Ghana TV News, 23.05.2010 | |  | | 24 May 10 | Rita Marley House Razed Down * Source: Daily Guide | The Akwapim Mountain recording studio and residence of Rita Marley, widow of reggae legend Bob Marley, was a scene of tragedy Saturday night when fire swept through the house and gutted the entire structure.
Property consumed by the fire, which raged throughout the night, was valued at $20 million, according to the wife of the late reggae superstar, who arrived in the country barely a week ago after a foreign trip.
This latest inferno is coming on the heels of similar devastating fires that gutted public and private edifices such as the official bungalow of former President Jerry John Rawlings, Ministry of Foreign Affairs building, Electoral Commission offices, Ministry of Information and Tema Oil Refinery among others.
Located at a place called French Line, not far from Aburi in the Akwapim South District of the Eastern Region, the Rita Marley Recording Studio was stocked with materials of tourist potential.
The multi-million-dollar studio which housed most of Bob Marley’s original tapes, was due for commissioning late last year, but the event had to be postponed to allow Rita Marley to attend to some personal issues in the USA.
In her narration to DAILY GUIDE, Rita Marley said the fire was detected at about 6:30pm on the first floor of the building, but soon spread ‘wildly’ to the soundproof recording hall and adjoining portions of the structure.
Rita said her staff on location at the time quickly called the personnel of a nearby Ghana National Fire Service (GNFS) who in turn sought the intervention of their counterparts in Mampong-Akwapim.
Image The burnt building A devastated Rita Marley expressed concern about what for her was the unprofessionalism exhibited by personnel of the Fire Service and prayed the authorities to do something about the situation.
She observed that the fire scene was only a stone’s throw away from the Mampong fire station, yet they were unable to stop the fire before the damage.
She said despite the calamity, she was not daunted and promised to gather herself and re-start the project, which according to her, aside its tourist potential, would be a source of employment to the youth.
Rita Marley is the queen of Konkonuru, a title bestowed on her by the local traditional authorities, most of who trooped to the place to sympathise with her over the calamity.
Among them were the Chief of Aburi, Nana Otubuor Nana Djan Kwasi II and the Chief of Konkonuru, Nana Ansah Addo.
When DAILY GUIDE visited the fire scene, palls of smoke could still be seen even though the worst was over at the time.
Hordes of sympathizers from all walks of life including the Rastafarian community, turned up at the location to witness the effect of the fire.
Rita Marley had been in and out of Ghana after her virtual relocation to the country and the commencement of the studio project, following her husband’s death.
She has blended in with the locals so well that the traditional community continues to consider her as one of their own; hence the bestowal of the chieftaincy title on her. The 64-year-old married Bob in 1966 and has 6 children. | GJA condemns upsurge of pornography * Source: GNA | Ejisu (Ash), May 24, GNA - The Ghana Journalists Association (GJA) h as expressed concern about the upsurge of pornography in the Ghanaian media, describing it as embarrassing and shameful.
Mr Affail Monney, Vice President of the Association, said there coul d be nothing entertaining about openly displaying sexual acts, which under normal and civilized norms of behaviour should be discrete and private. He was addressing the closing session of a two-day "writing clinic" on HIV/AIDS for 40 selected journalists from the Northern sector at Akyawkro m in the Ejisu-Juaben municipality at the weekend.
Organized jointly by the Ghana AIDS Commission (GAC) and the GJA, it was on the theme "Using the media to create greater awareness on HIV/AIDS .." Mr Monney said "pornography generates lust and makes sex public, an obscene that amounts to commercializing sexual immorality" He said it should not be lost on anyone, the role sex plays in the spread of sexually transmitted diseases (STDs) including HIV/AIDS. The media by promoting pornography was contributing to the generatio n of wanton lust among the youth, resulting in teenage pregnancies and the spread of STDs. The Vice-President encouraged journalists to be more responsible and lea d the fight to rein immorality in the society. | Mills opens Kwame Nkrumah Centenary Colloquium * Source: GNA | Accra, May 24, GNA - President John Evans Atta Mills on Sunday opened the Kwame Nkrumah Centenary Colloquium in Accra, with a call on Africans to leave lasting legacies that would position them properly in posterity. "How are we going to be remembered?", President Mills asked, but added "as we celebrate Kwame Nkrumah, it must be alive in our minds that it is our time to build on the lasting legacy of our First President so that individually and collectively, posterity will also position us properly in the history of Ghana.
