travelled outside the country.

She said “so far everything is going on well. Students from various schools reported on time, even though the educational material arrived quiet late. So we began 10 minutes after 9:00 am”.

At the JT Cluster of Schools, students were fortunate to start on time since their educational facilities arrived early.

The Chief Examination Supervisor, Gilbert Avafia, said the school is hosting six schools, of which two are private, giving a total number of 341 students sitting for the examination.

BY Jamila Akweley Okertchiri, Lady Agyapong & Ernest Nutsugah

Daniel Owiredu

Daniel Owiredu, President of Ghana Chamber of Mines, has noted that the reduction in international gold prices in the first quarter of this year, is negatively affecting mining companies in the country.

According to him, the situation, coupled with the high cost of operations, has compelled companies to reconsider their work plans and manage operating costs.

Also, he said projects purported to be have been developed had been reviewed.

Mr. Owiredu disclosed this at the Annual General Meeting (AGM) of the Chamber in Accra.

The depressed mood, he said, will adversely affect planned projects in the early part of their lifecycle even though more advanced projects are billed to come on stream.

More production is expected from Golden Star Resources News Century Mine and Newmont Ghana Gold’s Akyem Mine even though they would be under strict conditions.

Commending government for its efforts at repatriating illegal foreign miners, Mr Owiredu said the mining sector will continue to work at ensuring that Ghana benefits from conscientious mining.

Inusah Fuseini, Minister of Lands & Natural Resources, in a speech read on his behalf, noted that the activities of illegal miners had polluted the country’s water bodies and threatened food security.

In order to stall such activities, chief executives have been charged by government to tackle illegal mining activities completely.

Stringent measures are expected to be put in place by government to tackle the menace so as to engender responsible mining in the country.

 By Samuel Boadi

Dr. Philomena Nyarko

The proportion of economically-active persons in Ghana has been declining since 1984, a new report by Ghana Statistical Service (GSS) has said.

From 82.5 percent in 1984, the number of economically-active persons reduced to 74.7 percent in 2000 and 71.1 in 2010.

About 70 percent of Ghana’s population, aged 15 and above, were economically-active whereas 28.9 percent were economically-inactive.

The Ghana Statistical Service (GSS) said about 51.2 percent of the economically-active population were found in the urban areas which meant that in 2010 there were more people living in urban areas than in rural areas.

“In all the regions except Greater Accra and Ashanti, the proportion of economically active population in rural areas was higher than the proportion in urban areas,” it said.

The report further noted that the high urban proportions of economically active populations were in Greater Accra and Ashanti since the two prime cities were relatively more attractive in terms of economic opportunities.

The proportion of the economically-active population in rural areas in the Northern, Upper West and Upper East regions was lower than those in the urban areas which reflected the rural character of the three regions.

Furthermore, it said the proportion of economically active males were slightly higher than those of females in 2010.

However, the status of inactive population such as home makers decreased from 68.3 percent in 1960 to 21.6 percent in 2010, adding that the proportion of female home makers decreased from 84.6 percent in 1960 to 28.8 percent in 2010.

“Males who were economically inactive and home makers increased from 5.4 percent in 1960 to 18.1 percent in 2000 and declined further to 12.7 percent in 2010,” it said.

 By Lady Agyapong

Philip Oti Mensah addressing guests at the launch

As part of its strategy to provide convenient banking services, Union Savings and Loans (USL) has introduced the Union Omni Banking service.

The OmniBanking model combines mobile technology, lower degree of labour and the kiosk banking model.

“Omni a Latin word, which means ‘all’ or ‘every’ has been chosen as the brand name for this product because this low cost, kiosk model, which has been created by Union, Zoom Cabin and Global Media Alliance, will be seen everywhere in the next couple of weeks,” Philip Oti Mensah, Managing Director of USL stated.

He noted that the design of the product covers the necessary risk management measures including insured low cash limits, quick bullion van support services, which will ensure that no cash or property will be kept overnight in the structure.

Mr. Mensah stated this at the official inauguration of USL Head Office at Dzowulu in Accra.

He explained that “OmniBanking will also partner  RevSol, DSTV, Zoom Alliance, MobiCollect, Electricity Company of Ghana (ECG), Ghana Water Company and e-zwich to make their collections easy and affordable.”

He stated that the inauguration of the company’s head office is in line with plans to ensure visibility and become the leading financial institution.

“We believe that after 24 years of existence, it is time to show visibility, and send a clear message that Union will soon become a dominant player in the financial services sector.

“This is one of the many strategic steps we are taking to win public confidence in our bid to become one of the top three saving and loans companies by 2015 and a bank by 2017,” Mr. Mensah emphasized.

In a speech read on his behalf, Seth Terkper Minister of Finance and Economic Planning, indicated that the non-bank financial sector including savings and loans companies play a critical role in building a strong and viable financial sector for the development of the economy.

He added that “the financial services industry, especially the non-bank sector, remains a key source for the mobilization of the much needed short and long-term funds for national development.”

According to the Minister, progress made in the financial services industry is the result of well-thought out policies and programmes articulated in the financial sector strategic plan of the government.

He said, “The competition in the industry will spur USL on to set new standards and engender unity of purpose among management and staff.”

 By Esther Awuah

Broadband customers of Vodafone Ghana have expressed indignation at the break in the company’s internet services in some parts of Accra since last Friday without any tangible reasons.

Some customers, who spoke to the paper, said while the situation had rendered workers at most internet cafes and organisations, whose operations mainly depend on the internet idle, losses had been incurred.

They said calls to Vodafone’s offices have not yielded any positive response since the disruption in internet.

An official, who was contacted on phone on Monday by CITY & BUSINESS GUIDE, could not identify exactly what has caused the break in the company’s broadband services

He said the company was aware of the situation but could not tell when the problem would be fixed.

This has put most customers in a fix as to what is happening to the telecommunications giant’s internet services.

Residents in Accra believe that anytime it rains the broadband services of Vodafone Ghana degenerates.

“It would do a lot of good to Vodafone Ghana if it works on this problem and resolves the issue once and for all,” an irate customer told the paper.

By Samuel Boadi

Parliament of Ghana

Parliament yesterday debated the principles of the amended Master Facility Agreement (MFA) for the $3billion Chinese Loan during its second consideration on the floor of parliament while the second reading of the Ghana Investment Promotion Bill was also done after the motion had been moved by the Minister of Trade and Industries, Haruna Iddrisu.

The $3billion loan facility between the Government of Ghana and the Chinese Development Bank was approved by parliament in August, 2011 but the executive arm withdrew it after the minority in parliament raised concerns about the Master Facility Agreement, the Five Party Agreement as well as accounts agreement, pointing out some ‘serious’ deficiencies in those agreements.

The Government of Ghana entered into the loan agreement with the China Development Bank Corporation for the $3billion to undertake various infrastructural projects in the country.

As part of the requirements, Ghana National Petroleum Corporation (GNPC) entered into an ‘Offtake Agreement’ with UNIPEC Asia Company Ltd for the sale and purchase of the Jubilee crude oil with part of the proceeds to be paid into a special account at the Bank of Ghana for the purpose of servicing the debt

As a result of that, a Five Party Agreement was entered into among the Ministry of Finance, Bank of Ghana, GNPC and UNIPEC Asia Company Ltd but some provisions in the original agreements provided serious operational challenges to the Ministry of Finance.

Some provisions also conflicted with provisions in the Petroleum Revenue Management Act (Act 815).

These serious challenges therefore stalled the disbursement of funds required to finance critical projects like the Ghana Gas Project under the MFA.

Those amendments were made to re-activate the disbursements of the loan.

Presenting the select committee on finance’s report on the amended agreement, the chairman of the committee, James Avedzi  Klutse and MP for Ketu North said the amendments were aimed at minimizing government of Ghana’s obligations with regard to the amount of money to be transferred into the Collection Account with each lifting of oil and to eliminate conflict between the Agreement and the Petroleum Revenue Management Act.

He said the amendment was to define a specific amount of 70 percent of the commercial invoice value of each crude oil lifting by UNIPEC into the Collection Account.

The committee chairman said the China Development Bank disbursed $192 million in 2012 for the financing of the Western Corridor Gas Infrastructure Project while the government paid a commitment fee of $3, 012,909 on the undrawn balance, upfront fee of $7.5 million, interest of $596,753 and a contribution of $34 million.

A ranking member of the finance committee and MP for Old Tafo, Dr Anthony Akoto Osei asked the majority not play politics with serious financial agreements that have lasting repercussions on the future of the country, stressing that despite the genuine concerns raised by the minority in parliament in relations to the content of the agreement, the majority went ahead to approve it.

He said the minority has now been vindicated adding that these deficiencies and improper scrutiny of the loan agreement burdened Ghanaians with a huge cost.

With the loan agreement going forth and back and consultants working on the agreements again, it has cost the nation over $60 million, he said.

The MP for Sekondi, Papa Owusu Ankomah said it was professionally bad for Attorney-General and the attorneys to arrange such an agreement for the people of Ghana, suggesting that lawyers at the Attorney-General’s Department should be given proper training to avoid such lapses in negotiating for loan agreements.

On the Ghana Investment Promotion Bill, the Trade and Industries Minister said the bill is to place Ghanaians at the heart of investing in the country.

He said the new bill will give Ghanaians greater advantage in investment areas like production of exercise books and stationery, importation and internal distribution of finished pharmaceutical products, manufacture of generic pharmaceutical products, manufacture of sanitary paper products, manufacture of furniture and wood products, provision of services including mining, oil and gas and production of packaging materials.

“The bill also seeks to correct the abuse of the system by foreign investors who have strayed into sectors reserved exclusively for Ghanaians particularly the retail and trading sectors,” he said, stressing that the government has increased the minimum capital required by foreigners to engage in retail trade from $300,000 to $1 million.

By Thomas Fosu Jnr

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Alfred Agbesi Woyome

The Minority in Parliament has charged the Attorney General to apply to the High Court for Alfred Woyome to deposit with government the judgment debt paid to him by the state pending the final determination of the case in court.

Addressing the media, Member of Parliament (MP) for Bekwai, Joseph Osei-Owusu, said per the Martin Amidu/Waterville ruling, the substance of Alfred Woyome’s claims have been rendered weak.

Last week, the Supreme Court ordered construction company Waterville Holdings Ltd to refund €25 million ($47 million) it received illegally from the state in 2009.

The NPP MPs are hopeful that the ongoing investigations by the Sole Commissioner, Justice Yaw Appau, would unearth fraudulent dealings similar to that of the Waterville case.

According to the MPs, notwithstanding the fact that the High Court did not make pronouncements on the Woyome case, the Attorney General, Marietta Brew-Appiah, must apply to the High Court to order Mr Woyome to deposit some monies pending the final determination of the case by the Court.

They are also demanding that the Economic and Organised Crime Office (EOCO) make public its findings on the payment of judgment debts.

Businessman Alfred Woyome is in Court over judgment debts he allegedly fraudulently obtained. Woyome has been paid a total of GHS 42 million in judgement debt for a contract he claimed was abrogated by the previous government.

The state, following investigations into the matter by EOCO, went to court alleging fraud.

Myjoyonline

Martin Amidu

The Attorney General’s Department has sought to contradict suggestions that former Attorney General, Martin Amidu, was left alone in the fight to retrieve the judgment debt paid to Waterville Holdings saying the state provided him with the needed support leading to the landmark ruling in which the Supreme Court ordered Waterville Holdings to refund tens of millions of Euros to the state.

A statement from the department signed by the Deputy Minister for Justice and Attorney General, Dr. Dominic Ayine stated that “the Attorney General’s office researched and supported the filing of processes leading to our identification with and support for Mr. Amidu.”

Read below the full statement issued by the A-G’s Dept

ATTORNEY GENERAL ON WATERVILLE HOLDINGS JUDGMENT

With reference to the recent Supreme Court judgment ordering the refund of an amount of about €40 million paid to Waterville Holdings, the Ministry of Justice and Attorney General’s Department wishes to state as follows:

1. Contrary to the impression created by various media reports that Mr. Martin Amidu was left on his own to fight this case against Waterville, the Attorney General’s office researched and supported the filing of processes leading to our identification with and support for Mr. Amidu in the matter of Martin Amidu vrs. Attorney General, Waterville (BVI) Holdings, Austro-‐Invest and Alfred Woyome. These are matters of public record and can be verified from the Registrar of the Supreme Court.

