Ghana TV News, 17.06.2010                                    

Randy Abbey Refuses To Greet President Mills

* Source: The Informer

Nkoranza District needs more medical staff

* Source: GNA

Chereponi District has only 53 trained teachers

* Source: GNA

Tamale, June 17, GNA - Alhaji Abdul-Razak Saani, Tamale Metropolitan Director for the National Commission for Civic Education, has revealed th at the Chereponi District has only 53 trained teachers. They handle 52 schools with about 11,660 students. He explained that the situation puts the trained teacher-pupil ratio at one teacher to 220 students; a situation, he said, was impacting negative ly on quality education in the area.

Alhaji Saani was speaking to the Ghana News Agency, (GNA) in Tamale, on Thursday, on a research work he was conducting on the State of Education of Girls in Northern Ghana. The research covers the Tamale Metropolis, Nanumba North, Nanumba So uth and the Chereponi Districts. Alhaji Saanui said the Chereponi District has 43 primary schools, ni ne Junior High Schools and one Senior High, adding that, there are, however,

there were a few untrained teachers who assist the trained ones. But, he pointed out that, most of the untrained teachers were not on

the Government's payroll. Alhaji Saani said the district also had only two female teachers, making it difficult for most of the female students in the area to have r ole models hence their inability to progress in education. He observed that the situation in the district was alarming because most of the teachers posted to the area by the Ghana Education Service (G ES) refused to report to there. He, therefore, appealed to the Government, the District Assemblies a nd development partners to take steps to address the situation to give quali ty education to the Ghanaian child. When the GNA contacted the District Chief Executive for Chereponi, Alhaji Mohammed Seidu Issah Abah, he confirmed the situation and said the

District was taking some steps to turn the situation around by sponsoring

about 100 persons in training colleges. They would be bonded to serve in the area after completion. He said some of the untrained teachers were also being given some support to improve upon their teaching skills adding that, "the situation

was negatively affecting quality education in the area".

Fire displaces about 300 at Dromankuma

* Source: GNA

Nkoranza, (B/A) June 17, GNA - More than 300 people have been displa ced and property worth thousands of Ghana Cedis destroyed after fire had raze d about 35 thatched houses at Dromankuma. It is a farming community in the Nkoranza North District of Brong-Ahafo.

It is believed that a bushfire caused the havoc and because majority of the people were on their farms, those who were at home could not fight the blaze.

More than 600 bags of maize and large quantities of yam, cowpeas, millet and groundnuts were burnt. Members of the Busunya, (the district capital) Seventh Day Adventist Church, led by Oheneba Kingsley Yeboah and Mr. Stephen Asante, elders of the congregation, spoke on behalf of the victims.

Oheneba Yeboah told the Ghana News Agency that the victims had lost all their personal belongings and appealed to the National Disaster Management Organisation (NADMO), philanthropists, NGOs, the district assembly and individuals to assist in rehabilitating them.

He advised settler communities to be very cautious in handling fire to avoid causing such disasters in their communities.

Daimler Admits Bribing Ghana Military

* Source: Public Agenda

Ghana's military establishment has been named in a longstanding U.S. probe into allegations of bribery and other corrupt practices by Daimler in several countries around the world. The bribes, in cash and kind, were part of the German automobile manufacturer's bid to secure lucrative contracts in these countries.

In a plea bargaining deal sealed by a U.S. Circuit Court Judge in Washington on March 24, Daimler confessed to paying bribes and kick-backs amounting to several millions of U.S. dollars to public officials and their agents in about 22 countries between 1998 and 2008 to further its business interest in these countries.

The deal, described as a deferred prosecution agreement, stated in its background to Daimler's bribery conduct that, between 1998 and January 2008, Daimler made hundreds of improper payments worth tens of millions of dollars to foreign officials in at least 22 countries - including China, Croatia, Egypt, Greece, Hungary, Indonesia, Iraq, Ivory Coast, Latvia, Nigeria, Russia, Serbia and Montenegro, Thailand, Turkey, Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan, Vietnam, Liberia and Ghana - to assist in securing lucrative government contracts for the supply of Daimler vehicles valued at hundreds of millions of dollars.

Daimler is reported to have in some cases, wired these improper payments to U.S. bank accounts or to the foreign bank accounts of U.S. shell companies in order to transmit the bribe. In at least one instance, a U.S. shell company was said to have been incorporated for the sole purpose of entering into a sham consulting agreement with Daimler in order to conceal improper payments routed through the shell company to foreign government officials.

Certain improper payments are said to have continued even as late as January 2008. In all cases, Daimler was reported to have improperly recorded these payments in its corporate books and records, including: (1) an inadequate compliance structure; (2) a highly decentralized system of selling vehicles through a myriad of foreign sales forces, subsidiaries, and affiliates, with no central oversight; (3) a corporate culture that tolerated and/or encouraged bribery; and (4) the involvement of certain key executives, such as the then head of its overseas sales division, the then head of internal audit, and the then CEOs of several subsidiaries and affiliates.

In total, the corrupt transactions with a territorial connection to the United States resulted in over $550,000,000 in pretax profits for Daimler. Even at the time of the merger between Chrysler Corporation and Daimler-Benz in 1998, Daimler was said to have maintained over 200 internal "third-party accounts" ("TPAs").

TPAs were maintained as receivable ledger accounts in Daimler's books and were controlled by third parties outside the company or by Daimler's own subsidiaries and affiliates. Daimler is said to have used these accounts, among other things, to facilitate the making of improper payments and the provision of gifts to foreign government officials. Funds were credited to these accounts through price inclusions, discounts, rebates, and other mechanisms.

