Farmer remanded for strangling a 92-year-old woman to death
* Source: GNA


Akua Mmrah, a female farmer who allegedly strangled a fellow farmer aged 92 years to death, has been remanded in Police custody by a magistrate court at Akim Oda in the Birim Central Municipality.

Mmrah, 88, was charged with murder under “Section 46 of Act 29/60.” Her plea was not taken by the court and she would re-appear on June 22.

Chief Inspector Kwadwo Ahenkorah told the court presided over by Mr. Albert Owusu Annor, that the docket had been sent to the Attorney General’s Department for advice.

He said the complainant was the deceased's daughter, a farmer and a witness in the case, and that both the accused and complainant were from Akim Kokoben near Akim Oda.

He said, there was a dispute between the plaintiff and Mmrah over a piece of farmland and that on June 14, this year, Mmrah visited the land when she met the deceased and her daughter discussing about the boundary of the farmland during which Mmrah’s name was mentioned.

Chief Inspector Ahenkorah stated that after all of them had returned to their various homes, Madam Yaa Nsowaa, the deceased, went to a neighbour’s house to fetch some fire to cook, but Mmrah followed her and attacked her for insulting her (Mmrah) on the farm.

He said the accused pushed Madam Yaa Nsowaa on the ground, beat her up and in the process strangulated her.

The Chief Inspector said the complainant managed to separate them and sent them to their respective houses, adding that Madam Yaa Nsowaa soon afterwards fell unconscious and was rushed to the Akim Oda Government Hospital where she was admitted. Her condition, however, worsened and she died later.

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Government to import Digital X-ray Units for 23 district hospitals- Bagbin
* GNA


Mr. Alban Sumana Bagbin, Minister of Health, on Tuesday announced that government is to import Digital X-ray Units for 23 district hospitals this year.

He made this known when he inaugurated Axim Hospital Accident and Emergency Centre and the Ewuku Community Based Health Planning and Services (CHIPS) Compound, rehabilitated by Kosmos Energy, Ghana at Axim.

Mr. Bagbin said five district hospitals in the Western Region would benefit from the X-ray units under the Hospital Radiography Replacement Project.

He said 161 well-equipped state- of- the- art ambulances estimated at 10 million Euros would be brought into the country this year for distribution to hospitals including district hospitals.

Mr. Bagbin said facilities on the ambulance included blood bank, fridge for drugs and medicines and oxygen equipment to enable patients to be treated on board.

He said each ambulance would be manned by not less than six Para- medical personnel and paramedics.

Mr. Bagbin said more than $267 million worth of medical equipment, 20 mobile clinics and related services would also be brought in this year under the National Medical Equipment Replacement Project.

He said the project is for the replacement of obsolete medical equipment across the national network of hospitals and more importantly, to build the capacity of management as well as maintenance of health technology.

Mr. Bagbin said about $26 million worth of equipment and services would be devoted to the Region.

The Effia-Nkwanta Regional Hospital would receive state- of- the- art equipment including ultrasound scanner, six-bed adult intensive care unit and a dental unit.

He said labour ward and outpatient department equipment would be supplied to the Bibiani, Dixcove, Enchi, Essikado, Half Assini, Kwesimintsim, Sefwi Wiawso, Saint Martin de porres and Takoradi hospitals.

Mr. Bagbin, said the Shama Health Centre would be ungraded to Polyclinic status whilst the Takoradi Hospital would be rehabilitated and equipped.

Mr. George Sarpong, Director of Corporate Affairs of Kosmos Energy, Ghana, said the accident and emergency centre was an old and abandoned chest centre.

He said a new walkway and paved driveway linking the centre to the main hospital has been added to ensure easy access for patients and ambulance vehicles.


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Police arrest 18 students for gambling in Sekondi-Takoradi Metropolis
* GNA


The Takoradi Harbour police have arrested 18 students for engaging in gambling during instructional hours in a police swoop in the Sekondi-Takoradi Metropolis.

According to the Deputy Regional Police Commander, ACP Kofi Asare, the exercise was aimed at apprehending criminals hiding at various ghettos and obscure places in the metropolis.

He said those arrested would be screened and put before court for prosecution.