2. The Attorney General’s Office is extending similar support to Mr. Amidu in his case against the Attorney General, Isofotun SA and Anana-­‐Agyei Forson for which judgment is expected to be given this Friday June 21. In this instance, the Attorney General’s Office personally researched and supervised the filing of processes in support of Mr. Amidu. This is also a matter of public record and can be verified.

3. Prior to the institution of both cases by Mr. Amidu in the Supreme Court, the Attorney General’s Office had already initiated action in the High Court to set aside the consent judgments in the case against Woyome and Isofotun. These cases were put on hold when Mr. Amidu filed the two cases in the Supreme Court.

4. We also wish to assure the general public that the Attorney General’s Office has officially declared a zero tolerance policy for Judgment Debts improperly/ illegally obtained and has taken a number of steps to defend the State’s interest in that regard. A case in point is SWEATER and SOCKS vrs. AG, where the Attorney–General’s direct intervention saved the state a sum of $28.5 million. She personally led the Solicitor-­‐General and the Principal State Attorney to the High Court 9 of Her Ladyship, Mrs. Elizabeth Ankama to move the motion to set aside the payment order for an amount that the Bank of Ghana had set out a dedicated account to pay, after plaintiffs had garnisheed some Government Accounts. She also moved to deflect the Contempt Motion against the then acting Governor of the Bank of Ghana, Dr. Henry Wampah, in High Court 22 of His Lordship, JUSTICE Godwin Gabor.

5. There are countless instances in which Attorney General’s office has intervened to save the state millions of Cedis including but not limited to Rona Construction Limited v. Ehwiaa Sawmills, Attorney General in the Ashanti Region and Mahogany Furniture Limited v. Attorney General in the Western Region.

6. A monitoring and evaluation mechanism has been set up in the Attorney General’s Department to keep track of all cases involving the State in order to avert losses.

7. We wish to state that we have initiated processes to obtain a copy of the Judgment in order to study it to determine our next course of action.

Finally we wish to express our belief in the work of the Sole Commissioner appointed by H.E. President John Dramani Mahama to look into the phenomenon of judgment debts. We believe this is the way to go as it would offer a more accurate picture and deeper appreciation of the problem and help put in place the necessary institutional reforms that will address the vexed issue of judgment debts once and for all.

HON. DR. DOMINIC AYINE (MP)

DEPUTY MINISTER FOR JUSTICE & ATTORNEY GENERAL ACCRA

[June 18, 2013]

President John Mahama

Some Ghanaian residents in the United Kingdom last week staged an open demonstration against President John Dramani Mahama.

This was when he arrived in that country at the invitation of the British Prime Minister, David Cameron.

The demonstration was organised by a number of pressure groups in the UK including the Coalition of Ghanaians against Electoral Fraud (COGEF), the Movement for Genuine Democracy (MGD), the Progressive Youth for Change and Transparency (PYCT) and the Stop Tribalism in Ghana group against the Electoral Commission (EC) declaration of John Mahama as President.

This brought together several other Ghanaians living in the heart of London.

They demonstrated outside the Ghana High Commission offices in Highgate, North London amidst drumming and brass band music, wielding placards some of which read “Error President” “election 2012 was stolen”, “fraudulent elections, corruption and stealing must stop,” “Mahama likes akonfem” and “Dr Afari-Gyan is a complete disgrace.”

President Mahama, who was said to be addressing members of his party at the Ghana High Commission, was forced to break his speech on a number of occasions due to the boos and jeers from the protestors.

The demonstrators also condemned President Mahama and Vice President Paa Kwesi Amissah Arthur for what they described as interference in the ongoing hearing of the election petition at the Supreme Court.

They talked of Mahama’s supposed audacious attempt to sabotage the judicial process in Ghana by trying to manipulate the outcome of the case with what they described as “his scandalous comments” at his party’s headquarters before going to the UK while calling for the arrest of Vice President Kwesi Amissah-Arthur for allegedly visiting the house of Justice Vida Akoto Bamfo on May 25, 2013.

Most of the protesters were said to have expressed surprise at the British government’s decision to extend courtesies to President Mahama whose election was being challenged in court.

Coordinator of the Progressive Youth for Change and Transparency group, Joana Aba Finnis said the demonstration against John Mahama and the Electoral Commission of Ghana would continue until justice was served to the people of Ghana by the Supreme Court.

She hinted of more of such demonstrations next month at Ghana’s missions across the UK, Europe and global media houses such as the BBC, SKY News, Al Jazeera and CNN.

 By Charles Takyi-Boadu

Alfred Agbesi Woyome

Embattled businessman Alfred Agbesi Woyome, says he is not the least perturbed by last Friday’s ruling of the Supreme Court, where nine justices unanimously ruled that Waterville Holdings Limited should return the over €25million it obtained illegally from the state.

Contrary to suggestions by pundits that the High Court could potentially take a cue from the Supreme Court decision and order Mr. Woyome to cough up the over GH¢51.2million controversial judgment debt paid to him by the erstwhile John Evans Atta Mills’ National Democratic Congress (NDC) government, Mr Woyome said he was hopeful of a vindication in his trial.

“We are a happy people because we’ve gone there and there is a clear decision that my transaction with government was not international business. That’s clear, so we are happy,” he told DAILY GUIDE on Tuesday.

Even though he appeared to put on a bold face, the NDC financier reminisced the blow that had been inflicted on Waterville.

Mr. Woyome contended that he indeed carried out a series of financial transactions for the John Agyekum Kufuor’s New Patriotic Party (NPP) government in 2006 to deserve the claims he got from the government even though he conceded that he had no contract with the State.

“The issue is that; did I work…, did the government engage me to do work for them? Do we have evidence of all those in form of letters, in form of other things? If that is the issue, did I bring the product, or did I create the product that they needed? Yes, I created those products,” he told DAILY GUIDE.

He gave a hint that even if the High Court’s decision did not go the way he expected, he may explore his options in the Appeal Court. “I have always said that I have faith in the judiciary, it does not mean that everybody in the judiciary is a saint, that’s why there are checks and balances and appellate system. The government has option to appeal; I have option to appeal so we would exploit the legal avenues.”

According to Mr. Woyome, he got into an arrangement with the then NPP government in an ambitious plan to secure over €1.2billion to initiate a comprehensive sports tourism enclave. But just after he had expended his time and resources to secure the funds, the Kufuor government cancelled the arrangement and forfeited the funds, hence his claims.

“Did they give me government money to pay the persons that helped me throughout? Did anybody fund any portion, including the partners and the other foreign companies that I brought in?” The beleaguered businessman and bankroller of the NDC asked.

There is no evidence of Woyome bringing a dime onto the table.

The eventual payment of GH¢¢51.2million claims have arguably become Ghana’s longest running financial scandal which has drawn intense public interest and angst.

The scandal has been raging for almost two years now.

Two High Courts are currently trying Mr Woyome with both civil and criminal charges on the scandalous GH¢51.2million judgment debt.

Between 2009 and 2011, Waterville and Mr Woyome were paid the infamous claims by the Atta Mills government, resulting in a plethora of legal suits.

The Ruling

The Supreme Court’s order followed arguments before it by a former Attorney General and Minister of Justice, Martin Amidu, that neither Waterville nor businessman Alfred Agbesi Woyome, who also obtained similar payments, had a valid contract with the state to warrant the payments.

The justices, in a unanimous decision, ruled that the money paid Waterville in the judgment debt scandal was illegal and must be refunded.

They granted six of the 15 reliefs sought by Mr Amidu and only stayed a verdict on parts of the reliefs concerning Mr. Woyome on “jurisdictional grounds” and stayed a verdict on the issue to do with the payment to Woyome because that was before the High Court.

 By: Raphael Ofori-Adeniran

President Rawlings pats Mr Martin Amidu after the latter had lighted the perpetual flame at the 34th anniversary of the June 4 celebrations

Former President Jerry John Rawlings has commended former Attorney General and Minister of Justice Martin Amidu, for his campaign against the payment of questionable judgement debts to certain individuals and organisations.

President Rawlings lamented the fact that Amidu faced embarrassing ridicule from some of his compatriots and fought a lonely fight in his campaign.

Amidu received the commendation when the former President delivered the keynote address at a conference on ‘Emerging Democracies in Africa’, in Abuja on Monday.

The former President said one of the proudest assets of an African must be his sense of nationalism.

Citizens, he said, must be taught to have pride in defending one’s country against corruption.

President Rawlings said: “Only last Friday, a former Attorney General in Ghana, who has waged a relentless campaign against the payment of questionable judgement debts to individuals and institutions, obtained a Supreme Court ruling ordering the retrieval of over €40million from an international company which had earlier convinced government to pay her the said amount over an alleged abrogated contract.

“The former Attorney General, who at times faced serious ridicule from his compatriots, stood his ground against all odds and won the case for Ghana. Today, he is ironically being touted as a hero. But did he have to fight a lonely fight in defence of his country’s meagre resources?” Rawlings queried.

It will be recalled that President Rawlings invited Mr. Amidu and two others to light the perpetual flame at the 34^th anniversary celebrations of the June 4, uprising earlier this month. Incidentally, the theme for the celebration was, ‘Patriotism, Key to Nation Building’.

Asamoah Gyan

Asamoah Gyan’s joy of scoring Ghana’s second goal against Lesotho-his third in two games was cut short last Sunday after the World Cup qualifier.

The Al-Ain talisman went to his hotel room with room-mate, John Boye, who incidentally grabbed Ghana’s opener only to realize his financial remuneration of $10,000 has vanished into thin air.

And when the former Sunderland forward reported the matter to the Hotel’s front desk, it was discovered via a CCT camera that an impersonator walked in, in a Black Stars apparel posing as Gyan and collected the card (Key) to players room.

The impersonator succeeded in bolting away with the said amount, Gyan’s  laptop and  an expensive wrist watch belonging to AC Milan midfielder, Sulley Muntari.

At the time of putting this piece together, management members of the Black Stars had convened a meeting and  agreed that should the hotel fail to reimburse Gyan, they would subtract the missing money from the team’s hotel bill.

Gyan, who did not sound too bothered about the incident pointed out in an interview “I realized my winning bonus had gone when I entered the room. I will leave everything in the hands of the team’s management.”

 By Kofi Owusu Aduonum

Golf sensation Nicolo Catto shot spiritedly to engrave his name as the winner in the maiden Chief of Defence Staff (CDS) special golf at the Tema Country Golf Club.

Catto, playing on handicap nine ,recorded an impressive net score of 67, to win the men’s Group A event, making it his second trophy in less than a month after winning the MTN Asantehene Gold Cup in Kumasi.

And for his brilliance performance in a special competition designed to honour the current Chief of Defence Staff of the Ghana Army Vice Adimirer, Mathew Quarshie, he picked a giant trophy, CPE and six months free subscription

Lower handicapper Alex Fiagome trailed with just two strokes after recording a 69 net score to beat Rev E.K Amazado on count back.

Mrs Adelaide Owusu-Adjapong, who currently boasts of a new handicap of 20 won the lady’s A event having recorded a 69net score to lift a trophy, CPE and three months free subscription.

Aku Yaba, 73 net and Margaret Ivy Oppong 74net followed in that order, while Helen Appah grabbed the lady’s ‘B’ event with lady captain Cherie Hammond picking the second prize.

It was J. Otoo, 70net who finished first in the men’s ‘B’ category with R. Boateng 73, beating Hon Felix Owusu-Adjapong on count back to win the second spot.

Vice Admirer Quarshie, a member of the Club described the gesture as a huge honour saying “I am touched by this wonderful gesture, it’s indeed an expression of your goodwill. I am very grateful and I consider the gesture as great honour, especially to Dr Owusu Baah, captain of this great Club and to all of you, for sacrificing your Saturday to be part of this program.”

