What is this we hear about JJ snooping around prohibited sections of KIA brandishing a camera about and focusing on old grounded aircraft like some freelance paparazzi down on his luck and looking for snap scoops to sell to some obscure investigative news magazine?

Abidjan, Jan. 31, GNA- Vice President John Mahama at the weekend, acclaimed President John Atta Mills, as a focussed leader, who is laying a solid foundation for a convention that would be a legacy for the country's transition process in future.

He said despite the pressure from some activists of the ruling National Democratic Congress for a quick pace approach to the transition, President Atta Mills was quite focussed " and things are going well", he emphasised.

Mr. Mahama made the observation when he interacted with the Embassy Staff of the Ghanaian Mission in Cote d'Ivoire, during a brief stop over on his way to the 12th Ordinary Session of the Assembly of Heads of State and Government in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia. The five-day meeting, which coincides with the 14th Ordinary Session of the Executive Council of the Africa Union is on the theme: "Infrastructure Development in Africa."

Mr Mahama noted that public perception about transitions is the removal of public appointees from their offices and explained that despite some of the pitfalls associated with the constitutional process, it is still a better option for the country in order to facilitate socio-economic progress.

He said the democratic credentials of Ghana had been hailed worldwide hence the need to deepen it.

Mr Kabaral Blay Amihere, Ghana's Ambassador described Mr Mahama as a very capable person and asked him to use his competence to enrich his high office.

Mr Mahama is expected to visit a site for a proposed chancery for Ghana in Addis Ababa and attend the 10th Summit of the Africa Peer Review Forum for Participating Heads of State and Government. He would also address the Ghanaian community in Addis Ababa and attend the Special Session on the Union Government of Africa. The Vice President is likely to interact with a number of Very Important Personalities who are seeking audience with him, including Mr Ellen Johnson Sirleaf, Liberian President, Mr Stephen Smith, Australian Foreign Minister, and Mr Jean-Loius Erka, President of Africa-Import Bank and Mr Philip Carter, Acting Asssistant Secrerary of State for African Affairs.

Latest News from JoyFM;  over 100 persons suspected to be dealing in stolen phones in the capital have been arrested in a police swoop. The swoop conducted at Kwame Nkrumah Circle in Accra on Friday was part of an operation by the police across the country in an attempt to curtail the activities of mobile phones snatchers terrorizing innocent residents. The police say the operation will be sustained.

Source: ghanaweb-news.com

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Winneba(CR), Jan. 30, GNA - The Effutu Municipal Office of Department of Social Welfare (DSW) in collaboration with International Labour Organisation (ILO) has withdrawn 200 children engaged in child labour in the fishing industry within the municipality between 2006 and 2008.

Some of the children between the ages of five and 17 were already in school.

Mr Godwill Francis Acquah, Effutu Municipal Director of DSW disclosed this to Ghana News Agency in an interview in Winneba. He said child labour committees were formed with financial assistance from ILO to withdraw the children, 141 of them being enrolled in schools, 59 of them engaged in skill training such as hair dressing, shoe-making, carpentry and electronics.

Mr Acquah said the DSW would venture into other areas where the rights of children were being violated in the municipality. He reminded parents that the Children's Act of 1998 did not permit children to engage in menial jobs.

Ghana perhaps, could be sitting on a goldmine, but still poor and debt-ridden. The controversial goldmine is the Oman Ghana Trust Account, which is believed to have a colossal $800 billion or in excess of $3.2 trillion in it, says Gregg Frazier; the man who holds the key to the account... 

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The statement said the following areas have also been earmarked for car parking for guests attending the event.

They are State House (Forecourt) - buses, mini buses; Inter Continental Bank car park, Osu; Osu Cemetery car park; Ministries area car parks; Accra International Conference Centre; Afua Sutherland Children Park and National Theatre.

The statement asked guests to the programme on foot to keep within the police barriers. It stressed that motorcycles would not be permitted through police cordons while guests would not be permitted through police cordon after President John Evans Atta Mills arrives at the function. The statement said buses conveying guests would discharge passengers at the forecourt of State House.

President Mills in consultation with the leadership of the Ghanaian clergy declared Sunday February 1, as a National Day of Prayer and Thanksgiving for the recent peaceful and successful elections.

Akosombo (E/R) Jan. 29, GNA - President John Evans Atta Mills on Thursday charged his Economic Team to factor ongoing projects into this year's Budget and other national planning programmes to engender continuity...

