NDC takes over NIA

Dr. William Ahadzie is the Executive Secretary of the National Identification Authority in Ghana(NIA)

Posted on: www.dailyguideghana.com

By William Yaw Owusu

Friday october 29, 2010
What is supposed to be a public institution devoid of partisanship is gradually being turned into an avenue reserved solely for members of the ruling National Democratic Congress (NDC) who have grabbed juicy appointments in the establishment relegating technocrats to the sidelines.

Currently all top positions at the National Identification Authority (NIA) have been assigned to family members or relatives of top guns in the NDC creating anxiety in the sensitive organisation.

For instance Marco Mensah who is the Head of Operations is the junior brother of Sylvester Mensah, Chief Executive Officer of National Health Insurance Authority (NHIA) and a member of the NIA board; Osei Kwame Griffiths, son of Commander P.M.G Griffiths, a Deputy Minister of Communications in the erstwhile Rawlings administration and a current member of Ministerial Advisory Board for Ministry of communications is in charge of ICT at the NIA.

A brother of Kwame Peprah, former Finance Minister and currently Board Chairman of SSNIT is the Head of Administration while the son of Dr. (Mrs.) Christine Amoako-Nuamah a presidential advisor and Chairperson of the GIMPA Council is in charge of the Human Resource Department.

Under the law a Minister of State is not supposed to be a board member of any state institution unless explicitly indicated in the enabling law, but E.T. Mensah, Minister of Employment and Social Welfare is still enjoying his membership of the NIA board.

Daily Guide has learnt that Osei Kwame Griffiths is temporarily residing at the premises of the NIA located at Gulf House near the Tetteh Quarshie Interchange in Accra.

It is alleged that NIA contracted Ernst & Young, a professional services firm to draw a strategic business plan aimed at identifying areas where NIA could generate funds internally but before the plan could be submitted for discussion and approval by the government, the management of the authority entered into a contractual agreement to produce identity cards for private organizations and individuals.

A source said when the Ghana Statistical Service (GSS) whose boss is NIA board member, requested the Authority to produce ID cards for field staff conducting the 2010 Population and Housing Census (PHC); the NIA sublet the contract to two private companies to produce the cards at the cost of GH¢ 169, 280.

Interestingly, the private companies: Decision Link based in Kumasi and Universal Asid Systems in Accra were said to have used facilities of the NIA including vehicles and offices to execute the business raising questions about the rationale behind engaging private firms for the job.

When reached on his cell phone for his comments, Dr William Ahadzie, Executive Secretary said “we did a public/private partnership with only one company and they did a good job.”

He said the NIA conducted an exercise to resister all its operators and three companies had put in bids for that exercise saying “one company won the bid and it did its work very fast.”

He said due to the alacrity with which the company executed the contract, the NIA decided to involve the same company to produce ID card when the GSS approached the authority.

On the question of relatives of top NDC gurus getting juicy appointments at the NIA, Dr Ahadzie said he could not answer for that and asked Daily Guide to conduct its own investigations.

On the issue of ET Mensah as a board member and Minister of State at the same time, Dr Ahadzie said he (ET Mensah) was on the board as a representative of Parliament as the law stipulates.

On the allegation that Osei Kwame Griffiths temporarily resides at the NIA headquarters, Ahadzi said that could not be true saying “the building has been designed in such a way that there is a place for the night shift supervisor.”

Konadu Has Evil Agenda – Bature

Alhaji Iddrisu Bature is becoming a crtic of the Rawlings'

Posted on: www.dailyguideghana.com

By William Yaw Owusu

Friday October 29, 2010
ALHAJI IDDRISU Bature, a loud-mouthed member of the ruling National Democratic Congress (NDC) has stated the Former First Lady, Nana Konadu Agyemang Rawlings wanted to become the Vice Chairperson of the party in order to pursue her “evil” agenda against President John Evans Atta Mills.

The law professor has barely served two years of his first term in office yet ardent supporters of the former First Lady seem hell-bent on elbowing President Mills in his quest to get a second term as President of Ghana and he has to either fight his way to satisfy his ambition or get ready to be chopped off.

Jaws dropped in several parts of the country on Sunday, October 24, 2010, when 2012 campaign posters of the former First Lady popped up like mushrooms on several walls and poles in major towns and cities in all ten regions of the country, with a group of foot soldiers of the NDC claiming responsibility.

The pasting of the posters coincided with the October 21, 2010 letter “bomb” thrown by the NDC founder, JJ Rawlings accusing President Mills of institutionalizing corruption in the country.

Although Nana Konadu has not spoken publicly, she has given ‘telling signals’ that she wants to lead the NDC to the 2012 polls and has been very vocal and consistent in denying reports that she has endorsed an Atta Mills candidature.

The clamour for Mrs. Rawlings to join the NDC presidential race by a group of party foot-soldiers has already sparked fire in the party, with foot soldiers and some leading members of the party at each other’s throat while various political analysts have predicted doom for the NDC.

Bernard Allotey Jacobs aka Educated Fisherman, Central Regional former Propaganda Secretary warned that Mrs. Rawlings was gradually leading the NDC to the slaughter’s slab.

Johnson Asiedu-Nketia, aka General Mosquito, the party’s General Secretary says it is not enough for Mrs. Rawlings to remain silent over the matter saying the former First Lady has to state categorically if she wants to contest the election.

He said “the impression being created is that here is a vice chairperson who is not prepared to go by the rules of the party and I don’t think that is a good campaign for her if she is interested to contest.”

In all these, Alhaji Bature, a leaning member of the party thinks Mrs. Rawlings has a burning desire to see President Mills fail miserably even if the NDC has to be sacrificed saying the former First Lady “is only pretending not to know about the ongoing campaigns in her favour.”

Speaking to Citi FM in Accra on Monday, Alhaji Bature said Mrs. Rawlings’ hatred for President Mills started in 2000, when the then candidate Mills bypassed her to select Martin Amidu, the current Minister of the Interior as his running mate, a position he claims, the former First Lady wanted.

“What many Ghanaians may not know is that, Nana Konadu just like Obed Asamoah has a serious aversion for the President. This began in 2000 when she was hoping to be selected as running mate. She and Obed Asamoah were looking forward to that job but Mills went in for Asamoah’s Deputy in the person of Martin Hamidu and Nana Konadu has never been enthused with Mills’ administration since then likewise Obed Asamoah.”

Asamoah eventually worked his way to become the Chairman of the NDC and made sure that he sabotaged Atta Mills’ intention of leading this nation until he Asamoah was removed.”

“In the case of Nana Konadu, at a point in time after 2001, she mellowed a bit hoping that in 2004, Mills would have selected John Mahama, which Mills didn’t do and went in for Mohammed Mumuni. She even invited Mills to a very close friend’s house to plead with him to consider John Mahama, which he (Mills) declined. Since then, she has never been happy with Professor Mills.

“In 2008, she hoped that Mills would fall to his knees but God was on his side and he has eventually become the President of this Republic. So Nana Konadu as a matter of fact, is yet to come to terms with the reality that apart from God, nobody creates a King”.

“She can never deny not being behind what is happening, at least not to the discerning minds. If you have a Party’s Vice Chairperson who is asked on a public platform to grade the performance of her Government and President, and she says she cannot do that except at an appropriate time, how can you distance yourself if today some people are purported to be calling on you?”

“Of late we all see what she has been doing in the Western and Central Regions, ostensibly working to revive her 31st December Movement, but in reality she is campaigning. But I can assure her of one thing; it is high time Nana Konadu dropped this idea very fast. They are fighting against the tide. The mood in the NDC will not countenance any attempt to derail the forward move of the party. What Konadu and her likes are trying to do is to break the front of the NDC so that the party will lose power in 2012.”

Asked whether the NDC could retain the seat in 2012, Alhaji Bature said it was a too early to determine but added that if Nana Konadu’s ploy to undo Mills and the arrogant posture of President Mills’ appointees do not change, 2012 could spell doom for the party.

‘First and foremost, I think that the posture of the members of Government is also very important. What Ghanaians detest most no matter how poor or vulnerable they are, are arrogant public officials. And you can see some arrogance of power creeping gradually and subtly into some members of government. These are more potent than what Konadu is doing. Konadu and Rawlings have no refuge apart from NDC" he noted.

No Witness at Ya Na Trial

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By William Yaw Owusu

Thursday October 28, 2010
For the second time running, the prosecution has failed to bring witnesses to testify in the case in which 15 persons have been charged for the murder of Ya Na Yakubu Andani II, overlord of Dagbon during the intra-ethnic conflict between the Abudu and Andani Royal Gates at Yendi in March 2002.

On Monday, October 25, 2010, Mr. Anthony Rexford Wiredu, a Principal State Attorney asked the court, presided over by Justice EK Ayebi of the Court of Appeal to adjourn proceedings because the next prosecution witness could not be brought to the court by the police.