These payments were improperly accounted for, and were not subject to normal auditing or other financial controls. Moreover, certain accounts remained "off the books" of those DAIMLER affiliates on whose behalf Daimler maintained the accounts.

In the specific case of Ghana, Daimler and Silver Star Auto are said to have entered into a contract to sell eight trucks to the Ghana Armed Forces in September 1997. The deal was negotiated through an agent, Global Strategic Ventures Ltd.

It was understood that Silver Star Auto would pay Global Strategic Ventures a commission that would be passed on, in whole or in part, to Ghanaian Army officials in exchange for the aforementioned contract. Silver Star Auto paid Global Strategic Ventures a commission of $170,000, which was wired from a Daimler account in Germany to Global Strategic Ventures' account in London and debited to Silver Star Auto's TPA account.

Public Agenda's efforts at unveiling the faces behind Global Strategic Ventures was fraught with challenges mainly arising out of software migration works at the Registrar General's Dept.

The matter is of particular interest to governments of most of the host countries where these frauds were perpetrated because in almost all the instances, it involved high level military and/or security establishment officials.

Daimler however, has gotten off the hook lightly, because it has co-operated with U.S. investigation officials and is said to have taken necessary steps to forestall such occurrences in the future.

Prosecutors have however, recommended that the judge imposed a $93.6 million fine on the basis of the guilty plea of two Daimler subsidiaries. Daimler will also pay a $91.4 million fine to settle investigation costs incurred by the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission.

These fines are generally said to be far less than the $800 million the German industrial giant, Siemens paid in 2008 to settle a U.S. investigation into its bribery of officials to secure contracts in Argentina, Bangladesh, Iraq and Venezuela.

Prosecutors argued in a sentencing memo that: "The Department (of Justice) considers Daimler's cooperation in this investigation to have been excellent," citing the fact that, "Daimler conducted a worldwide internal investigation, involving dozens of countries and every major market in which the company does business;" and that,

"Daimler regularly presented its findings to prosecutors, fired 45 employees implicated in the bribery and reformed its practices." In a swift response to the outcome of the U.S. investigations, Nigeria's Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) has began investigations into the role of Nigerian officials in the alleged bribes paid by Daimler AG.

At the heart of the Nigerian probe is $15 million of alleged bribes involving Daimler and Anammco, a Nigerian company that assembles Mercedes trucks and buses.

Anammco was set up in the 1970s as a joint venture between Daimler, the Nigerian government and local investors.

Daimler sold its stake in 2007 in line with its policy not to invest in companies that are partly government-owned.

Four officials and representatives of Daimler and Anammco in Nigeria have so far been interrogated, and steps are currently being taken to obtain the certified true copy of the US judgment.

DAIMLER is owned by individual and institutional investors in the U.S., Europe, and elsewhere. More than one billion shares of Daimler were in circulation as of December 31, 2007. For the purposes of the United States securities laws, Daimler became an "issuer" in 1993, and Daimler's common stock has been traded on the New York Stock Exchange, the Pacific Exchange, the Chicago Stock Exchange, and the Philadelphia Stock Exchange.

As a result of Daimler's filing of periodic reports with the Securities and Exchange Commission ("SEC") pursuant to Title 15, United States Code, Section 18m, and Daimler's use of U.S. bank accounts and U.S. companies in transacting certain businesses with foreign governments and officials, the company is subject to the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act ("FCPA").

Author: Steve Manteaw, from Washington D.C.

Tufuhene appeals to Government to increase Police force at Esiama

* Source: GNA

Esiama (W/R), June 17, GNA - The Tufuhene of Esiama, Nana Ezane Nda, has appealed to government to increase the Police force at the Esiama Police station which currently has only two policemen. He also noted that the Police station was far from the community, and that it did not make their presence to be felt by the people. Nana Nda made the appeal when the District Chief Executive (DCE) for Ellembelle, Mr Daniel K. Eshun, and the Member of Parliament for Ellembelle, Mr Emmanuel Armah-Kofi Buah, paid a familiarization visit to the Mozukro and Ahunlu communities at Esiama.

The visit was to afford them the opportunity to interact with the people in the communities to know their concerns to enable the Assembly to find lasting solutions to them. The Tufuhene said since 1998 when the station was established, it had not seen any renovation and therefore appealed to the DCE to join hands with the MP to help rehabilitate the station. He also appealed to the Assembly to provide the community with a place of convenience to save the people from covering long distances and from degrading the environment.

Tufuhene Nda also appealed to the DCE to grant the people micro loans to enable them to improve and expand their business. A resident at Ahunlu, Mr Raphael Cudjoe, also appealed to the DCE and the MP to provide the youth with vocational training to make them employable since most of them had not had the opportunity to further their education. He also called for the establishment of a district hospital to ease the pressure on the Eikwe hospital and make healthcare delivery in the district accessible to all.

The DCE assured the communities that plans were far advanced to renovate the Esiama Police Station and to establish a district hospital, adding that the MP was working seriously for the number of police personnel in the district to be increased. He said the Assembly was committed to providing the developmental needs of the communities and urged the people to channel their grievances to his outfit for redress.

The Member of Parliament for Ellembelle, Mr Emmanuel Armah-Kofi Buah, on his part, indicated that matters of security were dear to his heart and that he was working tirelessly to ensure that the District got a Fire Service station with its headquarters at Esiama. Mr Buah appealed to those who took the MASLOC loans to repay promptly so that others could also benefit from the programme.

Akufo-Addo to Begin Tour of Three Northern Regions

* Source: Herbert Krapa