". The forward looking visionary that Nkrumah was, it is incumbent on this generation to reel back into time and move the Continent forward beyond the point where the doyens of the Liberation Struggle breasted the tape." The three-day colloquium, with the theme, "Contemporary Relevance of Kwame Nkrumah's Contribution to Pan Africanism and Internationalism," forms part of the year-long celebration of the centenary of Dr Nkrumah which began in 2009.
The colloquium is being organised by the Government of Ghana in collaboration with the African Union in honour of Dr Nkrumah, whom President Mills said had bequeathed to Ghanaians a sense of self worth, national unity and pride.
In attendance at the opening ceremony was Dr Kenneth Kaunda, First and former President of Zambia and a contemporary of Dr Nkrumah, President Abdoulaye Wade of Senegal, and Nigeria's Foreign Affairs Minister who represented President Goodluck Jonathan.
Also in attendance were three of the children of Dr Nkrumah: Francis, Sekou and Samia, as well as leaders of the Nkrumahist parties, including Dr Edward Mahama of the People's National Convention, Prof Agyemang Badu Akosa and Prof Nii Noi Dowuona and some surviving members of the Nkrumah Government.
There was also a representation from the African Union Commission comprising Mr Erastus Mwencha, Deputy Chairperson of the African Union Commission and Madam Bience Gawanas, Commissioner for Social Affairs at the African Union Commission.
President Mills said there was no better way to remember Ghana's First President than to re-engage the psyche of the nation and direct it towards the critical role Dr Nkrumah played in the struggle to launch Ghana onto the pedestal of nationhood.
Recalling that Nkrumah was voted the African Personality of the last millennium, President Mills said celebrating Ghana's First President was not just for the sake of doing so but because of the things he stood for and what he gave Ghana and Africa.
"Dr Kwame Nkrumah's contribution to the development of Ghana and Africa, creating a vision for Ghana, nurturing and forming the life and spirit of our nation, are unsurpassed.
" Beyond this inclusiveness in our politics, Kwame Nkrumah broke down ethnic barriers in Ghanaians politics and everyday life, imbuing in us a strong sense of oneness, national identity and pride. "In Kwame Nkrumah, there was no North, South East or West; there was one Ghana, and above all Osagyefo bequeathed to Ghanaians a sense of self worth, national pride and dignity."
President Mills said Kwame Nkrumah embodied and promoted the Ghanaian identity far beyond the shores of the African Continent. President Mills expressed the gratefulness of Ghana to the eminent persons from the AU and the heads of state present as Ghana put the final gloss on the centenary celebrations.
Mr Mwecha later launched the two-year African Cultural Renaissance Campaign, aimed at reinvigorating the shared values and traditions of the Continent, and urged member states to ratify the charter on it. On behalf of President Mills, Ghana's Foreign Affairs Minister, Alhaji Mohamed Mumuni, unveiled the plaque of the African Cultural Renaissance. | Kaunda steals show at Kwame Nkrumah Centenary Colloquium * Source: GNA | A GNA colour by Ben Mensah
Accra, May 24, GNA-Waving a white handkerchief, octogenarian politician and founding President of Zambia, Dr. Kenneth Kaunda on Sunday evening sang his heart out to the African liberation struggle which he gleefully participated.
He scurried to and from the podium from the high table where his host, President Atta Mills and Senegal President Abdoulaye Wade and officials from the African Union sat. He had accepted the challenge to sing an ode. Africa was remembering Osagyefo Dr. Kwame Nkrumah, the founder of modern Ghana and a strong advocate of her cause.
It was not the hot shouts in 1987 when he was in Ghana to deliver a lecture. Grandpa Kaunda, affectionately called KK sang softly but gallantly as the audience joined in refrain and applause in remembrance of the years spent fighting for the independence of African countries.
With a soft voice, Dr. Kaunda sang "Sons of Africa" and" Rise and Fight", waving his usual white handkerchief, perhaps symbol of the success of the African struggle, thanking President Mills for honouring and reviving the legacy of Dr. Nkrumah.
The occasion was the launching of the three-day Kwame Nkrumah Centenary Colloquium performed by Ghana's President Atta Mills, and it formed the final part of the year-long celebration and would also climax on May 25, the African Liberation Day.
Performed at the Accra International Conference Centre, the opening ceremony was prefaced with recorded speeches of the Osagyefo, and went down memory lane with scintillating music reminiscent of the late highlife musician E. T. Mensah.
In a display of conducting skills and antics, the leader of the Winneba Youth Choir paddled and rowed the Choir as the youngsters sang the African Union and Ghana National Anthems, with an addendum from the Ghana Dance Ensemble that "livened" the place with traditional cultural and linguistic performances.