He said that the investigators were in the Northern Region to get the witnesses to testify and the court granted the request by adjourning the case.

When the case was called yesterday, Gertrude Aikins, the Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP) told the court that the police could still not get a witness to testify and asked for another adjournment.

Reacting to the turn of events, Atta Akyea, lead counsel for the accused persons, said the witnesses enjoyed themselves at a hotel at the expense of the taxpayer when the police brought them to Accra to write their statements but when they are needed to testify they are nowhere to be found.

He mentioned that Nantongma Alhassan Andani and Grundo Wumbei, whose names appeared on the bill of indictment as some of the witnesses were hosted in the hotel but were not in court to testify.

He said he would not fault state prosecutors for their inability to bring the witnesses saying “this is a serious matter. We will plead with the witnesses in the name of God to come and testify or forever hold their peace.”

Mr. Atta Akyea told the court that should the prosecution fail to bring the next witness, the defense team would apply to the court to ask the prosecution to close its case, saying “the accused persons liberties are at stake.”

Justice Ayebi then said “at the request of the prosecution this case stands adjourned until Tuesday, November 2, 2010”.

On the Bill of Indictment, the Attorney General’s Department has indicated that it intends to bring 14 witnesses to testify in the trial and already 12 witnesses, including two police investigators and the pathologist who conducted autopsy on the body of the Ya Na have appeared in court to testify.

The prosecution at a point substituted PW3 for PW6, but defense counsel, Phillip Addison complained to the court that the prosecution had not been furnishing them with statements of their clients on time; a development which according to him could affect speedy trial.

All the 15 accused persons, except Zakaria Yakubu aka Zakaria Forest, the seventh suspect who is currently at large, were in court.

They have all pleaded not guilty to conspiracy and with Forest (A7) facing an additional charge of murder.

They are currently on remand in police custody except Iddrisu Iddi aka Mbadugu due to old age.

Those on trial are Iddrisu Iddi aka Mbadugu, Alhaji Baba Abdulai Iddrisu aka Zohe, Kwame Alhassan aka Achiri, Mohamadu Abdulai aka Samasama, Sayibu Mohammed, Alhassan Braimah and Alhaji Mohammed Habib Tijani, 45, former DCE of Yendi as second, third, fourth, fifth, sixth and eighth accused persons respectively.

The rest are Baba Ibrahim aka Baba Zey, Alhassan Mohammed aka Mohammed Cheampon, Mohammed Mustapha, Shani Imoro, Yakubu Yusif aka Leftee and Hammed Abukari Yussif and Abdul Razak Yussif aka Nyaa as 9th, 10th, 11th, 12th, 13th, 14th and 15th accused persons respectively.

Since the commencement of the trial, scores of police officers with riot control equipment including weapons have been patrolling the court premises to deter supporters of both Abudu and Andani Gates from physically settling scores.

Blows over KONADU...As Footsoldiers clash

Posted on: www.dailyguideghana.com

By William Yaw Owusu

Tuesday October 26, 2010
The clamour for former First Lady, Nana Konadu Agyemang Rawlings to join the National Democratic Congress (NDC) presidential race by a group of party foot-soldiers is tearing the ruling party apart, as another group joins the fray, accusing the NDC vice chairperson of undermining President Atta Mills.

The latest group, calling itself Foot Soldiers for Unity and Victory (FOSUV) of the NDC, which DAILY GUIDE learnt derives its strength from the Castle, says Mrs. Rawlings’s presidential ambitions will send the NDC into opposition if not checked.

“How long will the NDC allow the personal ambitions of one woman to destroy the NDC? How long will we allow her assigns and agents to destroy what we have all toiled to build. How long are our leaders going to be silent and timid as Nana Konadu and her agents bring down the whole NDC and government if they will not get what they want- power and control,” the group asked in a statement DAILY GUIDE learnt was issued from the Ministry of Information late Sunday.

Ghanaians woke up on Sunday to find ‘Konadu For President in 2012’ posters pasted on several walls and poles in cities, towns and villages across the country, with the Eastern region boasting of over 15,000 posters.

As at yesterday, it was no longer a nocturnal assignment for Konadu agents in Wa in the Upper West region as they openly distributed the posters and flyers with residents rushing for them like flies chasing rotten meat. “It was hot cake”, a resident told DAILY GUIDE.

The promoters of Mrs. Rawlings, the wife of former President Jerry John Rawlings and founder of NDC, are determined to elbow President John Evans Atta Mills in his quest to get a second term.

But Benard Allotey Jacobs, Central regional former Propaganda Secretary warned that Mrs Rawlings was gradually leading the NDC to the slaughter’s slab.

“…It will be a disaster…and suicidal for the NDC to elect Nana Konadu as the flagbearer….In the unlikely event of Nana Konadu becoming flagbearer of the NDC, it will be cool chop for the NPP…Look, what we are doing, should we be kicked into opposition, NDC will never resurrect,” Allotey told Peace FM.

Allotey has been described by the Central regional representative for ‘Nana Konadu for President’ as a complete comedian, who should not be taken seriously. He said Allotey’s contribution on Peace FM even showed that he was not serious.

Although, Nana Konadu has not spoken, she has given ‘telling signals’ that she wants to lead the NDC to the 2012 polls and has been very vocal and consistent in denying reports that she has endorsed an Atta Mills candidature.

But what appears to be a call on the leadership of the party to rise and nip Nana Konadu’s ambitions in the bud, is the statement by FOSUV and signed by Kwabena Mintah Akandoh, National Coordinator.

It said “FOSUV has observed that because of the personal ambitions of Nana Konadu Agyemang Rawlings, there has been a well orchestrated campaign to malign, insult and work against the forward match of the NDC.

“This selfish ambition which is perpetuated above the rules of the NDC and above every authority in the NDC is destroying discipline, unity and progress of the NDC” adding “this personal ambition has led to the deliberate undermining of the leadership whilst exposing the President Mills led-Government to public ridicule and contempt”

FOSUV said “it is this same ambition that has seen the printing and posting of Nana Konadu for 2012 posters all across the country even though it is cowardly masked as an act of foot soldiers.

“FOSUV wishes to stress that if the NDC will be returned in any future election, it will depend on how well the current Prof. Mills-led administration performs in Government. Any attempt to undermine the current NDC government with the intention of pursuing personal ambitions is only a laughably self-destructive enterprise.

“For now, it is the view of FOSUV that Professor Mills is doing well and must be supported by every well-meaning Ghanaian more so NDC members. It is also refreshing to observe the humility and cleanliness of the President.”

It added “let us respect the laws of our party and allow Prof. Mills to deliver on his promises to the electorate. It is everybody’s guess, what would have been the fate of those engaged in this insurgency if it were them in power. We have subjected ourselves to public ridicule and disdain for far too long.”

However Nana Konadu’s supporters were of the view that it was time for the NDC to be reclaimed by its real adherents - those who truly believe in its virtues and values.
They said Mrs. Rawlings is an embodiment of these NDC values far better than anybody else in the party today.

President Mills, the group said, had given the control of the party to different people who went to sleep during eight years in opposition.

“They have taken the NDC party away from the values that form its bedrock. We were here when Prof. Mills went abroad to teach in a foreign university after losing an election. John Mahama concentrated on AU work at the time. Totobi Kwakyi was ‘ill’ for eight years and only got well one year ago. Kwamena Ahwoi went into ‘retirement’ from politics while Kwesi Ahwoi went to work abroad.

“While all these people were at it, only one man and one woman stood tall and courageously defended the core values and principles of this NDC movement. Together with his wife, President Rawlings showed endurance and adaptive vitality during eight years in opposition to sustain the grassroots and keep the people’s hopes alive”, Henry Oware, Public Relations Officer for Movement for Nana Konadu 2012 said in statement.

“Two years in government, President Mills is allowing the grass roots of our party to wither away. The source of the political fountain which is the people is been cut off by President Mills. And that is why the foot-soldiers are calling on Mrs. Nana Konadu Agyeman-Rawlings to rise to the occasion as her endurance and inspiration is badly needed and her star is beckoning”.

The group accused President Mills who is the leader of the party of violating the due process of being a candidate by announcing his intended candidature for 2012.

“It is also no secret that Vice President John Mahama has taken undue advantage of his position to start campaigning around the country for President. While at the same, some other people are touting Kwesi Ahwoi as a contender. We in the movement for NANA KONADU 2012 do not therefore see any violation in carrying on our advocacy, therefore, we shall continue to move this agenda until the former first lady takes up the challenge we’re throwing to her.”