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    Mr Alban Bagbin             (c) EventPicture.co.uk  &  ghana-net.com

 Kumasi, Jan. 29, GNA - Some residents in the Kumasi Metropolis are currently living in fear following the issuance of threat of death by a notorious gang to some prominent residents of the Metropolis. Their fear heightened on Tuesday morning when the group carried out one of the threats by attacking and inflicting severe cutlass wounds on Mr Ekow Sackey, Assemblyman for the Asem Electoral Area in Kumasi on Monday night.

    Kumasi                                                    (c) ghanaweb-news.com

The group, said to be led by one "CD", a notorious gangster, further phoned in to Fox FM, a Kumasi-based radio station, on Tuesday morning and announced the names of other prominent residents, who were on their hit list. The names included that of Mr George Ayisi Boateng, Manager of the Asafo Goil Filling Station in Kumasi.

Mr Sackey told the Ghana News Agency that, he was attacked by the gang led by "CD" in his home and beaten up without any provocation. He was admitted at a hospital in Kumasi and discharged the following day. He said he had made a report to the Police, but they were yet to make any arrest. Mr Ayisi-Boateng, speaking to the GNA on the threat to his life, said last week, he received a telephone call from someone, who identified himself as "CD", owner of a gymnasium, which was demolished by the Police at Fante Newtown in Kumasi in 2001. According to Mr Ayisi-Boateng, the caller claimed that, he (Ayisi-Boateng) together with the then Ashanti Regional Minister, Mr S.K. Boafo, masterminded the demolishing of the gym.

Mr Ayisi-Boateng said the caller further claimed that, Mr Boafo had already compensated him and it was left for him to do the same and warned him that, they were going to attack him and so he should get ready. Mr Ayisi-Boateng said he had informed the Police about the threat on his life. A source at the Zongo Police Station in Kumasi confirmed the attack on Mr Sackey and said investigations were ongoing, adding that, the Police was yet to arrest the leader of the group.

Accra, Jan. 28, GNA - President John Evans Atta Mills has nominated a number of persons for Parliament to vet for appointment as Ministers of State, a statement Mr J. K. Bebaako-Mensah, Secretary to the President, signed on Tuesday said.

They are: Ministry of Information, Mrs Zita Okai Kwei; Minister at the Presidency, Mrs Halutie Dubie Alhassan; Ministry of Finance, Dr Kwabena Dufuor; Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Regional Integration, Alhaji Muhammad Mumuni; Ministry of Defence, Lt. Gen. J.H. Smith (Rtd); Ministry of The Interior, Mr Cletus Avoka; Ministry of Health, Dr George Yankey; and Ministry of Employment and Social Welfare, Mr Stephen Kwao Amoanor.

The others are: Ministry of Water Resources, Works and Housing, Mr Moses Asaga; Ministry of Youth and Sports, Alhaji Muntaka Mohammed Bubarak; Ministry of Chieftaincy and Culture, Mr Alexander Asum-Ahensah; Ministry of Local Government and Rural Development, Mr Joseph Yieleh Chireh; Ministry of Food and Agriculture, Mr Kwesi Ahwoi; Ministry of Roads and Highways, Mr Joe Gidisu; and Minister at the Presidency, Mr Azong Alhassan.

The President has also made the following nominations for the consideration of Parliament for appointment as Regional Ministers: Volta Region, Mr Joseph Amenowode; Western Region, Mr Paul Evans Aidoo; Northern Region, Mr S.S. Nanyina; and Upper East Region, Mark Woyongo. The statement said the list of Deputy Ministers would be released when Ministers of State have been vetted and confirmed and after due consultation with the Ministers as required by the Constitution.

 Parliament to set up Committee to look

 into security concerns

Accra, Jan. 28, GNA - Mr. Tsatsa Tsikata, former Chief Executive of the Ghana National Petroleum Corporation (GNPC), on Wednesday said the law on "causing financial loss to the state" was not constitutional because it was not properly defined in the 1992 constitution. He said even though the Supreme Court had made its own interpretations of the law in previous rulings, he believed the law did not meet constitutional standards.

Mr. Tsikata was speaking at a press conference in Accra on issues relating to his incarceration and the abuse of the judicial process by the executive arm of government. He maintained that he never sought the pardon granted to him by former President John Agyekum Kufuor because it was clearly in bad faith from someone who had been the prime mover to have him imprisoned. He said the first Attorney General in the Kufuor administration, Nana Akufo-Addo, had summoned him in the name of the President which clearly shows that the hand of the President had been evident.