He pledged to ensure high degree of discipline in the army during his tenure.

The 18-hole competition was sponsored by Zipnet and in his reaction about the event, the Executive Director Strategy, Marketing and Consumer Market, Mr Emmanuel Mensah-Baah said in plain words, “I am enthused about the turn out and how organized it was. My company wants to make business communication easier for people, hence our involvement in this competition; it’s been a huge success.”

From Kofi Owusu Aduonum, Tema

Joseph Yammin

Deputy Youth and Sports Minister, Joseph Yammin, has indicated that the only sure way to develop football properly is to pay particular attention to juvenile soccer.

To the Minister, this move would help the youth and people get involved in the game and take children from the streets.

And in an attempt to realize this dream, he stated that government has taken steps to re-invigorate the traditional inter-school and college sports competition.

At the launch of the Omo Fantastic 5 Games a few days ago at the Lizzy Sports Complex, he mentioned, “In addition to the re-invigoration of traditional inter-school and college sports competition, the Ministry of Youth and Sports is in collaboration with the Metropolitan and District Assemblies to establish at least one well resourced sports infrastructure in the districts to enhance the development of sporting talents.”

He added, “I am also happy to announce that plans are far advanced for the take off of the construction of the Cape Coast Stadium while planning for the Ho Sports Stadium is almost complete.”

Despite contributions by some corporate bodies to the development of sports in the country, he called those who were yet to make commitment in that regard to emulate the shining example of those who have taken the lead.

He gave such bodies, government support regarding tax rebate saying, “As a Ministry, we are working carefully to ensure that the necessary tax regimes or arrangements are incorporated in the new sports law to appropriately reward sponsors and donors for their contributions towards sports development.”

He expressed the wish that top prize for the event, a lifetime all expense paid trip for the winning school to Brazil 2014 World Cup would help improve performance and competition.

Hon Yammin commended the sponsors (Unilever Ghana) as well as the organizers for their interest in sports and their tremendous support to sporting activities in the country.

 By Kofi Owusu Aduonum

Abubakar Mohammed (L) with Solak after the sister city conference last week

The Mayor of Cigli, a city in Turkey Av, Metin Solak, has officially extended an invitation to footballers in the Tamale Metropolitan Assembly (TMA) for the official signing  ceremony of the friendship between the two cities.

Also making the trip for the expected high profile ceremony are  officials of  TMA, businessmen and women as well as the press from Tamale.

A contingent of 75 persons, led by the Municipal Chief Executive, Alhaji Harunah Abdulai  Friday, would fly out of the country tomorrow for the ceremony scheduled to come off this Thursday.

The presiding member of  TMA,  Adam  Abubakar  Mohammed,  struck acquaintance with  Mayor Solak in a sister city conference last week  to strategise how the two cities could exchange ideas in their respective endeavours for their mutual benefit.

“We had a fruitful discussion when we last met in Turkey and the Mayor Solak thought it prudent to extend an official invitation, and I strongly believe something beneficial to both cities would be realised after the ceremony,” said Abubakar Mohammed in an interview.

By Kofi Owusu Aduonum

Mario Balotelli

Zico has slammed Mario Balotelli and Neymar for “spending too much time on their activities off the pitch”.

Both players have already made quite a name for themselves, but the former Brazil star has urged them to focus solely on their football if they want to become the best.
Zico feels Balotelli has the potential to become one of the best players in the world, but has urged the Italy international to focus solely on his performances on the pitch.

“Neymar and Balotelli have the same problem. They spend too much time on their activities off the pitch,” Zico was quoted as saying by La Gazzetta dello Sport.

Neymar

“In my days, players were only thinking about publicity during holiday and on rest days. Nowadays, they are always clubbing and looking to entertain themselves, though. Neymar is dragging himself from one show to another.

“Balotelli is a great player, though, although he must learn to control his temper. Opponents will always try to provoke him.

“He is a very intelligent player on the pitch and can carry the team. I don’t think he is overrated. He’s not a phenomenon yet, but he could become one. He has the potential to become one of the best players in the world. It’s all up to himself.”

Both Balotelli and Neymar will be looking for success on the pitch this summer as they feature at the Confederations Cup for Italy and Brazil respectively.

The victim’s family said: ‘We are devastated as a family at the loss of Reema’

A 20-year-old man has appeared in court charged with the murder of a young woman who was beheaded in a knife attack.

Aras Hussein appeared at Sheffield Magistrates’ Court today accused of murdering Reema Ramzan, 18.

Miss Ramzan, who was from the Darnall area of Sheffield, died on June 4 following an incident at a property on Herries Road, in the city.

Detectives said she suffered a severe knife attack resulting in fatal injuries, including the severing of her head.

Hussein, of Sheffield, is also charged with assaulting five people at Sheffield’s Northern General Hospital, where he was taken following his arrest by police.

He stood in the glass-fronted dock today flanked by two uniformed police officers.

Sporting full beard and short, dark hair, he wore a navy blue T-shirt and spoke only to confirm his personal details and that he understood the charge.

Hussein was remanded in custody following a 10 minute hearing and told he will appear again a Sheffield Crown Court on Thursday.

Miss Ramzan’s family issued a statement through police today.

It said: ‘Following the death of Reema, a loving and caring daughter and sister, we as a family would like to pass on our heartfelt thanks for all of the messages and support we have received from our extended family, friends, people in the community where we live and especially from the staff and students at Sheffield College.

‘These messages and support have given us strength and helped us to try to deal with the nightmare we have found ourselves in.

‘As a family, our thoughts now turn to being able to bury Reema and to let her finally rest in peace.’

Dailymail

Austen Harrison, four, from Crawley, West Sussex, has been named as the boy who died after being struck by a mirror in a Hugo Boss shop at Bicester Outlet Village in Oxfordshire

This is the first picture of the four-year-old who died after being struck by a falling mirror at a Hugo Boss shop.

Austen Harrison, of Crawley, West Sussex, was killed earlier this month at the Bicester Shopping Village in Oxfordshire.

His parents have now released a photograph of their son and issued a public statement through their solicitor.

Mr and Mrs Harrison, whose full names were not given, said: ‘Austen was a bright and vibrant boy who injected life into everything he touched.

‘His energy and creativity will be missed every day by all who met him and by those who did not have the privilege to meet him.’

The family is planning to set up a foundation in Austen’s name to help improve the lives of other children, the family added.

Tragedy struck as the family shopped in the outlet store at around 8.40pm on June 8.

It is not yet known how big the mirror was or what caused it to fall but Thames Valley Police and Oxfordshire County Council’s Environmental Health department are investigating.

The tragedy struck as the family shopped in the outlet store at around 8.40pm on June 8

An inquest into Austen’s death is set to be opened in Oxford tomorrow.

Retailer Hugo Boss released a statement today about the tragic death of Austen Harrison.

It read: ‘All of us at Hugo Boss remain devastated at the death of Austen Harrison on Saturday June 8th after the accident on June 4th.

‘It is a terrible tragedy, we are receiving condolences for the family from Hugo Boss employees and other people from all over the world who share their sympathies.

‘We will continue assisting the authorities in any way with an investigation into the accident.’

An off-duty doctor treated the boy until emergency services arrived at the store.

The Health and Safety Executive said that they were not involved in the investigation as shops are the responsibility of local authorities.

The Bicester Village also published a statement at the time.

It said: ‘Everyone at Bicester Village is deeply saddened by this tragic accident. We send our heartfelt condolences to the family and our thoughts and prayers are with them.

‘The matter is now under investigation and there is no further comment at this time.’

Dailymail

Double tragedy: Charleigh Disbrey, 15 (left), and Mert Karaoglan, 18 (right), both died last night after being hit by a train close to Elstree and Borehamwood station

A teenage boy and a girl from the same secondary school died after being hit by a train just outside a station in a suspected suicide pact.

Charleigh Disbrey, 15, and Mert Karaoglan, 18, were found on the tracks around 200 yards from Elstree and Borehamwood station.

The pupils went to Hertswood Academy in Borehamwood, Hertfordshire, where they were in years 10 and 13.

Charleigh, known as CJ, dreamed of being a professional musician and had posted videos of herself performing on YouTube.

In a final video posted five days before she died, the schoolgirl had recorded herself singing David Guetta’s Titanium.

Last night paramedics were called at 9pm to the scene where Charleigh and Mert were hit by the cross-London First Capital Connect train service from St Albans to Sutton.

The train was travelling at speeds of up to 90mph when it hit the two teenagers.

Charleigh, who only turned 15 last Friday, said she had auditioned for Britain’s Got Talent and Must be the Music.

She wrote online: ‘I have gone for pre auditions on must be the music and Britain’s got talent. I perform in school assemblies.

‘Whenever it is possible, I have been the lead part in two musical performances at school (secondary school) I am soon going to be recording my own album at my school recording studio.

‘I Write and compose A LOT of my own music and music is the only thing I ever do.’

Mert, who was in the sixth form, was studying A-levels in Media, Photography and Business.

He wrote last month that he hoped to attend Hertfordshire University to study Visual Effects and would be working on his film making through the summer months.

He said: ‘I am currently studying Photography as an A Level subject within Hertswood School,and the reason why I have taken that subject is because I have a big interest within photography and how we can simply document our lives by taking photographs and how technology has improved over the years to take photography as a subject or a hobby to new levels.’

As news of the double tragedy broke today, flowers were left at the scene which said: ’Rest In Peace, CJ and Mert. Never forgotten’.

Friends of the pair paid wrote on Twitter ‘R.I.P Cj and Mert such wonderful and talented people, you will be truly missed xxxxx.’

Another person wrote: ‘R.I.P CJ and MERT!! So sad!! Thoughts are with family and friends!!’

A spokesman for British Transport Police said the deaths were not being treated as suspicious.

He said: ‘Two teenagers who died after being struck by a train close to Elstree and Borehamwood station are believed to be 15-year-old Charleigh Disbrey and an 18-year-old man. Both were from the Borehamwood area.

‘The incident was reported to BTP at 8.57pm and was attended by officers from BTP and Hertfordshire Constabulary.

‘Medics from East of England Ambulance Service also attended the incident but sadly the two teenagers were pronounced dead at the scene.’

Superintendent Phil Wilkinson said: ‘Our thoughts are with the family and friends of the two teenagers involved in last night’s tragic and acutely sad incident.

‘Although my officers are continuing their investigations, as part of our work to prepare a file for the local Coroner, there are not thought to be any suspicious circumstances and no one else is believed to have been involved.’
Roger Perkins, a spokesman for First Capital Connect, said: ‘Two youths were hit by our St Albans to Sutton southbound service, 200 yards north of Elstree and Borehamwood station on the Thameslink route.

‘There were no passengers on board the train but there were two drivers in the cab, both of whom are being offered our full care and support.

‘The emergency services were on the scene investigating and, together with Network Rail, we have been doing everything we can to help.

‘This was a shocking incident and our hearts go out to those involved. We have been giving our full support to our employees who were at the scene and will do all we can to help the emergency services in their investigation.’

Dailymail

Chris – a freelance photographer who once served in the Navy – suffers with is a hereditary form of cancer but he didn’t know about his risk because he was adopted. He was given just six months to live but is still alive, eight months after the wedding

A bride-to-be has organised the wedding of her dreams in just 10 days after her terminally-ill husband proposed to her.

Cancer sufferer Chris Clark, 41, proposed to his girlfriend Charlotte within minutes of finding out his condition was terminal.

With the help of family and friends, it took just 10 days to organise the wedding they had dreamed about.

Charlotte, 30, had made an online scrapbook of her dream wedding months before Chris’s illness, which helped her with a speedy wedding turnaround.

Chris was told he may only have months to live by medics at Warwick Hospital last September after being diagnosed with a rare form of pancreatic cancer that had spread to the stomach.

He had started suffering pains in his side while on holiday which grew in intensity, and was also feeling tired and had lost his appetite.

After a series of tests, Chris, a photographer, was diagnosed with secondary cancer in July 2012.

The couple, from Offchurch near Leamington, Warwickshire, found out it was terminal in September and were told nothing more could be done to treat the tumour.