Prosecution Makes U-turn In Ya Na Trial

Posted on: www.dailyguideghana.com

By William Yaw Owusu

Tuesday October 26, 2010
The audio and video recordings of proceedings of the Wuaku Commission, a body set up by former President Kufuor to investigate the intra-ethnic conflict between Abudu and Andani Royal Gates at Yendi in 2002, which led to the murder of Ya Na Yakubu Andani II, overlord of Dagbon, have been located.

Yesterday at the trial of 15 persons who have been accused of murdering the Ya Na, state prosecutors from the Attorney General’s Department, who filed an affidavit on October 14, 2010 noting that the state did not have any document or material apart from the commission’s report, made a sharp u-turn by presenting a box full of audio and video recordings of the 2002 proceedings.

Anthony Rexford Wiredu, a Principal State Attorney said unknown to the AG, the audio and video recordings of the Presidential Commission were in the custody of one S.T. Korley of the AG’s Department and upon reading from the newspapers about the whereabouts of the materials, Mr. Korley made them available.

“I have listened to some of the cassettes. The contents are the same as those that we have on the proceedings which are already in evidence.”

Mr. Wiredu said it would be a waste of time to listen to the cassettes one by one adding “all those that I have personally listened to are the same as the printed version.”

Atta Akyea, who led the defense team yesterday said “we have been vindicated. We have always insisted that the materials were in their possession and once the prosecution has indicated that the contents on the cassettes are the same as what we have on the proceedings, we will not raise any objection.”

He said since the tapes were handed over to a properly designated state institution, a regime change should not affect the custody of the material.

The trial judge in his ruling advised the prosecution to ensure the safe keeping of the materials so that as and when the need arose they could be brought to the court.

The prosecution, led by Gertrude Aikins, the Director of Public Prosecution (DPP) on September 16, 2010 vehemently objected to the tendering of the proceedings of the commission’s report which is in four volumes by defense counsel, Phillip Addison saying they were not authentic but the court over ruled the objection and asked the defense counsel to authenticate and tender them because the documents were relevant to the trial.

Defense counsel, after authenticating and tendering the proceedings, filed a notice requesting the AG to produce the original video, audio and soft copies of the commission’s proceedings but the DPP replied that the AG’s Department had conducted extensive search but could not find anything except the report itself.

The court, in its ruling, said it was strange for the prosecution, which was supposed to be the custodian of such vital materials, to state in open court that those documents could not be traced.

After the issue of the cassettes had been sorted out, Mr. Wiredu asked the court to adjourn the proceedings because the next prosecution witness could not be brought to court by the police.

He said the investigators were in the Northern region to get the witnesses to testify.

Mr. Atta Akyea said the witnesses voluntarily gave statements saying “there should not be any hassle at all in coming to defend their statements.”

“The case cannot be at the pleasure of two witnesses who are not willing to come.”
The court granted the prosecution’s request and adjourned proceedings until October 27, 2010.

All the 15 accused persons, except Zakaria Yakubu aka Zakaria Forest, the seventh accused (A7) who is currently at large, were in court.

They have all pleaded not guilty to conspiracy, with Forest (A7) facing an additional charge of murder.

They are currently on remand except Iddrisu Iddi aka Mbadugu, due to old age.

Those on trial are Iddrisu Iddi aka Mbadugu, Alhaji Baba Abdulai Iddrisu aka Zohe, Kwame Alhassan aka Achiri, Mohamadu Abdulai aka Samasama, Sayibu Mohammed, Alhassan Braimah and Alhaji Mohammed Habib Tijani, 45, former District Chief Executive (DCE) of Yendi as second, third, fourth, fifth, sixth and eighth accused persons respectively.

The rest are Baba Ibrahim aka Baba Zey, Alhassan Mohammed aka Mohammed Cheampon, Mohammed Mustapha, Shani Imoro, Yakubu Yusif aka Leftee and Hammed Abukari Yussif aka Kuns and Abdul Razak Yussif aka Nyaa as ninth, 10th, 11th, 12th, 13th, 14th and 15th accused persons respectively.

Police Fire Shots in midst of children

Mr. Paul Tawiah Quaye is the Inspector General of Police in Ghana

Posted on: www.dailyguideghana.com

By William Yaw Owusu

Tuesday October 26, 2010
There was near disaster at Russia, a suburb of Accra last Saturday when gun-wielding police men from the Dansoman Divisional Command besieged a house to forcibly eject tenants from it on the orders of one of the sons of the deceased land lord.

In the process, one of the trigger-happy policemen fired two warning shots in the midst of little children, causing panic in the area at about 4pm on October 23.

Two people, including a pregnant woman, sustained minor injuries when the police personnel used the butt of a gun to hit them.

The children in the house were visibly traumatized as a result of the ensuing commotion.

To make matters worse, when the two people (Mrs. Naomi Ashittey and Felix Dodoo) who were injured went to the Dansoman Police Station to lodge complaint, they were detained in police cells.

The police personnel, who had hidden their name tags, came in three unregistered vehicles and entered the house with the supposed claimant, Ebenezer Lankwei Bruce without any warrant and demolished the doors of the rooms.

There was also a KIA truck with registration GW 9841 Y, loaded with personal belongings which the policemen tried to forcibly discharge in one of the rooms, but to no avail.

They however managed to lock up one of the rooms.

When DAILY GUIDE visited the scene at 4:41pm the policemen had left with the cargo truck but the incident had attracted a lot of people.

Comfort Bruce, sister of the claimant, said the matter had been taken to court and was yet to be determined but her brother was using the police to intimidate them in order to possess the house.

She said their deceased father Albert Duke Bruce bequeathed the house to all 15 of his children and alleged that her brother promised to rent out the facility to the police without consulting them, hence the mayhem that was visited upon them.

Ms. Bruce said a writ of summons filed through their lawyer, Bright Akwetey, has not been responded to by their brother, adding that he continues to use the police to intimidate the rest of the family.

NDC Rebels Against Mills...KONADU 2012 POSTERS OUT

These campaign posters of the former First Lady has shaken Ghana's ruling party.

Posted on: www.dailyguideghana.com

By William Yaw Owusu

Monday October 25, 2010
ARDENT SUPPORTERS of Nana Konadu Agyeman Rawlings, the wife of former President Jerry John Rawlings, seem hell-bent on elbowing President John Evans Atta Mills in his quest to get a second term as President of Ghana and he has to either fight his way to satisfy his ambition or get ready to be chopped off.

Jaws dropped in several parts of the country yesterday when 2012 campaign posters of the former First Lady popped up like mushrooms on several walls and poles in major towns and cities in all the ten regions of the country.

The posters were seen at Kwame Nkrumah Circle in Accra, Esiama in the Ellembele district in the Western region, at Nkawkaw, at Bolgatanga, in Kumasi and in Takoradi, while they were splashed in the border town of Afloa near the CEPS canteen.

The pasting of the posters coincided with the last Thursday letter bomb thrown by the NDC founder, Mr Rawlings accusing President Mills of institutionalizing corruption in the country.

The Nana Konadu 2012 campaign poster also has pictures of other women leaders globally; like the late Benazir Bhutto of Pakistan and Ellen Johnson Sirleaf of Liberia and there is a question mark beneath the pictures with an arrow pointing towards the former Ghanaian first lady.

The group championing the campaign would not disclose the names of any of their regional representatives though their telephone numbers are available on the posters, while the posters are said to have been finance and printed by some businessmen in Kumasi.

An agitated group calling itself ‘Foot Soldiers of the National Democratic Congress’ (NDC) has claimed responsibility for the Nana Konadu campaign posters and warned that the NDC does not have an alternative because if Mrs. Rawlings does not become the flag-bearer, they would sabotage the party at the 2012 elections.

Kofi Adams, a National Executive of the NDC and Spokesperson for the Rawlings Family when asked if Nana Konadu would listen to the group and contest Atta Mills told Joy Fm that she was being prevailed upon to contest by party people and she has a limited option.

“…these are party people, not enemies speaking, they are party people that are speaking so if you have party people endorsing the ideals of a party member who is at the very top, you don't come out and condemn them, what you do is to encourage them to hold up the values. At the end of the day if they speak good of the leader of the party, it is for the good of the party...” Kofi Adams noted.

Interestingly, none of the several presidential spokespersons and Special Aides picked their phones when DAILY GUIDE called them yesterday in an attempt to seek their opinion on the issue.

The move comes days after NDC founder Jerry Rawlings has filed a statement to journalists explaining in very clear terms that he has a problem with President Mills. “Do I have a problem with President Mills? Yes, I do - His refusal to pursue the moral mandate of the people to reinstate truth, transparency and most of all justice into the fabric and psyche of the nation.

This is leading to the institutionalisation of crime and corruption. Justice will be deformed,” the NDC founder had stated in the statement he personally signed and released to the media.

Nana Konadu, though has not spoken in plain words, has given ‘telling signals’ that she wants to lead the NDC to the 2012 polls and has been very vocal and consistent in denying reports that she has endorsed an Atta Mills candidature.