Mr Tsikata said his pursuit of the judicial process to have his name cleared of the charges against him was in the interest of justice and the accountability of office holders. He also said his complaint to the African Commission on Human and People's Rights to review its earlier decision to raise a preliminary objection on the grounds that he had not exhausted local remedies has been granted. He said the Commission at its session in Abuja on November 2008 decided the matter in his favour and declared that his complaint was admissible and would now put the matter on its merits at the next session in May 2009.

He also said even though he believed that he was innocent of the charges against him he was prepared to go back to jail should he lose his appeal at the Supreme Court. "If I was indeed guilty against the state of that offence, I should be made to suffer that consequence," he added. He said Nii Osah Mills, former President of the Ghana Bar Association (GBA), was forced to resign because of his conviction that he (Tsatsu) was innocent of the charges against him. He said it was important that all actors in the saga disclosed their interest so that members of the Bar Association as well as the public know where they were coming from.

Former President Kufuor in a statement on January 6, 2009 granted "free, absolute and unconditional pardon" to Mr Tsikata. On June 18, last year, an Accra Fast Track High Court presided over by Mrs Justice Henrietta Abban, an Appeal Court Judge sitting as a High Court Judge, sentenced Mr Tsikata to five years' imprisonment for wilfully causing financial loss to the State and misapplying public property. Tsikata was charged with three counts of wilfully causing financial loss of GH¢ 230,000 (2.3 billion old cedis) to the State through a loan he, on behalf of GNPC, guaranteed for Valley Farms, a private company, and another count of misapplying public property.

Tamale, Jan. 28, GNA - Mr. Lakhal Benkelai, the Algerian Ambassador in Ghana, has donated sporting and educational materials to the 1st November 1954 Junior High School in Tamale. The Algerian government built the school in 1954 as part of activities marking Algeria's independence and to further strengthen the bonds of friendship between Ghana and Algeria. Making the donation Mr. Benkelai said it was part of efforts to assist the school with its basic needs to enhance the quality of teaching and learning.

He expressed the hope that the donation would open other areas of cooperation between Ghana and Algeria and that the school symbolised the good relationship between the two countries. Madam Miama Abudu, the Headmistress of the school, said the school started with a population of 122 and the number had increased to 230. She said some of the problems facing the school included lack of science equipment, leaking roofs, absence of electricity and ineffective teaching of ICT and appealed for assistance. Mr. John Hobenu, Northern Regional Director of Education, urged teachers and students of the school to take their teaching and learning seriously and also ensure discipline in all their activities. He appealed to the elders of the community to take keen interest in what goes on in the school and also monitor the academic performance of the pupils. Mr. Mohammed Baba, the Metropolitan Coordinating Director, appealed to the Algerian Ambassador to consider establishing a city/sister relationship between Tamale and any city in Algeria to boost economic cooperation. 28 Jan 09

 ...and sold Ghana Telecom on Top  (Proudly Sponsored...)

Government is committed to reducing poverty

in Northern Ghana

Accra, Jan 27, GNA-Vice President John Dramani Mahama on Tuesday said Government was committed to realize the Savanna Accelerated Development Authority, which was targeted at reducing poverty in the three Northern regions in Ghana.

He welcomed development assistance in Government efforts at macro economic stability to meet the expectation of Ghanaians, in line with the Government's manifesto before it assumed power.

In that regard, the Vice President praised Demark for its development assistance to Ghana in the area of water and health provision, expressing the need for deeper ties between the two nations. Vice President Mahama made the appeal in Accra, when the Danish Ambassador to Ghana, Mr Stig Barlyg, called on him at his office at the Castle, in Osu, Accra.

The Vice President said the economic challenges faced by Ghana also provided opportunities for collaboration for improved lives of the people of Ghana.

Mr Barlyg traced the ties between the two nations to the colonial era and reiterated Denmark's readiness for development co-operation. He commended Ghana on its recent peaceful elections.

 ...Mode of disposal of the vehicles questionable

One hundred and thirty nine vehicles imported for the office of the President by five motor firms in the country cannot be located by the Customs, Excise and Preventive Service (CEPS).

CEPS has also described the mode of disposal of the vehicles as questionable, as no records on them can be traced.

Furthermore, the motor firms involved in the transaction have refused to respond to queries that will enable CEPS to draw some conclusions on the matter.

The 139 saloon and 4x4 vehicles were imported on behalf of the Office of the President by Svani Limited, Mechanical Company Ltd, Universal Motors, Fairllop International Lid and PHC Motors Limited.

Details of the transactions were contained in a letter signed by the Commissioner of CEPS, Mr. E.N. Doku, to the chairman of the Assets Transfer Subcommittee of the government’s transition team.