Chris, 41, said: ‘I already knew I wanted to be married to Charlotte so when they said it was non-curable I knew what I was going to do.

‘When I was told the news it was like an explosion, I felt deaf and a bit disorientated. I just got up and walked out as they said I’ve got to have more tests.’

Chris and Charlotte were sitting in a hospital waiting room five minutes later, in a state of shock, when he turned to her and popped the question.

Then just minutes after, he was in a hospital bed undergoing another round of gruelling tests.

Family and friends were informed of his prognosis before the couple told them their good news.

‘Our engagement was always going to happen, it was only a question of when,’ added Charlotte, a social worker who met Chris six years ago at a wedding.

After his proposal, Chris broached the idea of having a quick register office ceremony.

But it was not quite what she was hoping for, because for the six months before Chris became ill Charlotte had been planning her dream of a rural church wedding.

She had compiled an online scrapbook with her wedding wish-list, detailing everything she wanted from the venue and who would be bridesmaids to the design of her wedding dress.

Charlotte says, ‘The whole day was just like the wedding I had dreamed of. We have been together for six years, and have always known we would get married, but had been taking our time.

‘Even though Chris hadn’t asked me yet I would save links and pictures in a folder on my tablet that I would want in my future wedding.

Dailymail

Brink of death: Michael Evans (pictured in hospital), 28, suffered serious brain damage and had his life shattered after he was hit in the head by 21-year-old Daniel Brzozowski

A 28-year-old man was left with half a skull after he was punched by a drunken Polish boxer in an unprovoked late night attack

Michael Evans, 28, suffered serious brain damage after he was hit in the head by Daniel Brzozowski, 21.

Mr Evans, of Great Yarmouth, Norfolk, was knocked out and smashed his head on the pavement after the blow.

He was taken to Addenbrooke’s Hospital, Cambridge, where a CT scan revealed he had suffered a severe traumatic brain injury, bleeding on the brain and a broken jaw.

Brzozowski, of Yarmouth, was sentenced to three years in prison at Norwich Crown Court yesterday after he admitted causing grievous bodily harm.

The Polish immigrant, who has a baby, was also ordered to pay a victim surcharge of £120.

But Mr Evans’ mother Linda Etheridge, 50, has blasted the sentence.

She said last night: ‘It’s disgusting. He took my son’s life.

‘Michael’s walking round at the moment with half a skull.

‘I have to take him where he wants to go. He can’t go anywhere by himself.’

She fears her son will never work again after the devastating assault.

‘His right hand can’t work at the moment but he’s practising with the Xbox controller,’ said Mrs Etheridge, of Yarmouth.

‘He can’t use a knife and fork or a pen.

‘We’ve only just been able to get him to go out, up town. He would freak out.

‘He was always out with his mates before – he liked pool and nights out.’

She said Michael’s memory is now so poor he could not recognise his two-year-old niece when she visited him.

‘Michael is a different lad completely. The way he talks is different, his laugh is different,’ she added.

‘He was convinced he was Batman and could jump off buildings but luckily that’s passed,’ said Mrs Etheridge.

‘As he’s got better we’ve had to explain things to him. When we explained how his injuries had affected him he was apologetic.’

‘He remembers places he used to go and places he used to work. He used to work at a hotel in Essex and he remembers it like yesterday. But he couldn’t tell you what he did yesterday.’

Mr Evans was out with friends in the town centre when his group was involved in a bust-up with Brzozowski and his friends.

Michael was walking away with his hands in his pockets when he was hit in the head by the amateur boxer.

Brzozowski, who moved here from Poland eight years ago, went home after the vicious attack, calmly got changed and was going out to a nightclub when he was arrested after police tracked him on CCTV.

Mr Evans’ stepfather, Andy, 60, said the last seven months since the late-night attack last November have been ‘hell’.

He said: ‘Nobody could tell us if Michael was going to live or die. It was constant stress.’

Michael is due to have a special titanium plate fitted in his skull on June 27, but his parents are taking events day by day.

‘Hopefully there will be a bit more improvement then, but really they can’t tell us,’ said Mr Etheridge.

‘It’s all in the lap of the gods.’

‘Michael’s still struggling to walk, as he has a fused hip, and had learned a special way of coping with it before the attack.’

‘He’s a 28-year-old 12-year-old at the moment.

‘He has no memory of the incident and he has no idea of what this guy looks like or anything.

‘It’s been hell,’ said Mr Etheridge. ‘If we weren’t so strong it could have easily divided us.’

Mr Etheridge attended yesterday’s court hearing and has watched CCTV footage of his son being attacked.

He said of Brzozowski’s three-year jail term: ‘It’s what I expected.

‘He was charged with it being GBH without intent as it was one punch. I don’t think it’s right, but I suppose that’s the law.’

Chris Youell, prosecuting, said Mr Evans nearly died from the unprovoked attack, had to have an emergency operation and spent three months in hospital.
Recorder Mark Dennis told the thug as he jailed him: ‘It was yobbish, violent behaviour, late at night, when in drink.

‘It was a life-changing event for the victim, who will never be the same person again.

‘You know how to punch and how to hurt someone, and you know the consequences of a heavy punch.’

Mr Burrows said after the case: ‘This is a very sensitive case with devastating effects all round.

‘No-one ever minimises the level of injury or wider impact it has on the victim’s family members.

‘This single punch in drink will haunt Daniel for many years, if not the rest of his life.’

Ross Burrows, defending, said Brzozowski ’misjudged the situation and felt threatened’.

‘He threw the punch because he was trying to protect his group. His intention was to punch and run.

‘It will stay with him for the rest of his life. He has not been out since and does not drink. It was a moment of madness.’

Inspector Nick Cheshire, of Norfolk Police, said last night: ‘This was an unprovoked attack which left an innocent man with serious head injuries, having been enjoying a night out with friends in Yarmouth.

‘Brzozowski was arrested a short time later and was still drunk whilst in custody.

‘The majority of people drink responsibly. But the minority who do drink to excess and behave violently or anti-socially cause a disproportionate amount of trouble and distress to the local community.’

Dailymail

Tic Tac

One of Ghana’s seasoned hiplife artistes, Nana Kwaku Okyere Duah, known in music scenes as Tic Tac, has launched an all purpose entertainment centre called Tic Tac Reserved, in Kumasi.

Tic Tac Reserved which is located on the second floor of the VIP Hotel premises at Patasi, a suburb of Kumasi, has a night club, lounge and bar with neatly furnished rooms for patrons who would love to spend good time away from home.

The launch of the centre attracted Ghanaian celebrated celebrities which included renowned actor Kofi Adjorlolo, Kojo Amponsah popularly known as Lil Win, actress Vivian Jill, rapper Stone of Bradez fame, radio personality Kwame Adinkra and DJ Champagne, who was the guest DJ.

The plush Tic Tac Reserved also boasts of an impressive interior design and furniture, and a fully stocked bar of assorted drinks. The venue also has a very spacious dance floor and professionally trained attendants ready to attend to patrons’ needs.

Tic Tac, who is also the Greater Accra Regional Chairman of the Musicians Union of Ghana (MUSIGA) told Myjoyonline.com in an interview that: “I just thought we needed something [of this nature] in Kumasi. I’m somebody who believes we should spread quality entertainment across board and make other people also feel the vibe.”

Tic Tac, who owns Alf & Gina Pizza Bite at the Kotoka International Airport, was of the view that people from other parts of the country also deserve to enjoy the kind of quality entertainment patrons in Accra enjoy including partying with celebrities on regular basis.

Sharon Cofie, Miss Malaika 2012.

Reports available to BEATWAVES indicate that this year’s Miss Malaika auditions will come off at the studios of GHOne Entertainment Television station located on the STC yard-Mechanical Lloyd road on June 29, 2013, at 11:00am.

The Miss Malaika beauty pageant has, for the past years, groomed ladies to become responsible in the society. Many queens have come and gone and the reign of Miss Sharon Cofie as Miss Malaika 2012, is gradually getting to an end and this paves the way for the search of another beauty queen to begin.

According to the reports, 12 ladies will be selected for the beauty pageant and at the end of all the tasks two ladies will be dropped leaving 10 ladies to compete for the ultimate prize at the grand finale.

The twist to this year’s competition, the reports said, will be very interesting as the 12 ladies will be grouped into three and each group will have a god sister who will groom them.

This year’s Miss Mailaka is going to be for the bold, beautiful, smart and intelligent ladies, as the mark they have to beat is the mark set by all past queens, especially the reigning queen who was undoubtedly, the public favourite.

Beautiful, bold, eloquent and intelligent ladies who want to participate in the audition process can also send their details and pictures to info@missmalaikaghana.com or can pick up forms at GHOne studios or text their names to 1757 on all networks.

Be part of this Miss Malaika 2013 and stand a chance of winning the crown, car and cash as well as the luxuries that come with being a Malaika Queen. Miss Malaika 2013 is proudly brought to you by GhOne entertainment television station, your world of entertainment.

DJ Black

The African Global DJ Awards which was scheduled to take place on May 4, 2013, in South Africa and was postponed will now take place on July 13, at the Oriental Hotel, Ozumba Mbadiwe Way, Victoria Island, Lagos in Nigeria, BEATWAVES has gathered.

The awards will be hosted by TV presenter Lerato Kganyago and Ugandan rapper Navio. The DJs, male and female are nominated in 16 categories which cover regional aspects to a broader global perspective.

Stakeholders in the music industry across Africa will be converging in Nigeria for the final showdown of this year’s Africa Global DJ Awards.

There are high hopes as nominees of each country are bent on bringing glory to their homeland by winning foremost awards.

The African Global DJ Awards, which will be held annually, is aimed at recognizing and celebrating the talent of Africa’s greatest DJs.

The night will witness performances from some selected African music icons and DJs.

Ghana’s DJ Black, Mic Smith, Killer Fingers, Mensa, Ronnie, Billy Ocean, Kesse and Abrantee earned nominations in various categories.

Ackah Blay

Ace guitarist Ackah Blay and his Abiza Band will on Friday, June 21, electrify the 2013 edition of Fete de la Musicque slated to take place at the Alliance Francaise in Accra.

Launched in 1982 by the French Ministry for Culture, Fete de la Musicque is simultaneously held in more than 100 countries in Europe and all over the world. Completely different from a music festival, Fete de la Musicque is, above all, a free popular festival, open to all musicians and groups who want to perform.

This music day allows the expression of all styles of music in a cheerful atmosphere. It aims at large audience working to popularize musical practice for young musicians from all social backgrounds.

Ackah Blay and Abiza Band, having toured a number of cities in Denmark, will display skills acquired from collaborations with a number of Danish and other Scandinavian groups and musicians.

Ackah Blay and his band will mesmerize audience with its brand of music, which is characterized by heavy instrumentation and a vocal accompaniment that would simply engage the audience, who would have no choice but to sing alongside Ackah Blay.

Also on the bill are diverse bands including Naterial and Balinga, who will be performing throughout the day with various styles and inflections that would represent music from many cultures and parts of the world.

Ackah Blay and Abiza band have, in recent years, taken the country by storm with a variety of compositions that stand in between tradition and modernity.

Ackah Blay has performed with a number of renowned musicians and bands. These include Jewel Ackah and the Butterfly Six, Amandzeba Brew, Hugh Masekela, Kojo Antwi, Richard Bona, Lokua Kanza, Dela Botri, Opoku Ayim and Sonti Ndebele.

In 2007, he went on a 17-nation tour of Eastern and Southern Africa with dynamic musician Rex Omar.

The group performed and held workshops in countries such as Kenya, Botswana, Mozambique, Zimbabwe, South Africa, Uganda, Ethiopia and Madagascar.

Blay has also performed with diverse musicians and groups in Sweden, Belgium, Australia, Norway, France, Holland and the United Kingdom. Early this year, he was instrumental in recruiting and mentoring groups for the New Music Ghana project.

Institut Francais (Ghana) and Alliance Francaise (Accra) are supporting Fete de la Music 2013 in Accra.