“This is a clear signal we are giving that Nana Konadu is our next flag bearer and whether the party likes it or not we have gathered enough funds to buy the nomination forms for her once the time is due.

“No one can stop us and no one can stop her…she would accept the forms because if she does not, it would be the end of her political career as her followers all over the country would take her on for life.

“We want someone who is a true party person and has the respect of the foot soldiers to become our candidate and not an ingrate and an alien who would win power and appoint his fellow aliens to occupy top positions as the true owners of the party languish,” a gentleman who gave his name as Omanbuo and described himself as National President of the group told DAILY GUIDE in an interview that was conducted in the Twi language yesterday.

He confirmed that for the past eight months, a lot of work has been done across the country to ensure that the prospective delegates that would elect a candidate for the NDC are ‘Konadu Converts’ who already have lost faith in Atta Mills and his government.

From Takoradi Emmanuel Opoku reports that the alleged ambition of Nana Konadu Agyeman Rawlings, wife of former President Rawlings contesting the 2012 general elections on the ticket of the ruling National Democratic Congress (NDC) has been given a major boost as her campaign posters had been pasted at strategic areas in the Sekondi-Takoradi metropolis even before the party goes to congress to elect a flag bearer for the presidential election in 2011.

The posters which are designed in the NDC colours of green, red, white and black with the party’s symbol at the top corner depict Nana Konadu beaming with smiles and beautifully dressed in the NDC colours.

The posters also portray the pictures of about fifty women president in various parts of the world including President Ellen Johnson of Liberia and the mobile phone numbers of her campaign managers who claim to be NDC foot soldiers in all the ten regions of Ghana.

Most of the posters have been pasted in front of Royal Preparatory School at Sawmill near Takoradi where the Effia-Kwesimintsim constituency of the New Patriotic Party (NPP) used to hold their constituency meetings.

Speaking to DAILY GUIDE, the Western regional campaign manager of Nana Konadu for president 2012, who pleaded anonymity confirmed that supporters of Nana Konadu have been holding series of meetings to plan how their idol will unseat Prof Atta Mills in the next presidential primary of the party.

He disclosed that most of the said meetings were held in Kumasi, the Ashanti regional capital and in the Northern region.

From Kumasi, Morgan Owusu reports that the former first lady’s pictures were splashed throughout the Garden city on Saturday night.

The posters which have the umbrella, the symbol of NDC daringly exhibited on it in addition with a number of pictures of females who have served as presidents in various countries have been pasted at vantage points in the Garden City.

The exhibition of the posters became the topic of discussion in the Ashanti regional capital throughout the day.

Information reaching DAILY GUIDE indicates that supporters of the longest serving first lady in the country’s history commenced the pasting of the posters at market places, lorry stations and other public places on Saturday evening.

DAILY GUIDE checks have revealed that the regional executives in the region are peeved about the circulation of the posters for the reason that they were not consulted before the exercise was carried out.

Meanwhile sources from an ultra Rawlings loyal group, Friends of Nana Konadu Agyeman Rawlings (FONKAR) hinted DAILY GUIDE that Nana Konadu candidature has the backing of several Majority Parliamentarians and Constituency executive members who would form the delegates to elect the next flagbearer.

The source said even some ministers have come to show support for the former First Lady and that is why no one is challenging her or seen rallying support for Atta Mills.

The FONKAR sources admitted that President Mills has control over Regional Ministers, Metropolitan, Municipal and District Chief Executives but expressed the hope that a lot of them would soon throw their weight behind Nana Konadu.

The source said former President Rawlings will soon embark on a nationwide tour to see the state of non-performance for himself adding “people are charged and feel very let down and betrayed by President Mills and his buddies.”

The source described some ministers of state as “Committee for Joint Action (CJA) Ministers” and “Charlatans” and added: “Prof. as chairman of the political committee of the party has not called a single meeting since the Tamale congress.

Foot soldiers feel alienated and their action is seen as defiance in the way and manner Prof. is running the country,” the source who will remain anonymous hinted.

DAILY GUIDE has gathered that both FONKAR and the Foot Soldiers Group are angry at the apparent building of a campaign war chest allegedly by Vice President John Dramani Mahama with Kwesi Ahwoi, Minister of Food and Agriculture doing the same behind the scene.

These concerns are being relayed via text messages to party members and to the media. And the mongers of the information say if President Mills cannot handle the situation then Mrs. Rawlings and her husband should take control.

They have directed their anger particularly at President Mills, the Ahwois, John Mahama, Kwabena Adjei, Asiedu Nketia aka General Mosquito (Mozzie) and say they feel sidelined by the likes of Kofi Totobi, Buta, Larry Adjetey and others who they claim have captured the power and are holding tight onto the ‘freebies’.

Last week, vice President Mahama who has been linked financial and other immoralities had to come out and denied the text messages. His spokesperson, John Jinapor said the messages which made serious allegations against some Mills’ ministers were from the camp of the opponents of the NDC and that there was no group called Foot Soldiers association in the ruling party.

Three Chief Firemen Fired

Alhaji Ahmadu Sorogho is the Chairman of the Ghana National Fire Service Council.

Posted on: www.dailyguideghana.com

By William Yaw Owusu

Monday October 25, 2010
There is simmering tension in the Ghana National Fire Service (GNFS) following the interdiction of William Brown-Acquaye, the Chief Fire Officer and two of his deputies, Stephen Kandure and Cornelius Woedi.

The situation has also affected morale of personnel and this could jeopardize the nation’s preparedness to fight fire if care is not taken.

The personnel are accusing Alhaji Amadu Sorogho, Board Chairman of Fire Service Council and MP for Madina-Abokobi for what they call ‘undue interference’ in the day-to-day running of the service.

They also alleged that the MP has maneuvered to sidestep senior officers and get Albert Gaisie, as acting Chief Fire Officer of the GNFS.

A letter signed by Alhaji Sorogho on Wednesday, October 20, 2010 and titled: “Implementation of final report of investigations into allegations of procurement irregularities at the Ghana National Fire Service- Interdiction”, interdicting the three top officers has been sighted by Daily Guide.

The letter which was copied to the Chief of Staff, Secretary to the President, Minister of the Interior, National Security Advisor and National Security Co-ordinator partly read “you are therefore hereby interdicted with immediate effect in accordance with National Fire Service Regulations, 2003 (LI 1725) Part 1 – Disciplinary Regulations- Section 8.”

The letter had said the senior officers were “accused of involvement in malpractices in the procurement of fire equipment and other goods for the GNFS”, adding “the Fire Service Council after considering the findings has decided that you be interdicted.”

It also said “the final report of the investigation into allegations of procurement irregularities at the GNFS by the Economic and Organized Crime Office (formerly SFO) has been submitted to the government,” and requested the affected officers to “hand over all your duties and responsibilities to your next in command until the final disposal of the case.”

A source at the service indicates that the refusal by the officers to recruit about 200 people mainly National Democratic Congress (NDC) foot soldiers into the service may have incurred the wrath of Alhaji Sorogho and that gave him enough impetus to facilitate their exit.

Alhaji Sorogho, who refused to talk on the issue, was said to have taken that line of action because he was left out of a certain ‘deal’.

The MP, who is virtually running the GNFS as chief executive officer instead of council chairman, is not happy that things are not passing through his desk.

There is an allegation that the acting Chief Fire Officer, Mr. Gaisie also has a case when he was a regional director and yet Alhaji Sorogho appointed him.

DAILY GUIDE has learnt that due to the situation, the interdicted officers could not even attend the funeral of the late Deputy Group Officer (DGO) Hannah Yawson who fell from the fourth floor of the Cedi House tower in Accra in September during a fire simulation exercise.

When reached on his cell phone for his comments last night, Alhaji Sorogho said “these are official issues. I do not want to comment on it.”

ET Mensah accused of witch-hunt

Posted on: www.dailyguideghana.com

By William Yaw Owusu

Monday October 25, 2010
Rita Owusu-Amankwa, a former programme manager of the National Programme for the Elimination of Child Labour (NPECLC) says the committee set up by Enoch Teye Mensah, Minister of Employment and Social Welfare to investigate operations of the programme was “a mere witch-hunting exercise” with the sole purpose of “tarnishing” her hard won reputation.

Mr. ET Mensah on April 22, 2010 inaugurated a five-member committee to investigate administrative, financial and technical operations of Aid for Change (AFC) Ghana an NGO, in relation to the NPECLC programme as well as the roles played by Mrs. Owusu-Amankwa and Vincent Frimpong Manu (AFC) in the effort to eliminate child labour in the cocoa industry between June 9, 2009 and March 1, 2010.