It noted that “these companies were selected for a closer look because of the interest shown by honourable committee on the mode of importation and disposal of the vehicle which were originally imported for the Office of the President but were subsequently sold to individuals".

Giving a breakdown of its finding in the letter dated January 19, 2009, the CEPS commissioner noted that 968 vehicles were imported by the Office of the President between 2003 and 2008 with the value of tax forgone on the said vehicles amounting to GH¢7,892,935.67.

It explained that imports made on behalf of and for the Office of the President were tax exempt.

On PHC Motors Ltd, CEPS indicated that its current records and enquiries did not disclose the current location or mode of disposal of the 35 Chrysler vehicles imported for the Office of the President. It said Fairllop International Ltd imported 40 Jaguar X-Type, 40 Rover 75, two Rover 75V6 and one Rover 45 for the Office of the President.

Out of the number, Fairllop bought back 35 Jaguar X-Type, while CEPS' enquiries did not disclose the location and mode of disposal of the remaining five Jaguar X-Type and 43 Rovers.

With regard to Mechanical Lloyd, CEPS said the company imported 50 BMW 730 LI, two Land Rover Discovery, two BMW 745 Li high security, 13 Ford Ranger pick-ups and one Ford Explorer.

It said the company bought back 40 of the BMW 730 Ll and sold them to its customers under a specific sale arrangement.

It said CEPS' "current records and enquiries did not disclose the location or mode of disposal of two Land Rovers, 10 BMW 730 Li; two BMW Li 745, 13 Ford Ranger pick-ups and one Ford Ranger".

The letter noted that Universal Motors imported 36 VW Passat (Comfort Line) for the Office of the President and subsequently released 35 of the vehicles to the custody of the Ghana@50 Secretariat.

It said although records indicated that certain individuals were allocated some of the vehicles, "our records and enquiries did not disclose the current location or mode of disposal of 28 of the vehicles".

Sources close to the committee and CEPS told the Daily Graphic that the mode of sale to the importing firms had not been proper because there had been no public bidding process.

They wondered why the government would sell the vehicles back to the importers after paying 50 per cent of their total cost.

The sources said what made the transaction worse was the fact that the sourced companies gave a 40 per cent discount after the government had made a 50 per cent up front payment.

They cited the case of the Jaguars, claiming that the government bought each for $36,000, although it was being sold for $23,000.

According to them, even if the government was to resell the vehicles, it should have been done by a public bidding process or auction but that was not done.

"It was a letter from the Chief Director at the Office of the President who, for instance, in a letter to the Driver and Vehicle Licensing Authority (DVLA), asked that the vehicles be registered in the name of Mechanical Lloyd Company Ltd, which it claimed the company purchased the vehicles through a public bidding process," they said.

The sources challenged the former Chief of Staff and the Chief Director to provide evidence of the public bidding process.

Moreover, they said CEPS and the state valuer should have been part of the process to revalue the cars and also calculate the appropriate duties on them for the buyers to pay accordingly.

They explained that under the CEPS Law, although items bought for the Office of the President and the Diplomatic Corps were tax exempt, anytime they were to change hands into private hands the new owner was made to pay the appropriate taxes.

The sources said it was important that these facts were put out for Ghanaians to appreciate the anomalies in the transactions.

 Some Ghanaians are demanding the immediate resignation of the chief justice for what they described as arrogating powers exclusive to a sitting president. They threatened to petition newly elected President John Atta-Mills to sign an executive order to begin an impeachment process of Chief Justice Georgina Woods if she fails to resign Monday. The Chief Justice came under heavy criticism after allegedly ordering a Fast Track Court to adjudicate a lawsuit filed by the New Patriotic Party (NPP) on a public holiday, an act they claim is only reserved for a president under Ghana's constitution.

But supporters of Chief Justice Woods have described the resignation demand as a witch-hunt vendetta calculated to soil her impeccable judicial reputation. The law suit sought to prevent the Electoral Commission from declaring results of the December 28 election run-off.

Political analyst Alhaji Idrissu Bature told VOA the chief justice's action nearly plunge the country in a constitutional crisis.

"If you would recall, prior to her appointment and subsequent vetting and approval by parliament, a lady sent a petition to parliament on how the chief justice helped her (chief justice's) father to annex the lady's father's land. But the parliament of Ghana refused to hear this petition. You would also recall that this lady (chief justice) was the chairperson of a committee constituted by the government of the then NPP administration to look into the missing of a 72 parcels of cocaine onboard MV Benjamin (ship). And those who were very active on the committee realized that there was a massive cover up by the then government to unravel the missing cocaine," Alhaji Bature pointed out.