Dr. Kaunda, still physically strong despite his advanced age, advised the youth against HIV/AIDS, a disease which he said had claimed a son, and gave him and his wife five fatherless children to care for. As the "foremost youth of Africa", Dr, Kaunda said, Nkrumah would have made the issue very prominent and called for political will and commitment across Africa in addressing HIV/AIDS.
Later at a dinner at the State House, Dr. Kaunda, former Choirmaster at a Church of Central Africa Congregation, again stole the show as he solely went on the floor and did the jig to the admiration of the audience when Ken Carbonu and his band played music calypso style. It was a day that Mr. Erastus Mwencha called for peace to be given a chance in some parts of the Continent which had been ravaged by civil strife and armed conflicts.
"There should be no quarrels, no conflicts and our prayer is that guns will be silent on that day", a day when Africans remember a man who gave them a vision to behold. | AMA clears the Accra Novotel Market * Source: GNA | Accra, 24 May, GNA- Accra Metropolitan Assembly (AMA) on Monday around 2 am in the morning began the clearing of the Novotel Market, asking the sellers to go to Odorna market near the Kwame Nkrumah circle.
AMA guards and Police men had gathered around the area at the early hours of the day and preventing anyone from getting into the open space. Speaking in an interview with Ghana News Agency Mr. Kwaku Boakye, a seller at the market said for about three months ago, they were given notice to move out from the place to odorna market.
He said they did a follow up to the Odorna market but realised the place was too small to contain them.
"We the market sellers went to the Regional Minister to complain to him about the situation at the Odorna market and asked us to go that we will hear from him", he said.
Mr. Bokye said around 1 am this morning, he had a call that AMA and police were clearing their wares asking them to evacuate from the place. He urged that the government should come to their aid to help them fine a convenient place to sell their things and that they do not have any place to go. The market women had threatened to embark on a nude protest march if the city authorities prevented them from selling at the place. | Minority calls for enquiry into the death of ice block seller * Source: GNA | Accra, May 24, GNA - The Minority in Parliament on Monday appealed to President John Atta Mills to set up a Commission of Enquiry to investigate the death of an ice block seller, Miss Celestina Tsekuma, that occurred at the 37 Military Hospital recently after she was sent there by the Bureau of National Investigation (BNI).
At a press briefing in Accra, Mrs Gifty Ohene Konadu, the Minority Spokesperson on Gender and Member of Parliament for Asante Akim South, said the BNI was an institution that had involved itself in activities outside its mandate.
Mrs Konadu was reacting to a Daily Guide story of May 17 2010 that said 29-year old Celestina was five months pregnant when she died. She said the BNI's role needed to be redefined to enable it play a more respectable and meaningful role for the benefit of the country. Mrs Konadu said Celestina was whisked away on Thursday, May 13, to the BNI offices at about 1000 hours.
She said a year ago a lady called Sala approached Celestina to release her voter ID card to her to enable her (Sala) collect money sent to her through Western Union money transfer service. She said Celestina, who was reluctant at first and wondered why Sala did not seek her permission before using her name for the transaction, gave in and accompanied Sala to a Mamobi Western Union outlet but they were informed that someone had already collected the money.
Sala came back with some men who identified themselves as coming from the Castle and asked Celestine to accompany them to the Mamobi Western Union outlet in their BMW saloon car.
She said Celestina and her husband went with them after which they drove to the Castle and later brought them back to Tema station. Later Celestine was invited to Mamobi police station but nothing happened and on May 13 officers from the BNI came to the house and took Celestina, accompanied by the husband, to their office. It was at the BNI office that Celestina started vomiting and was sent to the BNI clinic and eventually taken to the 37 Millitary Hospital where she died.
Mrs Konadu said Celestina died under mysterious circumstances, adding that the BNI had been fingered as playing a central role in the circumstances leading to the death of the pregnant woman. She said when the wife of the Member of Parliament for Tamale Central, Mr Inusah Fuseini, died at the Police Hospital the President set up a Committee of Enquiry.
Why has he not done the same or is it because of the lower social status or because she is not a known NDC activist? Mrs Konadu said the death of Celestina should bring Ghanaian women to their feet to fight against the monstrous activities of the BNI that has descended to the status of an errand boy in the hands of a woman called Sala.
Dr Mathew Prempeh, the Member for Manhyia, said the hospital needed to carry out an inquiry into the death, adding that Celestina's death occurred 24 hours after reaching the hospital and that called for enquiry to establish the cause of the death. Mrs Otiko Gyaba, New Patriotic Party Women's Organiser, said women were the most vulnerable and should be treated with respect. | | |
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