By George Clifford Owusu

Bblakk Rasta

Reggae musician and radio presenter Blakk Rasta, who is not happy about the way the Vodafone Ghana Music Awards (VGMA) is being organised has added his voice to calls on Charter House, organizers of the awards, to separate the dancehall/reggae category into two different categories.

In a letter to Charter House, Blakk Rasta registered his disagreement and pleaded with the organisers to separate the dancehall/reggae category into two different categories.

He explained that at the recently ended VGMA’s reggae was combined with dancehall in the same category which truly went against roots reggae, the original reggae from the creators of the genre.

“You might know that there is a sudden upsurge of dancehall in Ghana which generally talks about violence, sex and gangsterism even though a few live up to the societal billing. May I know what dancehall is in Ghana? Is it hip-hop music with Patois lyrics or what? This upsurge has drawn a heavy radio airplay for dancehall at the detriment of roots reggae which has been tried and proven as the only survivor in the reggae world. What this means is that, there is a huge unfair competition between the two and therefore should not be combined.

“Nevertheless, at the Grammys, this is done because America is a country where priorities in music relegate reggae to the back bench as a ‘necessary evil’ unlike in Africa where the backbone of our music can never afford to push reggae away.

“In short, as Ghana’s reggae president, I write to say that, you are killing out roots reggae if you continue with this unfair competition. Please, separate them, at least. Please, do not copy the Grammys’ bad habit.

I will also like to say that, roots reggae music has never been entertained on the main stage since the inception of the GMAs. Are we saying the genre or artistes are not entertaining enough to move the crowds, Remember that reggae brought Obama to Ghana and brought the world’s spectacle to the country you are organizing the awards for/in,” said, Blakk Rasta.

Blakk Rasta stressed that reggae music has won more international awards for Ghana than azonto, hiplife and gospel which in itself is not a genre but heavily sponges on reggae rhythms in Ghana.

He urged the organisers of the awards to give reggae music a lifeline to feed the insatiable entertainment appetites of Ghana, adding, “Please, do not suffocate reggae music if you truly want to support and promote Ghanaian music. We see it as more than just a genre but a culture and order from our great African heroes and prophets.

I congratulate you on the just ended awards and say, more grease to your elbows as we look forward to better VGMAs with fair genre representation”.

Marietta Brew Appiah Oppong

The Attorney General and Minister of Justice’s promise to go after the Waterville money sounds rich, hypocritical and bereft of verity.

It comes on the heels of the judgment which ordered that the ill-gotten money be returned to government chest. It is one judgment which has raised the level of the rule of law to another notch even as we pray that this good governance characteristic is nourished so it can proceed beyond the present rung.

The smelly payments for undone contracts have enabled Ghanaians to understand, at firsthand, how their funds are being fleeced by unscrupulous citizens holding respectable positions. These persons ironically turn round to tell us that the bone of state has been rendered bare devoid totally of flesh.

Helpless and hard at understanding fully the complexities of the white-collar thievery, the average Ghanaian can only whine and grumble as the perpetrators attempt to get away with their rich conduct.

It also enlightens us about how attorneys in the employ of the state pussy-foot on matters regarding the recovery of monies belonging to the public at a time when the national purse is struggling to replenish its contents long lost to kleptomaniacs and still losing.

The judgment has opened the can of worms about how the public purse remains at the beck and call of bad politicians, public servants and private sector players to the detriment of the state. Regrettably, a number of learned gentlemen breached the ethics of their noble profession and leaped into fray to partake in the bad partying.

With varied segments to it, the case presents scholars of financial management at the state level with valuable insight into the hearts of bad public servants and politicians and how they will stop at nothing to achieve their myopic objectives.

The Attorney General’s volte face is born from a desire to be spared the disgrace occasioned by the failure of her ministry to stand aloof as the lost money neared a bad debt status.

Hypocrisy is not in short supply these days in government, as evidenced by the classic turnaround by the Attorney General and Justice Minister, whose ministry preferred stupor to action when the public purse suffered the wanton haemorrhaging, which has left the state panting for recovery.

Her promise to collect the money for the state is a failed attempt at playing to the gallery at a time when Ghanaians are unable to hold back their surprise over how her ministry turned its back on them when the doors of the courts were wide open for adjudication.

It took the efforts of a lone crusader, Mr. Martin Amidu, to press the alarm bell and to go the extra mile of dragging the names behind the thievery to the courts, for adjudication. Martin Amidu and not the Attorney General and Justice Minister or the ministry she heads, which is deserving of an honour?

The burnt Kumasi market

There have been so many fire outbreaks that we seem to be losing count of them. The Kumasi market inferno, which has expectedly thrown many households into a state of uncontrollable despair, is one of the latest in a series of fires to afflict the country.

We hear that the US fire investigation experts are still around and have gone to the latest fire scene to probe what could be behind the seeming intractable fire outbreaks.

It is our hope that the Americans would come up with a credible report that can adequately replace the series of speculations being bandied around by politicians with a view to pulling the plugs on the infernos.

The irresponsible speculations, unfortunate as they are, have found in the minds of the gullible a place to fester thereby widening the destructive chasm of local politics. That is after all their objective for embarking on that filthy journey.

It is instructive, though, that the average Ghanaian is now able to winnow the grains from the chaff, laughing off the crazy and largely unsound speculations. Otherwise why would supporters of a political party set ablaze a market perceived to be their stronghold? It sounds crazy.

It is our expectation and that of the rest of Ghanaians that the experts would expedite action on their work and release a report which would not only be credible but capable of generating workable recommendations that would close the chapter on the fires.

Such a report must be  publicised so all Ghanaians would understand what really caused the fires which politicians have turned into a propaganda quarry to advance their filthy cause .

Information about how some markets are being guarded by armed security personnel, especially in Tamale, is an indication about how desperate we have become about the scary situation.

We must all be our neighbour’s keepers and become more security conscious than we have been, as an alternative means of obviating the fires. Questions about the efficient performance of our newly-tooled Ghana National Fire Service (GNFS), especially their response to emergencies, have been raised in some quarters and we concur with the queries.

Why have they so far been unable to stop the fires from spreading beyond their starting points to the extent that whole markets are razed to the ground? A national discourse on this drawback would be a wonderful idea as we wallow in this state of helplessness.

The state-of-the-art fire engines acquired at expensive cost to the state should have put us on top of such dreaded conditions.

Perhaps while looking at the causes of these mysterious fires, we could, as a matter of urgency, ask questions about what is drawing the GNFS from being on top of the fires. We hope that the Kumasi fire is the last in the series anyway. Enough is enough!

Students writing thier B.E.C.E exams

After close to a decade of basic education, kids across the country begin a weeklong of examinations that will enable them to gain admission to senior high schools when the next academic year is due.

It is a critical period in the educational life of these children and they need all the support from us to see them through the stressful moments.

They have never passed through this before and would need the psychological and physical support from parents, teachers and even siblings who have already passed through the hurdle to enable the kids to surmount the seeming challenging hurdle.

It is our prayer that the weeklong academic activity would be devoid of the blemish which characterised an aspect of the West African Secondary School Certificate Examination (WASSCE) a few weeks ago and which led to the cancellation and rescheduling of one of the papers.

Such would be too much stress for these kids who are writing their first public examination today and so all must be done to ensure a leak-proof examination.

When a few candidates are given the unfortunate and regrettable access to examination papers to give them an advantage over their colleagues, the punishment of a cancellation which follows affects the many others who would otherwise not have had such smelly advantage.

It is rueful, therefore, when other candidates suffer such omnibus punishment for the sins of a few privileged others.

The writing of public examination, the kind the kids are undergoing today, is surely one of the critical acid test for the noble attribute of honesty. It should, therefore, not be compromised on the altar of providing a certain so-called advantage for some candidates which long-term repercussion is bound to be counterproductive to the kids and the nation as a whole. In view of this, we are passionately calling on parents, teachers and candidates alike to avoid this path of dishonesty as a critical means of ensuring a future where we would have honest human resource, which the country can rely on in a most dignifying fashion.

When kids at this stage of their educational life are introduced to cheating, they grow up erroneously thinking that it is normal to cheat in examinations. We stand the risk of raising kids who would grow into cheats when we ignore the drawbacks such conduct bestows upon us.

Previous candidates, who were nabbed over cheating, had their names and schools published in local newspapers. We shudder to think about the psychological blow such kids would suffer seeing their names and even pictures splashed on the pages of newspapers.

They cannot be held responsible for such misdemeanor because kids cannot at their age ask to be given access to examination papers unless the subject is broached by teachers and other adults including, in some instances, parents.

It is important that we educate our kids about how to get used to preparing for examinations without   relying on cheating to pass. Let us help in protecting the integrity of public examinations from this stage.

Drugs

Members of the Government and Hospital Pharmacists Association (GHOSPA) have also called off their two-month-old strike. 

The Pharmacists who work in public hospitals across the country went on a strike in April over their market premium on the Single Spine Salary Structure. 

The market premium of pharmacists has been the problem between the GHOSPA and the Fair Wages and Salaries Commission (FWSC) for over past 18 months. 

The Secretary of GHOSPA, Franklin Acheampong who confirmed to Citi News that strike has been called off said the decision was taken at a national delegates conference. 

According to him “members considered that, they have become aware of the various pleadings that have been made by the general public and their friends and so, taking into consideration the court proceeding going on in which the National Labour Commission seeks to enforce its ruling, the option for them now is to suspend their strike and resume work. The strike is almost three months now. We have had reports from various hospitals that the internally generated funds, obtained by the sale of drugs have fallen and it has affected a lot of institutions.” 

He also added that “these issues were all known before members embarked on strike we have had informal discussions from well-meaning Ghanaians and we know because we had a ruling there will be the need for us to wait for the final verdict.”

Citifmonline

Sylvester A. Mensah in the middle with the rest of the Nigerian Delegation.

Ghanaians who signed up for the National Health Insurance Scheme (NHIS) yesterday instantly received their National Health Insurance Identification cards, courtesy to the scheme’s new biometric process.

Chief Executive of the National Health Insurance Authority (NHIA) Sylvester A. Mensah, who disclosed this to journalists at a press conference, indicated that the programme which commenced on Monday would be run on pilot basis.

The targeted group of persons for the six weeks pilot programme would be the military and police personnel.

“We are piloting the instant issuance of the IDs from Monday and during this period, all registrations are going to be biometric. After a month and a half, the programme will be rolled out across the country. Our systems are set. We have tested them in-house and have been found to be efficient. The 6 weeks test period is meant to satisfy ourselves that, what we see in the system is exactly what we expect to see when the roll-out commences,” Mr Mensah stated.

The Chief Executive appealed to all persons, who in the past had  difficulties accessing healthcare services as a result of delays in ID cards distribution, to enrol with the new programme.

A 15-man delegation from Nigeria who was in Ghana to study the NHIS were also given the chance to scrutinise the scheme and carry home its success stories.

They included Senator Chris Ngige, Representative of the Senate Chairman, Committee on Health, National Assembly; Dr Abdurahaman Sambo, Executive Secretary, NHIS Nigeria and Dr Kenneth Korve, General Manager, Planning, Research and Monitoring Department, NHIS Nigeria, among others.

According to Dr Korve, a member of the Nigerian delegation, Ghana’s NHIA needed to improve on some of the deficiencies it was encountering such as the delay in the payment of monies to service providers.

“This is because of the method of payment which is free for service. The administrative cost of paying free-for-service is very high. Once capitation is paid, you reduce the cost but then, the provider will want to cheat in some way or the other. Since it is insurance, the people who are not paying – the exempt group – are too many.  You have more than 70 percent of clients who are not paying and in insurance principles; you will discover that the funding will be a problem. In this case, Government will have to heavily descend to provide the funding,” Dr Korve said.

He, on the other hand, commended the government structure in Ghana, adding that the structure operated more like a unitary system “where you can say something in Accra and it is heard and taken in another region. This is not the case in Nigeria because the system there is more complicated.”

 BY Nii Ogbamey Tetteh

Dr Kwame Addo Kufuor

Dr Kwame Addo-Kufuor has charged newly qualified medical doctors from the University of Cape Coast (UCC) to make God their partners in their practice.