Those arrested were mostly Junior High and Senior High school students below 18 years, hiding in ghettos and obscure places in the twin-city.

ACP Asare denied accusations from some parents of the students that the police collected GH?50 from them after the arrest.

He observed that gambling and video games had become rampant in the metropolis thereby resulting in poor performance of students in the Basic Education Certificate Examination (BECE) last year, and pledged to clamp down on such activities.

The Deputy Regional Police Commander entreated parents and guardians to pay attention to their wards education.

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GH¢51m Scandal: Woyome Drops Names
* Daily Guide



National Democratic Congress (NDC) financier Alfred Agbesi Woyome has admitted the involvement of some key government appointees in the infamous judgment debt saga, in spite of attempts to extricate members of the Atta Mills administration from the imbroglio.

In his statement, given to the police shortly after his arrest, Mr. Woyome related how some officials in the Mills government supported his claims that resulted in the GH¢51.2million judgment debt payout.

DAILY GUIDE gathered that in the police statement, Mr. Woyome mentioned names of government appointees including former Attorney General Betty Mould Iddrisu, the two Deputy Chiefs of Staff at the Castle Alex Segbefia and Valerie Sawyerr, as well as the Chief of Staff, John Henry Martey Newman, as persons he had discussions with, on the alleged judgment debt.

In one of the statements, which was copiously read on Joy FM News File programme on Saturday, editor-in-chief of Crusading Guide and radio commentator Abdul Malik Kwaku Baako stated: “The political executives appeared to have conceded to everything that was presented to them as part of pursuing his [Woyome] claims”.

In the statement to the police, Mr. Woyome wrote: “I wish to state that before I went to court [in 2010], I caused to be written by my Lawyer, Chris Coker Esq., to the Minister of Finance and Economic Planning with copies to high officials in the Castle which I delivered personally.

“When we filed our writ of summons issued on the 19th of April, 2010, the Attorney General [Betty Mould Iddrissu] called me and demanded I write to her to clarify my capacity. I did so, and I suggested, per my clarification to her, that the clarification did not compromise my writ of summons”.

According to Mr. Woyome, “Two days after, I was summoned to the Castle to meet Mr. Alex Segbefia. I met him with my counsel- Chris Coker, and the capacity document was discussed. In the conversation, he indicated that he was going through the documents with Dr. Valerie Sawyerr upon the basis of the clarification document.”

Interestingly, the government of Ghana, based on the initial discussions held with Mr. Woyome, decided not to contest the claims of the NDC financier. Rather, government officials gathered at the negotiation table decided to bargain with the businessman on the amount to be paid to him.

“The government of Ghana did not contest the default judgment, but chose to negotiate it down from over GH¢105million to GH¢51 million, which negotiations were concluded by the Minister of Finance and his committee,” said Mr. Woyome.

“My Lawyers then put down the decision arrived at on paper for the Attorney General to sign. In my presence, the Attorney General called Mr. Neequaye Tetteh to come and witness it for her after she had signed”.

This statement, apparently lent credence to the call by critics for the heads of all the persons involved in the judgment debt negotiation and its subsequent transaction. They insisted that Mr Woyome could not have singlehandedly creamed off GH¢51.2m on the blind side of the State without accomplices in high places.

So far, no charge had been leveled against anybody, except for a few public officials at the Ministry of Finance and the Attorney Generals’ department, described by critics as “small fishes” who had since been discharged.

Several pressure groups were peeved with the apparent attempt to shield the real accomplices.

Groups like the Alliance for Accountable Governance (AFAG) had given government an ultimatum to bring Betty Mould-Iddrissu and others to book, or face the wrath of protestors planning to hit the streets soon.


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Lack of information affects participation of women, persons with disabilities in politics
* GNA


Lack of confidence and information on Ghana’s electoral process have been identified as major barriers to the participation of women and persons with disabilities in politics.

This came to light in a survey conducted by SAVE-Ghana in partnership with STAR-Ghana, both non-governmental organisations (NGOs) in the Wa East Constituency of the Upper West Region.

The project dubbed “credibility watch” is aimed at promoting participation of the youth, women and persons with disabilities in partisan politics and local governance.