The composition of the committee which was given 10 days to complete its work but ended up spending 40 days had Dr. Francis Dakura (NDC MP for Jirapa) as its chairman with Colonel Rtd. Theophilus Tawiah (NDC), Eric Osei Afriyie (Internal Auditor at the Ministry), Edmund Siaw Akugbey (Personal Assistant to ET Mensah) and one Johnson Akuamoah Asiedu as members.

After completing its work, the committee whose membership is made up of only NDC sympathizers made findings that were materially different from the terms of reference for which it was set up.

Even though Mrs. Owusu-Amankwa and Mr. Manu were clearly the subject-matter of the committee’s investigations per the terms of reference, it did not deem it fit to furnish them with copies of the report; yet the ministry was able to spread the report among all stakeholders including development partners.

Mrs. Owusu-Amankwa said she has been denied the basic principle of ‘right to reply’ and believes the action by ET Mensah is “clearly an attempt to portray her as a dishonest person,” adding “ a critical evaluation of the committee’s findings reveals that the report was one-sided, fault finding and witch-hunting but not a fact finding as it sought to portray.”

Responding to the report through her solicitors (Kulendi @ Law), Mrs. Owusu-Amankwa said the whole matter started with one Sam Atukwei, the current Community-based Child Labour Monitoring System Officer of the NPECLC doubling as the Deputy Regional Secretary of NDC who first threatened to ensure that all perceived to be members of the NPP including Mrs. Owusu-Amankwa were removed from the programme.

She said the NDC secretary’s threats came when ET Mensah was not even the sector minister and when he (ET Mensah) became the minister he ensured that Mr. Atukwei’s threats were carried out adding “I do not belong to the NPP. I was with the International Labour Organization (ILO) before joining the programme and made sure the country achieved its target.”

Mrs. Owusu-Amankwa said “the committee radically altered its terms of reference by launching a full-scale enquiry into the activities of the NPECLC without giving us the opportunity to be heard and the result of it is the spurious findings made against Mr. Manu and I.”

“The committee was careful in basing its findings on matters it found convenient to satisfy its avowed aim of discrediting AFC Ghana and refused to report on the technical operations of the NGO and the tremendous impact it had made on children and the communities where it operated.

She said the minister’s capitalization of every opportunity to make false statements to the effect that it was her bad deeds that almost resulted in Ghana being blacklisted by the United States on the issue of child labour in the cocoa industry and that it took his (Minister’s) personal intervention to prevent it is erroneous because the Minister was not even in office when the report was released.

She said the United States report was released on July 20, 2009, seven clear months before ET Mensah was appointed as Minister in February 2010, adding “it was my concerted efforts working with other staff and partners that prevented Ghana’s cocoa from being included in the Executive Order 13126 on the Prohibition of Acquisition of Products Produced by Forced or Indentured Child Labour.”

She said a careful assessment of the report clearly shows that the committee was not independent as it had been portrayed saying “it was clearly tasked to pursue a partisan political agenda which is unnecessary in the affairs of the NPECLC as the officers affected were not given the opportunity to react to then issues only to be reported as facts.”

Mrs. Owusu-Amankwa said “it is sad that a sensitive, complicated and multi faceted issue like child labour in our cocoa sector could be gambled with politics. This is done by no less a ministry than the one responsible for employment and social welfare.”

Asylum Down robber lynched

Posted on: www.dailyguideghana.com

By William Yaw Owusu

Monday October 25, 2010
A man in his early thirties, suspected to be an armed robber was found lynched at Asylum Down, a suburb of Accra in the early hours of yesterday.

The male body was riddled with deep wounds and cuts and it appeared the attackers used sharp objects such as cutlasses; however there was nothing to show he had a swollen body.

As at 8:30am yesterday the lifeless body lay in a gutter at the intersection leading to the New Patriotic Party (NPP) headquarters with a piece of clothe covering his manhood.

A sizeable number of people were gathered, curiously reflecting what might have gone wrong when Daily Guide got to the scene.

The paper’s investigations revealed the victim lay unconscious for about two hours before giving up the ghost and was said to have claimed that he works at the Kwame Nkrumah Circle in Accra but could not give out his name or a relative to be traced.
Sources say he writhed in pain for sometime before managing to drag his own body into the gutter.

Amazingly, a team of policemen were said to have arrived at the scene earlier on but did not carry the body away.

Once again, the issue of instant or mob justice has come to the fore. It is fast rearing its ugly head in the country as the trend of some sections of the public taking the law into their own hands continue to rise.

I’m sorry…Kookooase Kurasini Minister begs

Kobby Acheampong is the Deputy Minister of Tourism in Ghana.

Posted on: www.dailyguideghana.com

By William Yaw Owusu

Saturday October 23, 2010
Barely 48 hours after displaying what could probably pass for “arrogance of the highest order”, deputy Minister of Tourism, Kobby Acheampong, has apologized for his infamous ‘Kookooase Kurasini’ comments which incensed a section of Ghanaians, especially Kumasi residents.

The embattled deputy Minister’s insult was directed at the New Patriotic Party (NPP) General Secretary, Kwadwo Owusu Afriyie aka Sir John.

Reacting to comments by Sir John that President Mills should have been given grade ‘A’ for doing nothing following Africawatch Magazine’s publication, the deputy Minister threw all decorum to the dogs on Tuesday when he said “Sir John reminds me of a typical Kookooase Kurasini.”

Kobby said: “He (Sir John) has stayed in Kumasi for too long. He talks loosely. He does not understand some of these things. He is in Accra now. He should broaden his horizon. The Kumasi thing is too much in him.”

His controversial comments sparked off anger in the country particularly among some residents of Kumasi and the cocoa growing areas resulting in heated media debate.

The minister’s comment received wide condemnation with farmers’ associations and Members of Parliament from cocoa-growing areas joining in the fray while some residents of Kumasi even went as far as banning him from the Ashanti Regional capital because they interpreted Mr. Acheampong’s comments to mean Kumasi residents are ill-mannered.

But on Wednesday, Kobby Acheampong was reported to have ‘tip-toed’ to Kumasi in the company of NDC General Secretary, Johnson Asiedu-Nketia, where he granted an interview to Kumasi-based Fox FM rendering an apology that all who felt insulted by his comments should forgive him because he had no such intention of insulting them.

Kobby pleaded that he is an Asante himself, born in Kumasi, with his father hailing from nearby Asante-Mampong and would not therefore have insulted his people.

“If you feel offended, let bygones be bygones, I didn’t intend to insult anybody and I was very specific, it was on Sir John [so people of Kumasi forgive me]” he concluded.

UTAG ends strike

Posted on: www.dailyguideghana.com

By William Yaw Owusu

Saturday October 23, 2010
The University Teachers Association of Ghana (UTAG) has finally decided to go back to the classrooms and teach after a committee recommended that the government pays the 2008 attained target of the cedi equivalent of 1500 dollars to the lecturers.

A news release issued in Accra and signed by Dr. Samuel Asiedu-Addo, National President of UTAG said “the National Executive Committee of UTAG has taken into consideration the outcome of their meeting with the Ministries of Education and Finance and Economic Planning and wishes to announce that UTAG is suspending the withdrawal of its services with immediate effect.”

The release said UTAG is grateful to President John Evans Atta Mills for his timely intervention and commended the two ministries together with the Fair Wages and Salaries Commission, for their co-operation and the media for a fair reportage, and the students and the public for their patience.

“The National Executive Committee of UTAG wishes to thank the general body of UTAG for their unflinching support. UTAG wishes to assure students that they will not suffer any loss due to the withdrawal of its teaching services.”

In a related development, the Minister of Education, Alex Tettey Enyo is reported to have ruled out any presidential intervention to resolve the strike by the Polytechnic Teachers Association of Ghana (POTAG).

Members of POTAG have been on strike for nearly three weeks in protest over poor conditions of service and this has put the academic calendar into disarray.

The polytechnic teachers have however engaged in running on-air battles with the deputy Minister of Education, Dr. JS Annan and also accused the National Labour Commission (NLC), the statutory body mandated to resolve industrial disputes, as being unfair and insensitive to their plight.

POTAG president, Godfred Abledu has said there is no opportunity for them to negotiate and has called on the President Mills to intervene.

Their demand for a presidential intervention stems from a similar act by President Mills who stepped in to resolve a similar strike by UTAG.

“We have not been given the opportunity to negotiate. We are expecting something similar. We are expecting our government come to the negotiating table and then we resolve issues which we have outlined in our petition. Once it has been done for the universities we are also thinking it should be done for the polytechnics, since they are all tertiary institutions," he stated.

Mr. Abledu said POTAG will convene an emergency meeting on Tuesday October 26, 2010 to deliberate on the next line of action but maintained that they will not return to the classrooms until their demands are met.

But the Education Minister says POTAG must have faith in the labour commission and said it is not time for POTAG to call for any presidential intervention, adding that there are institutions to deal adequately with the matter.