Addressing the first batch of final year medical students of the university, Dr Addo-Kufuor said “my personal experience as a Christian doctor practising for almost four and a half decades, I can testify it is God’s blessing that makes success in any human endeavour possible.”

The occasion was under the theme: “Fundamental Factors And Guiding Principles Leading To A Successful Life In Practice.”

He also highlighted that as believers in the medical profession, the new doctors should not forget to pray regularly and ask God to bless their work as doctors adding “you will need God as partners.”

The function which took place last Saturday at Elmina’s Coconut Grove Resort was a spectacular event during which the graduates had the rare opportunity of listening to wise remarks from a personality like Dr Kwame Addo-Kufuor whose public office service was sufficiently documented.

He told his audience many human factors such as high level of integrity, humane disposition, modesty, sense of responsibility, efforts at continuing professional education, developing good relationship with colleagues, patients and the society at large were the very success determiners in one’s career.

He pointed out to the qualified medical doctors to strive to maintain decency, be knowledgeable, respectable and be helpful to human beings, which the general public expected from them. “The best example of what I am talking to you about is the almost automatic discount given to doctors when they go to insurance companies to register their cars,” he said.

Again, he cautioned, “You must decide early in your career the area of your specialization. Fortunately, we have a Ghana College of Physicians and Surgeons, and many excellent residency programmes in the teaching hospitals in Ghana.”

He charged the doctors to remain in Ghana and through the residency programmes to obtain the fellowship diploma in the area of their specialization.

Many Ghanaians he said were better educated, had access to the internet and well informed about the medical conditions for which they contacted the doctor for treatment. In view of this, therefore, he went on, “The young doctor must therefore be well informed, current, and competent. Such a doctor is respected and trusted by his colleagues and his or her services are sought after by the patients.”

Dr Addo-Kufuor, a former Defence Minister with oversight responsibility for the Interior Ministry is associated with the School of Medical Sciences, KNUST since 1986 as lecturer in Internal Medicine. To his credit is the Addo-Kufuor Prize for the best student in internal medicine which is awarded every year during the oath-swearing ceremony.

By A.R. Gomda

Korle Bu

A 16-year-old Ghanaian teenager, based in the United States, has donated 50 digital thermometers worth $2,500 to the Children’s Ward of the Korle-Bu Teaching Hospital.

Master Joel Bervell, President of Hugs for Ghana, a non-profit organisation, is an 11th Grade student at Kamiak High School in Mukilteo, Washington State.

According to the student, he was inspired to support underprivileged children in schools and hospitals when he and his family visited Ghana.

Master Bervell said he saw the state of the hospital and needy school children, who could not afford to buy basic learning materials like books and pens.

He said he decided to form the organisation to raise funds among his colleagues in school where they were encouraged to donate money, as little as one dollar a day for one week, to help purchase the items for the hospital.

“Students were made to realize that there is a world in need beyond their view and also to know that it takes a little effort to eventually make a difference,” Master Bervell said.

“Hugs for Ghana” is a student-led organisation which is dedicated to helping needy children in hospitals, schools, orphanages and other child related services in Ghana.

Its mission is to show love, hope, confidence and warmth to the hearts and lives of children in the country.

Mr Bervell stated that the organisation also raised funds through a cultural programme it held in the local community of Mukilteo where people came together to learn about Ghanaian culture.

He also provided information to the community about the needs of the less privileged children in the country.

Mr Bervel noted that the event was able to raise money for the organisation’s goal to buy the thermometers.

He said some thermometers would also be given to other health institutions like La General Hospital in Accra and Eikwe Hospital in the Western Region. Mrs Rebecca Lartey, Deputy Director of Nursing Services at the Ward, received the equipment on behalf of the Hospital and expressed gratitude to Mr Bervell for his initiative.

She called on other individuals and organisations to come to the aid of the Hospital.

-GNA

Rabies infected dog

TWO PEOPLE died from rabies outbreak in the Asunafo North and Asunafo South Districts in the Brong Ahafo Region between February and April this year.

Dr Kenneth Gbeddy, Brong Ahafo Regional Director of Veterinary Service in an interview with the Ghana News Agency (GNA) in Sunyani on Wednesday said the two, a man and a woman were the victims, but did not disclose their districts.

He said veterinary officers were undertaking vaccination exercises to bring the situation under control, adding that, last year, two people also died from rabies in the Tano North District and Tano South District of the Region.

Dr Gbeddy pointed out that the Service was concerned about the rabies outbreak because it could infect all mammals, including dogs, cats, horses and cattle when they come in contact with infected wild-life.

He appealed to the general public to ensure their pets especially dogs and cats were vaccinated annually against the disease to avert any future occurrences.

The Regional Director of the Veterinary services advised people who were bitten by dogs or cats to rush to the nearest hospital for vaccination and do careful examination to save their lives, and explained that the two people died because they reported to the hospital late.

Dr Gbeddy said dogs and other animals suspected to have rabies should not be killed but must be chained by the owner for two weeks to be monitored because dogs infected with rabies would die 10 days after biting a person.

He said after the dog had died, the person bitten should be vaccinated against rabies since any delay could cause the person’s life.

He stated that veterinary sponsored programmes by the Municipal and District Assemblies had stopped due to lack of funds and was no longer undertaking surveillance or monitoring in the rural areas to vaccinate animals free of charge.

He pointed out that stray dogs in the communities were dangerous and should be captured and killed under the assemblies’ bye-laws, and noted that, people were dying because of non- enforcement of the bye-laws.

Dr Gbeddy mentioned aggressive dogs; dogs hiding in dark places, dogs that bite any animal on sight, dripping of saliva from the mouth and sudden change of barking were some of the signs of dogs infected with rabies.

He asked the general public to report such sudden changes in their dogs to the veterinary personnel to eliminate them from the communities since their presence was a threat to human life.

The Brong Ahafo Regional Director of Veterinary Service                                                         noted that dogs and cats were human friends and therefore needed to be cared for to make their stay in the communities comfortable.

GNA

Baaba Eshun-Wilson

ON ONE of my many journeys to Cape Coast, I sat close to an old woman in a public bus which was half-filled up. Though it took a while, the bus eventually got full, with the last three passengers being white foreigners from England. The last seat to be taken up happened to be the one next to this old lady. One of the foreigners, a man, sat by her and since the old woman was quite fat; she needed to shift her for him to be comfortable. The man gently prompted her to “please, push.” To the foreigners’ surprise, she refused. Excuse me? I said to myself. What is she thinking? Who does she think she is? The foreigner prompted her again, and the woman once again refused.

The foreigner, getting irritated while trying to be as polite as possible, asked her again to “please push.” This time, the old woman responded by spitting on his left foot. At this point, the driver and all other passengers became furious, and there was chaos in the vehicle because of this old woman’s behaviour. The foreigners, very angry at this began to hurl all kinds of profanities at her, and she did not hesitate to respond to them in Ga, insulting them with all her might and throwing her arms at them. This was verbal abuse at its peak! Or shall I be harsh and say racism?

The foreigners, obviously disgusted and very angry, got off the vehicle and all three of them got off the bus. The rest of the passengers vented their spleen on this woman, not because of what she did, but because we now had to wait for three more passengers before the bus could move. The driver yelled at the old woman saying, was it not for mere respect that had to be accorded to the elderly of our society, he would not have hesitated to throw her off the bus.  Three passengers finally arrived, and we took off with speed. Enough time had already been wasted. During the journey, I couldn’t help but ponder over the reason why this old woman treated the foreigners the way she did. It bothered my mind so much that I decided to ask her. Fearing that she would also be rude and probably abuse me too, I approached her very politely by greeting her. She responded with a smile and I then asked how she was fairing; she said she was doing very well. Then, I asked her.

She narrated a sad story to me, saying that two years ago, she took her only grandchild, a twelve-year-old boy whom she was so fond of, to her hometown in the Volta Region as the boy’s parents didn’t live in Ghana and wanted him to know his roots. They attended a traditional marriage ceremony and after the celebration, she stayed in the village a week long as he was enjoying his stay. The boy was taken ill with malaria and according to the elderly woman, it was as early as 4 a.m. when she realized it and there were no taxis. She said she had a taxi-driver friend in the next village that she quickly called to inform of the situation at hand. She carried her grandchild on her back and walked all the way to the next village. However, upon reaching the village, she saw from a distance that a white man and a white lady were about to take the cab that was reserved for her, and that the taxi-driver was packing their bags into the cab. This old woman, with tears welling down her cheeks this point, said she ran to get to the driver as quickly as possible before he took off. She said because of her weight, she couldn’t run fast enough and she tripped over a tree stump, slowing them down. She asked the driver why he was taking the white people when she had an agreement with him. The driver said the white people had a flight to catch, so he was taking them to Accra. This old woman said she pleaded with the white couple to please allow the driver to give her a drive to the hospital, and then, they could also continue with their journey to Accra. She even offered to pay half of the fare. The old woman said the white men blatantly ignored her and told the driver to drive off. She said she watched helplessly as they drove off. She was so frustrated that she even contemplated walking to the hospital but it was too dark and too far. A cab finally came by, and she waved at him with her cloth to stop. The taxi stopped and in less than an hour, they were in the hospital.  But sadly, the following morning, the boy died.

This old woman spoke with such bitterness and pain and blamed all foreigners for her grandson’s death. She said that a lot of Ghanaians neglected the needs of their own people whenever they saw foreigners. Though that statement was harsh, she was right. She is not the only who one has experienced this sort of unfair treatment. It happens in so many instances. Ghanaians are friendly and ready to go above and beyond for foreigners who visit the country. If this attitude towards foreigners continues, they themselves will find reason to disrespect us, Ghanaians, in our own country.

Let us continue with our hospitality and friendly nature towards foreigners. After all, that’s what we are known for. But while we continue to exhibit these good qualities towards them, let’s also not forget our hardworking countrymen, and treat them fairly.

-         baaba.lou@gmail.com

By Baaba Eshun-Wilson

Sydney Casely-Hayford

Citizen Vigilante had his day in court, Citizen Vigilante won his day in court.  Martin Amidu took his case against Waterville and Woyome and in no uncertain terms, the Supreme Court gave its ruling and clawed back $47million.  Even though they deferred to the lower courts to decide on Woyome, they fired a critical salvo against lawyers in the cases, Peasah Boadu for Waterville, Osafo Buabeng for Woyome, Tony Lithur for Austro Invest and maybe Ekow Awoonor who acted as sole mediator between parties with then AG Betty Mould Iddrissu.

They referred matters to the Legal Council and we expect some action.  I am thrilled that perhaps this is a signal to Ghanaians that our Supreme Court has found wings to cleanse the timidity stigma, asserting their self-ruling judgment in contrast to lugging government wishes.  Two things.  The Supreme Court restoring confidence in its independence and Martin persevering to the end and securing the verdict that all were skeptical the Supreme Court would scupper.  So after I heard this, I wondered if President Mahama talking to his NDC family, which is no big deal, could upset the Judges, making them think he was trying to influence their decision.  Might they rather tow a hard line, slighted by his presumptiveness and belittling their intelligence?

The President was also at the G8 Summit, making promises as he always does, without checking with his team whether they can deliver what he promises.  This time he is assuring the world that he will produce reports to Ghanaians on oil revenues and spend.  This requirement is already in the law and the problem I have with all his promises, he has been with this government for the last four and a half years and most of what he has promised has not been done when he says it will be done.  These lofty promises during election debates and campaigns have never come through.  Enough that he takes Ghanaians down a mystery path, but are we going to misdirect international groups too?  Well, I have this view that the donor community is not fooled by all this, they are very aware of the “till-shrinkage” from the support they give and there is a lot of concern about the slow pace of implementing contracts and how much lost opportunity in our economy.  This oil revenue spend is imperative for our democracy as is all government spend.  Our non-right to information is a terrible blight on us and Parliament will do well to give the bill its fullest debate as a matter of priority and pass the law.