Mr. Kingsley Kanton, Executive Director of SAVE-Ghana, said the survey which comprised 50 per cent each of men and women revealed less participation of women in party politics such as attending rallies, listening to political debates on radio as well as participating in registration and voting as compared to men in the district.

This, Mr. Kanton attributed to lack of confidence in the electoral process as revealed by the survey and called for more education to increase the participation of women and persons with disabilities in future elections.

He called for effective cooperation between political parties, the Electoral Commission (EC), the security agencies, NGOs and Civil Society Organizations (CSOs) to ensure a free, fair and peaceful election in December.

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CPP moves to recover seized assets
* Nii Armah Akomfrah


The Convention People’s Party (CPP) was 63 years old on the 12th June 2012 and marked the occasion in different ways including the launch of its 2012 Manifesto for the elections.

It launched a “Community Health Check and Treatment Programme” as part of its Campaign 2012.

Leaders of the Party together with the Central Committee also made another significant move on that day to start a renewed process aimed at retrieving all its assets seized illegally after the 1966 coup.

It may be recalled that the Leadership of the CPP have on countless occasions made a case about the injustice in denying the party her lawful and rightful use of assets acquired through the toil of members of the CPP over a long period.

It may be further recalled that the Ministry of Information is currently occupying the seized National Headquarters Building of the CPP, with seized Regional offices of the party occupied by various State Bodies and institutions across the country.

In a letter addressed to President JEA Mills the party noted that:

“Leadership of the CPP submits a petition to your Excellency, to cause

I. the de-confiscation of all immovable assets,

II. the de-freezing of all bank accounts and

III. release or replacement of all movable assets. “

The letter to the President concluded noting that “It is the conviction of the CPP Leadership that having drawn Your Excellency’s attention to the continued, unjust and discriminatory confiscation of CPP assets in this country, you will avail yourself to the current national consensus inspired by the 1992 Constitution and the National Reconciliation Commission, to right the historical wrongs against the CPP “

Nii Armah Akomfrah

Director of Communication

www.conventionpeoplesparty.org


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NPP is only reading convenient law - Haruna Iddrisu
* Source: Myradiogoldlive


Minister of communications, Haruna Iddrisu is accusing the opposition New Patriotic Party(NPP), of bending sections of the constitution to suit their cause.

He says the NPP for some time now been only interested in portions of the law that are convenient to their aspirations.

‘’For the NPP, they are reading convenient law’’, he said.

The Tamale South member of parliament who spoke on the *Gold Power Drive*on Tuesday was responding to the law suit issued against the Electoral Commission(EC), by former Attorney General and Minister of Justice, Ayikoi Otoo and some leading members of the NPP for the creation of 45 new constituencies.

The EC boss Dr. Kwadwo Afari-Gyan last week told Parliament in a closed-door session that following the recent release of the final figures of the 2010 population census, his outfit will add 45 new constituencies. He said measures have been put in place to ensure that no region is discriminated against during the creation of the districts.

However, lawyer Otoo said the EC’s move is illegal because there is a case pending before the High Court challenging the same issue.

“Under our Constitution – Article 47 (3) provides that the boundaries of each constituency must be such that the number of inhabitants in a constituency is as nearly as possible equal to the population quota. It is our view that this population quota is not being adequately addressed,” he said.

“Now that the census figures have been published, you’ll find out that Greater Accra is the highest in terms of voter population. Yet, if you look at the number of constituencies we have in Accra it is only 27. If the population is well taken into account we think that Greater Accra should be going anywhere near 40 instead of 27,” Lawyer Otoo added.

But the communications minister says the NPP is only believes that what they is right and what they do is lawful.

‘’Very interesting times in Ghana, for the New Patriotic Party what they do is right, what others do even the way they did it makes it difficult, its only interesting. In 2004, the NPP government of president Kufuor created 30 additional new constituencies to add to the existing 200 and CI46 a constitutional instrument was accordingly laid in parliament in passed into law’’.

He noted: ‘’if you read article 47(3)(4), it says that the boundaries of each constituency shall be such that the number of inhabitants in the constituency is as nearly as possible equal to the population. 47(4) says that for the purpose of clause (3), the number of inhabitants of a constituency may be greater or less than the population quota. So it doesn’t mean that for every constituency created the population must be the same’’.