“We are encouraging them to have confidence in the institutions set up by the state to look into such matters,” he said, adding, “I don’t think it has reached that stage where government should intervene to deal adequately with the matter,” the Minister advised.

NUGS To Hit Streets

Posted on: www.dailyguideghana.com

By William Yaw Owusu

Friday October 22, 2010
The National Union of Ghana Students (NUGS) says it is grieving over the inability of the government to resolve the University Teachers Association of Ghana (UTAG) strike.

As a result, NUGS has vowed to hit the streets on Wednesday October 27, 2010 to protest the delay in resolving the issue of the lecturers which has thrown academic calendar into disarray.

A notice titled “Urgent press release: National student procession” issued in Accra yesterday and signed by Anthony Abotsi Afriyie, National President of NUGS said “The NUGS wishes to “the NUGS wishes to communicate via this medium, its grief in respect of the inability of government to adequately resolve the UTAG strike as of Wednesday October 20, 2010.”

The release said NUGS appreciates the effort of President Mills in resolving the issue by setting up a seven member committee but the union “is equally disenchanted at the lack of rapidity on the part of government in resolving such a serious matter which bothers on the inalienable right to education of Ghanaian students.”

It added: “The union therefore is summoning and leading a national student procession on Wednesday the October 27, 2010 to the Ministry of Education where a direct communication from the Minister of Education (Hon. Alex Tettey-Enyo, MP) in respect of the restoration of the academic calendar of tertiary institutions would be demanded.”

NUGS called on “all well-meaning students and Ghanaians to ably participate in this all-imperative national procession aimed at restoring the sanctity of our educational sector.”

It warned that “the only condition which innately has the potential of preventing this national student procession is a return of lecturers to the lecture halls before Wednesday the October 27, 2010.”

RAWLINGS BOMSHELL...Mills bribes NDC

Posted on: www.dailyguideghana.com

By William Yaw Owusu

Thursday October 21, 2010
Former President Jerry John Rawlings yesterday charged on President John Evans Atta Mills accusing him of virtually bribing the National Democratic Congress (NDC) structures with goodies such as cars and cash.

Firing from all cylinders at President John Evans Atta Mills in a late evening statement, the former president accused Mills of influencing grassroots supporters of the NDC “to malign and cast aspersions at people, especially Nana (Konadu) and I”.

In the statement he personally signed, titled “Statement by Flt. Lt. Jerry Rawlings on a campaign of misinformation by elements within NDC, Presidency,” the former President who has been the lead critic of the Mills administration virtually declared war on the President saying that he (Rawlings) had an axe to grind with Milss for institutionalizing corruption.

“Do I have a problem with President Mills? Yes, I do - His refusal to pursue the moral mandate of the people ¬ to reinstate truth, transparency and most of all justice into the fabric and psyche of the nation. This is leading to the institutionalisation of crime and corruption. Justice will be deformed,” he charged.

Rawlings said some senior officials from the NDC Executive accompanied by other “misguided persons from the Presidency are travelling from region to region using the powers of the Executive to indulge in dishonest and dishonourable behaviour
by summoning party executives, telling stories, spreading falsehood and
promising them vehicles, motorbikes, cash, jobs and rewards.”

According to Mr. Rawlings, while the presidency was pretending to be his friend, others had been sent out into towns and hamlets to undo him.

The NDC founder who mellowed down for sometime now suddenly burst into action with the ballistic missile fired from some unknown direction after his relocation from his Ridge residence which was gutted by on Valentine’s Day this year.

“While an impression is being created of a government desperate to create an image of unity, these tours are used to malign and cast aspersions at people, especially Nana and I.”

He noted “there is nothing divisive about speaking the truth. Some of these party officials, advisors and power mongers hovering around the presidency have lost touch with the reality on the ground”.

He pointed out that some of these stories and promises were not only absurd but an insult to their intelligence. “Those living the reality on the ground should not allow themselves to be misused,” he stressed.

By his statement, he urged all supporters of the NDC not to be deceived by the financial inducements being dangled before their eyes but instead to remain steadfast to the cause of the revolution that gave birth to the NDC.

“I am making a strong call to our party executives and supporters in the
regions, constituencies, towns, villages and hamlets not to fall victim to
the lies, financial and material promises being made by such dishonest
elements,” he charged.

Mr. Rawlings also lambasted the administration of ex-President John Agyekum Kufuor, and what he described as the reluctance of President Mills to institute “credible and transparent investigations into the fraud and political killings, which were the benchmark of the Kufuor regime” which he said, “is leading to a sense of hopelessness, indifference and indiscipline.

“Let me remind all concerned that we won all our elections and survived some of the most trying times of our nation’s history for as long as we did, bringing hope and relief to our people because of NDC’s values and principles. Abandoning these values will not only spell the doom of the government but the hopes and aspirations of our people,” he stated.

Rawlings who appears to have lost total hope in the Mills administration, said “what has sustained some of us is our attachment to the principles of truth, justice and fair play ¬ it is not a vulgar quest for materialism, a trait better epitomized by the Kufuor regime but which has sadly been endorsed by people now masquerading as diehard NDC followers.

“For the NDC to stay strong and closer to the masses who made the party
what it is, we owe them a responsibility to defend their God-given right to
fulfill their aspirations.

“As a people, we suffered serious violations of our dignity under the
previous regime and the reluctance of the government to tackle these is what is
leading to the clear discontent within the party and the nation at large.

“We have allowed the mass of political testosterone that swirled around the
NDC victory to evaporate. We have allowed the audacity to defy irresponsible
and wrongful behaviour from above to dissipate. We have again failed to
investigate the electoral fraud that saw the stuffing and replacement of
ballot boxes; we have failed to correct or punish where necessary the
NPP’s politicisation, tribalism and victimization of persons especially in the
security services and allowed the status quo to fester into a malignant
tumor,” he claimed.

Investigator recounts Yendi conflict

Posted on: www.dailyguideghana.com

By William Yaw Owusu

Thursday October 21, 2010
Detective Inspector Charles Adaba, the officer who investigated the intra-ethnic conflict between the Abudu and Andani Royal Gates at Yendi in March 2002, which led to the death of Ya Yakubu Andani II, overlord of Dagbon, yesterday recounted how the three-day conflict begun on March 25, 2002.

He said although there was simmering tension in Yendi in the run up to the celebration of the Bugum (Fire) Festival, it was one Abdulai Issahaku aka ‘Who Born You’, an Abudu, who was first shot by a member of the Andani gate on the left knee, sparking the communal violence.

He also admitted that Ziblim Abdulai, an Andani, who testified as the second prosecution witness (PW2) had earlier on been attacked by Abudu youth and his bicycle destroyed when he was sent by his father (a lieutenant to the Ya Na) and he (Ziblim) had to rush back to the Gbewaa Palace to inform the Ya Na.

Detective Adaba, who was attached to the Yendi Divisional Police Command as a Sergeant when the conflict erupted, was quoting from a special investigation report compiled by the police as part of his testimony in the case in which 15 people are being tried for the murder of Ya Na Yakubu Andani II.

All the 15 accused persons, except Zakaria Yakubu aka Zakaria Forest, the seventh accused (A7) who is currently at large, were in court.

They have all pleaded not guilty to conspiracy, with Forest (A7) facing an additional charge of murder.

They are currently on remand except Iddrisu Iddi aka Mbadugu, due to old age.
Those on trial are Iddrisu Iddi aka Mbadugu, Alhaji Baba Abdulai Iddrisu aka Zohe, Kwame Alhassan aka Achiri, Mohamadu Abdulai aka Samasama, Sayibu Mohammed, Alhassan Braimah and Alhaji Mohammed Habib Tijani, 45, former District Chief Executive (DCE) of Yendi as second, third, fourth, fifth, sixth and eighth accused persons respectively.

The rest are Baba Ibrahim aka Baba Zey, Alhassan Mohammed aka Mohammed Cheampon, Mohammed Mustapha, Shani Imoro, Yakubu Yusif aka Leftee and Hammed Abukari Yussif aka Kuns and Abdul Razak Yussif aka Nyaa as ninth, 10th, 11th, 12th, 13th, 14th and 15th accused persons respectively.

Cross-examined by Phillip Addison, counsel for the accused, Detective Adaba quoted the police report as saying “it is apparent that the Ya Na has anticipated a situation as such, prepared for it by inviting some of the warriors to Yendi.”

Counsel: From your investigations, how did the communal clash as you put it, start?

Witness: From my investigations, the fire festival was banned and curfew imposed on 24th March, 2002 but in the evening before the police went to enforce law and order, the then Regional Minister, Prince Imoro Andani came to inform us on parade that the curfew had been lifted. Then on Monday March 25, 2002, form our investigations one Ziblim, an Andani was sent by one of the sub-chiefs and on his way he was attacked by the Abudu youth and his bicycle destroyed and he ran back to the palace. That was the genesis of the violence.