The utility companies are again asking for tariff increases.  The TUC is up in arms about it and the political parties have joined the fray, and you know with that, it will get bogged down into some illogical triviality.  All I think needs be done is the VRA, GRIDCO and ECG should make full disclosure of their financial reports and particularly the cost build up and allow Daavi and Foovi Ghana to see what they are talking about.  But particularly, we need to see how much inefficiency they carry from leakage in their service.  I speculate that Ghana Water loses close to 40% of all production (this past week I saw a burst pipe on one of the side roads here on McCarthy Hill pumping water for three days non-stop) and ECG is leaking at least 30% if not more.  VRA needs to be paid on time by Government and they all need to trim overhead; too much luxury given to top management.  I keep saying these things are not rocket science, so why do we have to struggle like this?  Why doesn’t PURC simply publish what the Utilities have presented to justify the increases?  Doesn’t this information belong to Ghanaians?  We pay them all, from VRA to PURC do we not?

More fires, this time in Kumasi.  The Americans might be here for a long time.  We still do not know who leads this US team.  I thought they would do magic and tell as soon as they landed what caused the Makola 2 fire.  Alas, we have heard nothing yet.

And Mayor Oko Vanderpuye has to go.  I am not the first to say, but this week the Ga Chiefs added some weight to the call.  Other than inefficiency, traditional disrespect and alleged corruption, what else do you need to start an investigation?  I suppose he is yet to disrespect the President?

If JDM finds the courage to start an investigation he might be surprised at the depth of the problem.  Better still why not the Council of State request he get a commission of enquiry underway?  Time they did something to earn the benefits they get, no?

Now, if you listened to Afari Gyan very carefully, you might have tripped on some issues.  I think the EC announced the results after too much complacency and persistent annoyance with politicians.  His sequence to eventual declaration of the results flows from the bottom up as he described.  But, to avoid giving the NPP a peg to introduce the pink sheets as the reliable prime document on which their analysis is based, his evasiveness to specific questions made him come across as a part-time SHS student engaged in the election process.  I was spellbound when he dragged his answer to the specifics of the distinction between two blank presidential pink sheets, the answer to which was the serial number, for at least fifteen minutes and eventually after a battering from NPP Counsel Addison and the Bench, he capitulated to the important serial number.  The NPP key to the analysis is hinged on the serial number and its importance in gathering the results for eventual collation to the strong room.  The fact of the matter is you cannot gather the numbers without the pink sheets.  Before you arrive at the final announcement, the polling station sheets are vital.  This is what Addison sought to establish and the NDC side are very aware of this, hence the brouhaha about the pink sheets.  The matter is not about number of sheets.  The KPMG count will show up the Court Registry if they received and gave a receipt for the quantity delivered, but failed to pass same to the EC, NDC and Mahama sides.

The Tsatsu Tsikata fight should be with the Registrar.  Addison is battling three lawyers and an imprecise and maybe less than efficient Registry, but there lies destiny.  Should he win, he marks his name in the history books and Ghana rises from the ashes of instrumentalist politics to a better and more important era in our history.  Should he lose, we once and for all minimize the threat of election challenge and maybe define a new form of representation that will suit us better and derive from our community and traditional relationships.  The democratic world calls it Proportional Representation.

But one thought that crossed my mind listening to Afari Gyan.  Do you think that in some bizarre way Dr. Afari Gyan would like this case to become the final ante needed to resolve our voting system?  He cannot openly admit to the errors but if he reluctantly concedes to the mess, we could end up cleaning the vault of all the past mistakes.  Just thinking aloud.

The NPP extracted an apology out of Tarzan Wereko Brobbey and I ask, so what?  We launched a search for Ghana’s fastest man, a more exciting idea I am yet to hear and we might just give Lesotho something to think about this afternoon.

I don’t often venture out after dark.  The streetlights don’t work in the essential places where it is shadowy and trees create mysterious avenues, blurring the edges of potholes and street imperfections and there are too many Police blocks to make night driving pleasant.  But Saturday night I took the plunge and I need to give shout outs.  I commend the collective emerging middle class Ghanaian parent who support their children at the Mandy Fouracre Dance Academy and who put up a splendid performance at the National Theater.  Connected to fitness club Pippas, Phillippa Pepera and her team have stayed on course and created a business despite shouts of elitism and exclusivity.  Roll back ten or twelve years and this school was backed and dominated by foreigners.  On Saturday, the two to one Ghanaian majority showed very clearly that we are growing a class of persons proud to be part of a presentation that gave children an opportunity to vary dance styles from around the world and embodied creativity I can only commend.  A wholly Ghanaian production presented by us, Azonto side by side with Nutcracker ballet and Japanese Geisha dancers.  Nice.  My second shout out to my bumble-bee-niece, Leyli and Russian-dancer Lua, who both made me very proud to be there to support them.

Home grown, home presented, home delivered and home supported.  I am looking forward to next year’s performance.

Ghana, Aha a ye de papa.  Alius valde week advenio. Another great week to come!

Sydney Casely-Hayford, sydney@bizghana.com

 By Sydney Casely-Hayford

TB Joshua

If I am a comedian without any concept of political correctness, the SCOAN tragedy would have been a fertile field for crack comic punch lines.

With my unorthodox views about the so-called contemporary men of God, I am tempted to take a swipe at the victims to tickle my readers. But, to go for the jugular at their expense is poor taste. Besides, I am a cultural conservative, though there are some of our cultural practices I will not touch with a ten-foot barge pole, however, there are some that I celebrate with flourish shrouded in an unmitigated passion. I believe that you don’t peddle evil and insinuation about a departed soul, at least, for the sake of the grieving family. And I will do my best not to hit below the belt.
There is a truck load of blame to go around, but my burning rage about this tragedy and the sting of my pen will be felt by our politicians, not to mention the tangential complicity of the current government. Also, the ecclesiastical community will, as well, be consumed in the vortex of my anger.
It takes tragedies of this kind to make people sit up and ask the right questions. Sadly, we’ve been bombarded by the wrong questions left, right and centre on the terrestrial, print and electronic media. Some have even attempted the sacrilege of blaming the victims, which is rather a ridiculous soft target that leaves the main culprits of this avoidable disaster to sip their cocktails in the comfort of their homes, while they strategise to the lead the charge the other way. But, we are not all blind.

It is a known fact that one of the fatalities went to the meeting with his car. It doesn’t take the brains of Einstein to extrapolate that he was relatively a well-to-do person, based on Ghanaian standards.

Now, the question that will not go away is why will a person like that expose himself to mortal danger, or better still fall for this 419. The answer is not farfetched, and it is very glaring. Anybody who sweats for a living in Ghana is desperate and anxious for tomorrow. Can you blame them? Not quite! The simple reason is that the economic situation keeps deteriorating year in and year out without any possible end in sight, courtesy of our politicians.
We all know that it is a Herculean task to solve all our economic problems. On the other hand, there are certain avoidable self-immolation economic behaviours any serious government can steer away to alleviate the suffering of hard working Ghanaians. For example, the avoidance of the crippling ubiquitous inflation. Some of the SCOAN victims are successful businessmen and women, and they have tried everything, but how can you guarantee your future financial security when you are operating in an economy, in which inflation can wipe out totally your life savings within a decade. There are certain types of inflation that the government cannot practically do anything about, especially, when oil prices shoot up. But, the home grown inflation deliberately created by our politicians for their own selfish ends is what perforates my heart each time I look at the figures.
At the inception of the Fourth Republic, when politicians became ‘accountable’ to the electorate, the exchange rate was hovering around ¢390 to the dollar. By the time Rawlings left office it was ¢3,550 to the dollar – the national currency had lost 90% of its value. At the end of Kufuor’s tenure it took ¢10,500 to get hold of a dollar; the cedi further lost 70% of the value that was bequeathed to him in 2001. That of the last four years has been abysmal, even with the additional income coming from oil. The months leading to the last election saw the shredding of the cedi. If the Bank of Ghana had not floated bonds to mop out the excess liquidity, it would have been disastrous. Applying unnecessary financial manipulation of the currency, which is avoidable if they had done the right thing in the first place.

The main source of our economic woes is the perennial hyper-inflation. What actually sustains this pernicious problem is the fact that the incumbent government always waits till election year, and then speeds up projects that should have been spread over the four years, purposely to bribe the electorate. They then release money for the completed projects, flooding the economy with excess liquidity. It is just like having a whole year rainfall coming down in a single day. Definitely, you are going to have flood, no matter how sophisticated the drainage system is. The unintended consequence, which they do not really care about, is a weakened currency, as a result of fierce competition for the scarce foreign exchange for purchases of capital goods, and ordinary traders cashing in on the brisk economic activities. The direct effect is the increases in the prices of our imports. The advantage we should have gained with an export drive is non-existent because our main export, cocoa, is not a life-sustaining commodity and does not fall into that category, where we can push to sell more. Besides, our productivity regime is not refined enough to take advantage of a weak currency to embark on an aggressive export drive – it is, therefore, a double loss for us. The most eye-watering damaging effect to the economy is that interest rate is pushed up to make the banking business worthwhile for the operators.

Secondly, in addition to the corruption, the stealing of state funds couched in the benign language of ex-gratia to assume some air of legitimacy is what is screwing all Ghanaians. The ridiculous salaries paid to the unproductive Members of Parliament (MPs) – legislators who don’t have mind of their own. It is hard to believe that demand and supply does not apply to this bunch of opportunists. Any idiot at all can become an MP, yet they claim they are better than teachers, doctors, pharmacists, and what have you. The supply of every commodity is what determines its price. The supply of MPs is literally limitless. Still, they are paid these outrageous salaries, which destroy moral and blights our productivity. Productivity is what determines the strength of a currency, and not financial manipulation or gold reserves, as some ignorant economists will have us believe.

Furthermore, what really gets my blood boiling in my arteries is the blatant disregard of the countless protests against the addition of the 45 new constituencies. It was sold as a constitutional requirement, which is absolute bonkers. They forget that the Constitution was written to serve our interests, but not to enslave us, as the creation of the 45 new constituencies encapsulate.

Thirdly, our primary schools are just playgrounds for Ghanaian children. Though there are some underlying reasons for the dreadful state of affairs, for example, the lack of motivation, poor nutrition, parental negligence, etc. Surely, that should not cause seven schools in the Denkyembuor District in the Eastern Region to score zero pass rates in their junior Basic Entrance Certificate Examinations (BECE). These are some of the things that fuel the desperation of Ghanaians to run into the arms of these heartless, inconsiderate, and selfish so-called men of God like TB Joshua. Their anxiety is palpable.

One writer recently wrote a pathetic piece entitled ‘TB Joshua provides alternative for Ghanaians – Doctors can go to Bed’. I need not comment on this crass article. It is very sad that in this day and age, people cling on to such nonsense and promote this group of ignorant mammals who attack their victims like a wild beast. They bust them open and shred their flesh like a discarded document, and play with their minds like two year olds.

The ecclesiastical institution that a few years ago could boast of men of virtue with a genuine call from God to do his work has now become a den of thieves. About 50% of them are crooks, and the rest, who are sincere, believe their own stupidity. The authentic ones are incredibly rare and very hard to find.

In the past it used to be ‘a calling’, it is now a profession that is attracting thieves and tricksters. They have become spiritual psychics like the way medical doctors are able to diagnose your ailment from what you tell them. The epidemic of family feuds in the country can be laid at their doorsteps. If anybody is having a hard time, or does not have the funds to treat a disease as a result of the incompetence, stealing and chicanery of our political leaders, the diagnosis is always none other than a family member. Some are so dangerous to the extent that they even accuse little children of being fortresses of evil spirits.

After their insidious diagnosis, they offload the burden of proof on to their victims. They tell them if you have enough faith you will be healed. So if you don’t get healed it is not their fault, because you don’t have enough of the faith currency. For them to get away with it is beyond me. I cannot answer the question why some people don’t get healed, but it is presumptuous on their part to assume that if you don’t receive your healing or breakthrough, as they poetically put it you don’t have faith. Paul, who could raise the dead, lived with an ailment all his life after his conversion. He even asked the Lord to heal him, and he was told my grace is sufficient for you.