He said Chief Justice Woods was accused of working in collusion with the past administration led by former President John Kufuor.

"Georgina Woods being the chairperson of that committee played a significant role in the massive cover up to the extent that some of the willing witnesses who appeared before her committee were jailed even though no exhibit of cocaine was found on them," he said.

Alhaji Bature said some Ghanaians believe the chief justice was given the job by President Kufuor not based on merit.

"She was a judge of the Appeals Court, and immediately after this job that she did (investigating the missing cocaine) she was rewarded by the government by being appointed as Ghana's Chief Justice. She also overlooked while the executive interfered in the judicial process under her supervision, which is contrary to the tenets of the constitution of Ghana," Alhaji Bature noted.

He said the chief justice unconstitutionally appointed a judge to adjudicate a lawsuit filed by the New Patriotic Party that sought to prevent the electoral commission from declaring a winner of the December 28 election run-off. Alhaji Bature adds that the chief justice directive nearly plunged the country into a political crisis.

Both the NPP and the National Democratic Congress (NDC) failed to garner more than 50 percent of the votes needed to win the December seven general election, which necessitated the election run-off.

"She had arrogated the power of a president of the republic of Ghana when she granted permission for a court to sit on an election dispute on a statutory national public holiday in the last election. Under the constitution, it is only the president of the republic that can grant a waiver for anybody to go to work. And in this case no executive instrument was published; we were not told the President His Excellency John Agyekum Kufuor had done that. Yet the chief justice granted permission for the court to hear election dispute, an election dispute that nearly brought constitutional crisis to Ghana because we couldn't have met the seven January hand over as required by our constitution," he said.

Bature denied the chief justice is being politically witch-hunted.

"It is mainly a democratic and administrative issue; there is nothing like NPP, NDC, CPP (Convention People's Party) here. The fact that she helped cover up in the missing 76 parcels of cocaine does not bring partisanship into this. The fact that she allowed the executive to interfere in the administration of justice does not bring partisanship into this. So, I don't buy that criticism," Alhaji Bature noted.

 MPs, Ministers in 3rd Republic fight for ex-gratia

Members of Parliament (MPs) and ministers of state in the administration of the Third Republic led by Dr Hilla Limann, have renewed their claim for their end-of-service benefits (ESBs) to be paid to them.

They said in spite of petitions to the immediate past government on the matter, their ESBs had remained outstanding and, therefore, called on the current government to factor them into current discussions on ESBs for the President and other top officials of the past administration.

They argued that MPs were entitled to gratuities, as stated in Articles 95 and 96 of the Third Republican Constitution whose administration was truncated on December 31, 1981.

A representative of the ex-MPs, Madam Monica Patience Atenka, who called at the offices of the Daily Graphic last Friday, said ex-President Kufuor did nothing to address their problem, despite the fact that they had petitioned him on the matter.

She said although the ex-MPs had made representations at the National Reconciliation Commission (NRC), they were not mentioned in the recommendations of the commission at all.

She said they had gone with a delegation to the Castle to discuss the matter but nothing came out of it.

"We went to inform the President about this, since the NRC was set up to heal wounds. However, he did not do anything about it," she said.

Mrs Atenka said the ex-MPs, through their President, Nii Futa, had written to President Kufuor asking for ESBs and compensation similar to those paid to MPs and ministers, of state in the Fourth Republic covering the period they (ex MPs) would have served.

The letter also asked for the replacement of cars seized from MPs during the December 31, 1981 revolution and the settlement of the unpaid salaries of ministers and deputy ministers.

"We, therefore, decided to write to him through our lawyer," she said.

Madam Atenka said the letter was misconstrued to mean taking the President to court, adding, "But I went to explain to the Chief of Staff that it was not so and even showed him what was contained in the letter our lawyer wrote."

She said in spite of that, nothing was heard from the ex-President till he left office on January 7, 2007, saying that they (ex-MPs) and ministers had not been treated fairly at all since December 31, 1981.

The letter written by their solicitor read in part, "But for the 1981 coup d'etat led by former President Rawlings, our clients, particularly the MPs, would have completed their term and, therefore, they should be deemed to have completed their terms and therefore entitled to gratuities and also their vehicles that were seized should be returned to them or in the alternative be replaced for them.

"In the circumstances, we pray that our clients' outstanding salaries, as well as their gratuities, be compiled and paid to them, together with the accrued interest, as the case may be."