Counsel: What was the reaction of the Abudus when they were told the curfew had been lifted?

Witness: They were not happy

Counsel: What was the reaction of the Andanis when they were told the curfew had been lifted?

Witness: From the investigations, they were ok with the lifting of the curfew.

Counsel: Which faction actually started shooting?

Witness: I cannot tell who actually started shooting first.

Counsel then asked Detective Adaba to read paragraphs 39 to 41 of the police report and after reading it to the hearing of the packed court he replied “from the report it is the Andanis that started shooting.”

He said it did not appear in the investigation that anytime an Abudu died that person was buried immediately and also said officially 30 people died in the conflict.

He said the first dead body was picked up from a spot near the P&T on the Yendi-Gushegu road; picked four bodies from about 100 meters behind the Gbewaa Palace on the Yendi-Saboba road while others were picked up from a cross-road near the Yendi secondary school on the Zabzugu Tatale road adding “we picked one body on the Police Station road, picked some at the Fire service Station area and from in and around the palace.”

Detective Adaba said even though there is a cemetery in Yendi, the decision to bury the dead at Sambu was taken by the Regional Coordinating Council and the other security heads in the area at the time.

Counsel: Did it come to your notice that a lot of the dead cdid not come from outside Yendi

Witness: Some came from Yendi and others came from outside Yendi… From the records, about 10 of the bodies did not come from Yendi.

He said, during investigations it came to their attention that a Benz bus came to Yendi on March 26, 2002 with warriors but when the driver was questioned he denied bringing warriors and also told the court that it was not established in his investigations that Mohammed Achana Abdul Salaam aka Red came to Yendi in the Benz bus.

He told the court that it came up during the investigations that there were training camps for the Ya Na and people gave statements to that effect and they (police) visited the camps and added that when Achana (Red) was questioned about his links to Afghanistan and Pakistan he (Red) denied it.

Detective Adaba said Achana (Red) was the person whom then Constable Samuel Nyarkotey Adjatey retrieved the G3 weapon from and upon a further search he (Adaba) found one live 7.62 by 51mm ammunition, the correct caliber of G3 riffle from his (Red) breast pocket.

He said the name Ibrahim Dibba came up during the investigations and it was established that he (Dibba) died on the side of the Andanis and said the police was able to establish that all those who escaped from the palace during the conflict including the prosecution witnesses were all warriors fighting for the Ya Na.

He said page seven of the police report contained the names of Abudus suspected to have been involved in the conflict and the names had been given by the Andanis adding that only five of the accused persons had their names in it.

Counsel: Zakaria Forest who is alleged to have murdered the Ya Na; his name is not in the list

Witness: Yes…But he was at the Wuaku Commission. He had come there because Nat
Alhassan Andani had accused him of holding a cutlass during the conflict.

He admitted that during the conflict the DCE (A8) packed his Pajero at the Yendi Divisional Police Command and left the keys with the police boss and added that the DCE wore an ordinary dress.

Detective Adaba said at the time military reinforcement came to Yendi there were between 11 to 14 soldiers on the ground and the police report quotes one Captain Akrofi as saying that about 150 armed men were gathered at the Gbewaa Palace when the firing was going on March 26, 2002 and added that only 42 soldiers including an officer.

Counsel: Did you know how the military did not deploy men to the palace

Witness: No

Counsel: Did you find out there was a misunderstanding between the military, police and the Ya Na

Witness: I cannot talk about the military

Counsel: How about the police

Witness: Investigations revealed that there was a misunderstanding between the Ya Na and the District Police Commander called Mr. Kwaku Fokou and the Ya Na was reported to have said the police should not come to the palace.

He said the reason the police could not go to the palace was that the police had no protective equipment to go to the palace.

Counsel: Who in the report did police investigations conclude was the suspect of the Ya Na’s murder?

Witness: We investigated to a certain point when we stopped for the commission to start its work. It was inconclusive.

Counsel: From where you stopped, who was the suspect

Witness: At this point I could not say A or B

Detective Adaba told the court that he was relying on the same statement he gave to the police in the trial of the Republic versus Yidana Sugri and Iddrisu Janfo for the current case.

Sitting continues on October 25, 2010.

There were weapons in Ya Na’s Palace

Detective Adaba investigated the Dagbon crises

Posted on: www.dailyguideghana.com

By William Yaw Owusu

Wednesday October 20, 2010
Detective Inspector Charles Adaba, the officer who investigated the intra-ethnic conflict between the Abudu and Andani Royal Gates at Yendi in March 2002, which led to the death of Ya Yakubu Andani II, overlord of Dagbon, yesterday told an Accra Fast Track High Court that there were weapons in the Gbewaa Palace, where the fighting took place.

He said: “When we entered the palace on March 27, 2002, we did extensive search and retrieved exhibits which included burnt weapons. We found AK 47s and sub-machine guns which were all burnt.”

He continued: “We also found an AK 47 which was not burnt and it was in a vehicle with registration NR 1 A, belonging to the Ya Na and a G3 weapon which was taken from Mohammed Achana Abdul Salaam aka Red.”

Detective Adaba, who was attached to the Yendi Divisional Police Command as a Sergeant when the conflict erupted, was testifying in the case in which 15 people are being tried for the murder of Ya Na Yakubu Andani II.

All the 15 accused persons, except Zakaria Yakubu aka Zakaria Forest, the seventh accused (A7) who is currently at large, were in court.

They have all pleaded not guilty to conspiracy, with Forest (A7) facing an additional charge of murder.

They are currently on remand except Iddrisu Iddi aka Mbadugu, due to old age.

Those on trial are Iddrisu Iddi aka Mbadugu, Alhaji Baba Abdulai Iddrisu aka Zohe, Kwame Alhassan aka Achiri, Mohamadu Abdulai aka Samasama, Sayibu Mohammed, Alhassan Braimah and Alhaji Mohammed Habib Tijani, 45, former District Chief Executive (DCE) of Yendi as second, third, fourth, fifth, sixth and eighth accused persons respectively.

The rest are Baba Ibrahim aka Baba Zey, Alhassan Mohammed aka Mohammed Cheampon, Mohammed Mustapha, Shani Imoro, Yakubu Yusif aka Leftee and Hammed Abukari Yussif aka Kuns and Abdul Razak Yussif aka Nyaa as ninth, 10th, 11th, 12th, 13th, 14th and 15th accused persons respectively.

Led in evidence by Anthony Rexford Wiredu, a Principal State Attorney, Detective Adaba who was brought down from Darfur, Sudan to testify said “there was a communal violence between the Abudu and Andani royal gates from March 25, 2002 to March 27, 2002 and that led to the death of the Ya Na and 28 others mostly Andanis.

He told the packed court that the firing of guns was centered at a place called Nayili in Yendi where the palace is located and said he took photographs of dead bodies and the injured, all with dates and compiled a comprehensive police report which was tendered in evidence.

Detective Adaba said the houses surrounding the palace were all burnt adding that “in the course of the investigations we found out that 30 people died including the Ya Na.”

“After the fighting stopped on March 27, we had information that the Ya Na had being burnt and in order not to cause any panic I sneaked in undercover and took photographs of the burning body of the Ya Na. After taking the photographs, I came back, organized and put the fire off.”

He said out of the 30 people, who died in the conflict, only one person died at the hospital saying “his name was Iddi from the Abudu Gate and he died on 30th March.”

He said five out of the 29 who died were sub-chiefs of the Andani Gate and their bodies were released to their families according to Dagomba custom adding “Out of the 30 bodies, 20 belonged to the Andani Gate.”

“The remaining 25 were buried at a village called Sambu but three of them were not identified.”

He said the burnt body was later identified as that of the Ya Na adding “I took photographs of the burnt head of the Ya Na…We took the body together with the head to the mortuary.”

Detective Adaba said when the Wuaku Commission was set up to investigate the murder of the Ya Na he was attached as an investigator saying “the two parties were always represented at the sitting until the last week of the sitting when the Andani Royal Gate boycotted the proceedings.”

He said a ballistic analyst was brought to the palace and he identified bullet marks.
Sitting continues today for Detective Adaba to continue his evidence-in-chief.

Prosecution Fails To Bring Witnesses In Ya Na Trial

Posted on: www.dailyguideghana.com

By William Yaw Owusu

Wednesday October 20, 2010
An Accra Fast Track High Court trying 15 men who have been accused of murdering Ya Na Yakubu Andani II, overlord of Dagbon, yesterday heard how the police organized an identification parade to enable them arrest some of the accused persons.

However, the Attorney General’s Department failed to bring those witnesses who took part in the exercise to testify in the trial.