Miraculous healing does happen. There are cases where terminally ill patients have made remarkable recovery without any medical explanation, while nobody is praying for them. I can’t believe that very well-educated people fall for this. Even the late President Mills, a whole professor, fell under the spell of TB Joshua. The state of mind and the circumstances of a substantial number of Ghanaians can be likened to the proverbial drowning man. They clutch at anything; that is why they fall victim to an obvious conman like TB Joshua. It is their anxiousness to eliminate the pain and uncertainties in their lives that led the SCOAN victims to exchange that precious gift of life for a mere placebo holy water that never was.

The churches have become just like a social club, as a form of insurance to cater for any future eventualities. However, they employ unqualified actuarist ‘pastors’ who pay themselves obscene salaries for the privilege. They are literally bad insurance companies. A Nigerian congregation engaged in a shameful self deprecation for allowing their pastor to travel first class, while they could easily buy him a jet. So, jet they bought, while there are very poor people in the same congregation who could use, not charity, but hard ball productive investment to engage them. Jesus said, the son of man has no place to lay his head, but those who want to take up his mantle, now live in castles. Jesus did not own or ride in a chariot, but they now fly in their own jets – what an irony.

If you want a life insurance – buy a policy from any reputable insurance company. Better still, form churches in your homes and read the bible because the bible says, where two or three have gathered in my name, I am in their midst.

Lastly, this is what I think. The victims of the SCOAN disaster should be redeemed. The leadership should be prosecuted for corporate negligence because that is what they have become – a corporate money making machine that swindles their customers with cheap products such as holy water and inefficacious prayers that cost nothing.

By Philip Kobina Baidoo Jnr

Kwasi Ansu-Kyeremeh

The congress people who have been heaping abuses on Mr. Martin Amidu, former Attorney-General and Minister of Justice and our Justices of Peace must be squirming.

The NDC corrupt architects of fear and panic must be feeling that feel.

The NDC chairman had proposed many ways for getting rid of judges. Now we know there is a way to take back stolen motherland money. You need a vigilante Amidu and a bench ready to protect the motherland from congress embezzlement.

To some of us, it is bitter sweet; though more sweet than bitter. It is sweet we have the money back and it is sweet we have citizens of the Martin Amidu kind. It is also sweet we have justices who will put the nation first notwithstanding a corrupt executive’s machinations and bribery attempts.

What a twist of fate for the motherland. What an irony that Mr Amidu is the child of an ostensible house-cleaning accountability and probity revolution that ended up producing the most corrupt set of ingrate self-styled revolutionaries who subsist only on thieved public funds.

It is these corrupt elements who ended up designing and implementing atrocious judgment debt payments out of the motherland’s treasury.

They perpetrated, and are still engineering, a deplorable practice that has crippled the finances of the motherland, stripping it of all flesh and leaving only bones for the rest of us with dog teeth to chew.

Important as it is in the motherland’s search for governance that promotes justice and fairness, the Martin Amidu act is heroic.

It is nonetheless only a tiny vindication of the ideals of a coup that has left the scar of arrogance, ineptitude, mediocrity, greed, avarice and incompetence in a National Democratic Congress group, which passes well as National Destruction Congress.

As for the Justices, their vindicating verdict will go a long way to restore hope in my compatriots as pertains to responsible use of the motherland’s money, the tax money my compatriots sweat to put into the national treasury.

The judgment has come at a time when every bit of hope appeared to be disappearing.

The Justices have redeemed the good name of the bench from their colleagues who ‘failed to protect the public purse.’ They have actually enhanced the image of the judiciary.

We cannot wait for similar rulings by the Justice Apau sole commission. And we cannot wait for those who stole our elections to be denied the exercise of power achieved by theft.

For once, let the President of the Republic show faith with my compatriots. Let the President show faith with the motherland. Let the President set up an escrow account into which all the monies directed to be retrieved by the esteemed justices, all GHC41m of it, will be paid.

An instituted board of trustees comprising GNAT, TUC, GMA and GBA representatives, supported by the Ghana Institution of Engineers must administer the fund.

The board will advertise for education and health projects to be implemented, under its supervision, in each of the one hundred and seventy districts in the motherland.

My concerned compatriots and I don’t want the money to be paid into the consolidated fund so that it gets channeled back into a different judgment debt servicing. It has been cold sweat by Martin Amidu and it has been bold decision by the Justices. Let no President make it all come to nothing by failing to take the money back with speed.

It is extremely heartwarming to learn that there are citizens like Mr Amidu and justices like the nine who sat on the Waterville case; compatriots who will reject bribery in favour of doing good in the name of the motherland and in the public interest.

The judgment is greater than just in the national interest.

It is a major dent in the corruption campaign and a huge push for the anti-corruption effort. It is a rare feat; a very, very rare feat where sons and daughters of the motherland will give up bribery money for their pockets in the public interest.

Thank you Mr Amidu, thank you Justices of the Supreme Court. Keep staying by the side of the deprived of the motherland and she will ever be grateful. It is slow and sometimes not easy to notice. But we seem to be progressing with the courts ready to take on executive abuse of power, corruption and mismanagement of the public purse.

Observers at the observatory are busy watching and waiting for action from the President who is expected to execute the judiciary decision to retrieve the stolen money.

Closely being monitored also is where the money will go once retrieved.

How long it takes to refund the money and what it ends up used for once retrieved will determine a President’s commitment to the motherland’s cause.

Agya Kwaku Ogboro

“I’ve learnt to hate all traitors, and there is no disease that I spit on more than treachery”—Aeschylus, Son of Euphorion.

The word ‘traitor’ originated from the Old French word ‘traitour’ and the Latin ‘traditor’, meaning “one who delivers”. The phrase simply means one who exposes his country or friend to the enemy. A traitor is therefore one who betrays their country, a friend, a trust or a cause.

A friend is someone who stands by you in times of weakness or need. He is there to laugh with you when you are happy, and cry with you when you are sad. You may expect danger from your enemies and detractors, but not from a friend.

It is bad enough to have a stranger or detractor betray you. But when it is someone you call a trusted friend, it is deeply hurtful. It makes you feel deceived, despised, cheated, humiliated or stabbed in the back. Most often it comes as a surprise. That is why it is so painful. You do not expect to be hurt so badly by someone you thought you could trust; so you are left in disbelief and heart-wrenching pain. That is why this sort of betrayal is most painful.

When Dr Arthur Kwabena Kennedy, aka Arthur K, returned from the United States of America and decided to ride along with those on the Great Elephant, he was received with open arms. He then took advantage of the party’s liberal policies to contest its flagbearership position for the 2008 election. After selling his message to members of the party across the length and breadth of the country, he shockingly got a solitary vote in a contest won by Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo.

He was subsequently made the Communications Director of Nana Addo’s campaign. Many were those who opposed his appointment with the excuse that he was not a dyed-in-the-wool member and was likely to betray the party in rocky times; but Nana Addo stuck to his guns.

By virtue of his position, Arthur K was allowed into the inner circles of the party. He was trusted by all and given unhindered access to the flag-bearer and every party material. It is no longer news that the party lost the 2008 elections by a slim margin of less than 40,000 votes.

A few moons later, the party woke up only to be greeted by the news that Arthur K had written a damning book about his party. He took advantage of his privileged position to chronicle what he thought were the reasons for the Elephant’s defeat in a book titled, “Chasing the Elephant into the bush”.

His actions angered many people in the party. They were angry because Arthur K had delivered the party to its political enemies. They felt used, cheated and betrayed. Some called him bastard, while others called him traitor.

Indeed, anyone who has ever experienced betrayal in a relationship would tell you how difficult it is to recover from such an experience. Betrayal is a destructive force that leaves many ruins in its wake. Betrayal changes everything. The damage done is sometimes irreparable and the trust is totally lost. Wounds run deep, hearts are broken and anger persists. The person you once viewed as an angel becomes the devil incarnate to you.

That was exactly how the beautiful relationship between Arthur K and his party degenerated. Everyone viewed him with suspicion. The once affable Communication Director suddenly became a persona non grata in the party. The mistrust his party people had for him was made evident by the way they rejected him during the party’s primaries in the Abura-Asebu Kwamankese constituency elections.

Since then nothing negative about the party was heard from him until his ‘partner in treachery’ (PIT), Dr Charles Wereko-Brobbey, put sand in the party’s gari a few weeks back. In a desperate attempt to defend his PIT, he once again betrayed the party’s cause under the guise of an open letter to the Chairman. He accused the party of intolerance, yet he failed to provide a single instance where the party executive had been intolerant of opposing views.

Abusuapanin, assuming his allegation of intolerance by members of the party is true; wouldn’t it have been better if he had privately written to the party chairman to express his concerns? Is it not obvious that he made the letter open so he could wash the party’s dirty linen publicly under the guise of giving good counsel? I liken his recent actions to someone who laughs with you, while secretly back-stabbing you in the dark. Certainly, his open letter was nothing but sanctimonious effusions of a traitor.

Arthur K is gradually gaining notoriety as a man not to be trusted among his party people. He has time and again broken the trust the party has reposed in him. It is unfortunate that he has not learnt any lessons from his earlier betrayal. Fools, they say, are the ones who never learn; and I know Arthur K is no fool. It is the reason I’m still baffled at his refusal to learn from his mistakes.

Dr Martin Luther King Jnr once said, “The ultimate measure of a man is not where he stands in moments of comfort and convenience, but where he stands in times of challenge and controversy.” I wish Arthur K reflects deeply on these words.

See you next week for another konkonsa!

Is this the iWatch? Apple’s latest TV commercial shows and iPhone user wearing a mysterious gadget on his wrist – and it resembles artist’s impressions of what a much-rumoured iWatch could look like

Apple may have given the world a glimpse of the iWatch – or played an elaborate practical joke on millions of iFans.

The firm’s latest iPhone advert shows a user listening to an iPhone, but with a mysterious gadget on his wrist.

Although the screen cannot be clearly seen, many online users have speculated that the gadget is in fact Apple’s much rumoured iWatch.

The so-called ‘iWatch’ is set to take on Google’s Glass eyewear in the wearable computer market.

The speculation has let to hundreds of Apple fans creating their own mockups of an iWatch.

However, some onlookers have also pointed out that the device looks uncannily like Apple’s current iPod Shuffle, which has wrist mounts available for it it turning into a basic watch.

The advert comes just weeks before Apple’s WWDC event for developers, where it tradictionally reveals new products.

This year it is expected to reveal a major overhaul of its iOS software, which reports claim will replace the current software with a ‘flat’ design being overseen by the Sir Jonathan Ive, the firm’s London-born design boss.

However, it has also been rumoured the firm could also reveal details of its much rumoured TV service – and even unveil the iWatch.
Recently MacUser magazine revealed its idea for the watch, shown below.

‘We worked with 3D artist Martin Hajek to conceive, design and construct a plausible Apple watch,’ said Adam Banks, Editor in Chief of MacUser magazine.

‘The brief we gave ourselves was that it had to feel like something we could actually imagine buying from an Apple Store.

‘We came to the conclusion that Apple’s most likely play would be to keep its watch as conventional as possible, with the feel of something classic rather than excitably innovative.’

This ruled out the ‘slap wrap’ design featured in a recent Apple patent, which harked back to the 1980s toy craze.

‘We came back to the classic leather strap, something Apple could make well – like the iPad Smart Cover, for example – but for which third parties could also offer alternatives.

The magazine also believe the watch will look similar to Apple’s current iPhone 5 design.

‘We based the body of the watch on the iPhone 5, because its jewel-like bevelled finish seemed ideally suited to a device in the form of jewellery,’ said Banks.

The team believe a first generation iWatch may not include a webcam, and will rely on an iPhone for its data connection.

It also believes Apple may come up with a clever solution for conserving battery life.

‘Apple would surely find a nice solution: it has numerous patents on motion and position sensors, and could come up with a way of guessing when you’re going to look at your watch.

‘A simpler solution might be to formalise the wrist-twisting gesture that typically accompanies checking the time.’

However, Banks also admits the magazine has no insider knowledge.

‘Anyone who tells you they know what Apple is planning doesn’t know Apple’s planning.

‘But anyone can guess, and those who know Apple best can guess better.’

Dailymail

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.