Detective Inspector Augustus Nkrumah, the current investigator had tendered photographs of Kojo Ngula, Wumbei and Abdulai among others, who took part in the identification parade, claiming some of the accused persons were involved in the murder of the Ya Na, yet the prosecution did not invite them to testify.

Detective Nkrumah told the court, presided over by Justice EK Ayebi of the Court of Appeal that Ngula is indisposed but could not explain why the others were not in court as prosecution witnesses.

Cross-examined by Phillip Addison, counsel for the accused persons, Detective Nkrumah (PW11) said since February 2010 when he was assigned to the case he had been to Yendi three times to conduct investigations in the matter saying “on the first visit, I went to arrest suspects in the case.”

Counsel: When was the first time you visited Yendi

Witness: When we effected the arrest of the accused persons. I was there on April 9, 2010

Counsel: Who did you arrest?

Witness: About nine people.

Counsel: When was the second time you went to Yendi

Witness: Around the time the docket had been sent to the AG’s Department…It was
around June. That was the time Mohammed Cheampon and others were arrested.

Counsel: What specifically did you do?

Witness: After the arrest I took the opportunity as the investigator to see the place.

Counsel: When was your third visit?

Witness: Just this Saturday. I went there to familiarize myself with the place… My second visit gave me a concrete idea about the situation.

Detective Nkrumah said when he went to Yendi he was followed to the Gbewaa Palace by policemen in Yendi saying he was assisted with 10 armed policemen.

Counsel: You said you do not know Yendi so I am surprised they followed you and not you following them to the palace

Witness: I have made it known that I have been there before.

Detective Nkrumah said when he took over the case some of the accused persons had already been arrested by the police and said he was among the arresting officers but the case had not been given to him at that time.

He said he had not read the Wuaku Commission Report (the body set up by President Kufuor to investigate the murder of the Ya Na after the intra-ethnic conflict between the Abudu and Andani Gates in Yendi in March 2002), adding, “I have not personally read the special investigation report compiled by the police during the crisis but was briefed by ACP Ayarlingo on the case.”

Counsel: You said you relied on documents in your investigation. What document was that?

Witness: Docket on the case

Counsel: So the basis for arresting the accused persons was the information you got from the docket

Witness: The first people were arrested before I took over the case. The subsequent arrests were made based on evidence.

Detective Nkrumah admitted that some of the names of the suspects were not in the docket but said they were those arrested and released, adding that some of them were freed by the Human Rights Court.

Counsel: Your investigations solely consisted of statements of the witnesses

Witness: Yes

Counsel: Can you tell the court why Yidana Sugri (the man acquitted and discharged by an Accra Fast Track High Court over the murder of the Ya Na) was arrested

Witness: He was not arrested based on my investigation

Counsel: Was he discharged when you took over the investigation

Witness: Yes

Counsel: Have you heard about the Republic Versus Yidana Sugri

Witness: It came to my attention when the case came to court. It was Hon. Atta Akyea who told me about it.

Counsel: You mean during your investigation you did not come across this case

Witness: I did not do extensive investigations before bringing the suspects to court because a suspect needed to be in court within 48 hours of arrest
He disagreed with counsel that the first suspect was arrested in March, saying it was in May.

Counsel: Did your investigation reveal how the Ya Na died

Witness: My investigations revealed that the Ya Na died as a result of decapitation… It was in the medical record

Counsel: Did you meet the pathologists

Witness: No

He said he got the medical report through a Chief Superintendent who was part of the initial investigations but did not ask him where he (Chief Superintendent) got the report from.

Detective Nkrumah said it was Imrana Saibu (PW3) who said he saw the one who decapitated the Ya Na.

He noted that he was not aware that the witnesses had already testified that they were at a particular spot and could not see the one who decapitated the Ya Na.

He said he did not speak to Detective Charles Adaba (the initial investigator) about the case because he (Mr. Adaba) was in Sudan.

He said PW3 had told him that the accused person used a dormer machine to decapitate the Ya Na but did not find out from the pathologist because the medical report had said so.

PW11 also said that some of the witnesses had said it was Nyaa (A15) who took photographs at the crime scene but the accused person denied it adding “I did not find out the number of houses that were burnt”

Counsel: All you did was to go to Yendi, speak to Andanis and take everything hook, line and sinker

Witness: I do not know the difference between Andanis and Abudus

Counsel: Does it surprise you that all the witnesses are Andanis and the accused persons are Abudus

Witness: That was what came out of the investigations

He said he did not see the armoury in the palace adding “grass had grown and the whole place was untidy. The best person who can say this is Inspector Adaba.”

Counsel told the court that “the investigator cannot bring people to court and say that he cannot answer questions about them.”

Detective Nkrumah said he knows Mohammed Achana Abdul Salaam aka Red who had testified as PW9 but said he did not know that Red was once trained in both Pakistan and Afghanistan.

He said it did not come to his attention that Red surrendered a G3 weapon to the police and said he does not know if the Wuaku Commission was not able to identify the killers of the Ya Na.

When the jurors asked the Detective Nkrumah if he extended his investigations to the Borlana’s palace, he said “No” and when he was further asked why he did not go there he replied “my investigations was on the Gbewaa Palace and the death of the Ya Na.”

Investigator Testifies In Ya Na Trial

Posted on: www.dailyguideghana.com

By William Yaw Owusu

Tuesday October 19, 2010
The investigator, who was scheduled to give evidence in the case in which 15 people are being tried for the murder of Ya Na Yakubu Andani II, overlord of Dagbon, could not do so because the Attorney Generals’ Department wanted Detective Inspector Augustus Nkrumah, the man currently handling the case to testify first.

Detective Inspector Charles Adaba, who investigated the intra-ethnic conflict between Abudu and Andani Gates at Yendi from March 25, 2002 to March 27, 2002 was ready to give evidence when the prosecution, led by Anthony Rexford Wiredu, a Principal State Attorney ‘surprised’ the defense team by presenting to the court, Inspector Nkrumah as the next witness.

On Thursday, October 15, 2010, Mr. Wiredu said “My Lord, we wanted to call our next witness, Detective Inspector Charles Adaba, the officer who did the initial investigations in 2002, but he just came back from Sudan, so we are going to have a conference with him before he comes to give evidence.”

“We are going to crave your indulgence to have conference with him. He has documents he will tender. We want to give him time to arrange all these documents to be used as exhibits. We want the case to be adjourned until Monday”.

But yesterday the prosecution beat another retreat when Mr. Wiredu called Detective Nkrumah instead of Detective Adaba to testify, noting, “On Friday before close of work we had information that Detective Nkrumah has been invited to undertake certain instructions and exercise to proceed to Sudan, starting tomorrow.”

He said, “Inspector Adaba will also move to Sudan on October 22, if Inspector Adaba is called and we do not finish with him today, we will lose Detective Nkrumah”.

Counsel for the accused persons, Phillip Addison, who was not happy about the way and manner in which the prosecution was calling its witnesses said, “We were all here when they said they were bringing detective Adaba because they were not ready then only to spring another surprise on us.

We have not had the chance to go through the statements of Detective Nkrumah, whom they are seeking to bring as their next witness.”

“Detective Nkrumah has been around all the time. The last time I suggested that he could be called whilst they prepare for Detective Adaba, the prosecution refused and said he was going to be their last witness. Now they bring him when we have not prepared for him.”

The trial judge, Justice EK Ayebi of the Court of Appeal said “this is completely out of the blue because this is not what we agreed upon the last time. You should have at least informed your colleague defense counsel.”

The court then allowed about 15 minutes break in the course of Detective Nkrumah’s evidence to enable the accused persons to confer with their counsel on the statements they made to the police, which Detective Nkrumah sought to tender in evidence.

In his evidence-in-chief, Detective Nkrumah who appeared as the 11th Prosecution Witness (PW11) told the packed court that he was assigned to the case on February 12, 2010 and said he knows all the witnesses that testified in the trial, except Brigadier General Dr. Jaswant Mante Wadhwani (Rtd), the pathologist who performed an autopsy on the Ya Na’s body.

He said he visited Yendi and saw that the front view of the Gbewaa Palace had been riddled with bullet holes, adding “an iron used to cover the pavilion had holes in it.”

“Behind the palace, there was a tractor close to a big baobab tree which had been burnt and the buildings in the palace had been roofed again.”

He said his investigations revealed that after the Ya Na had been killed the Abudus took the palace and purposely roofed it for the funeral of their late king within a week.

Detective Nkrumah said he visited the place where the Ya Na’s body was allegedly burnt and also visited the Prisons Quarters, where some of the witnesses hid and saw the Ya Na being killed.

He then tendered in statements he took from all the accused persons and after reading them, (14 statements) he told the court that the police conducted identification parade for the suspects.

The judge adjourned the case for Detective Nkrumah to continue with his evidence-in-chief today.

Before Detective Nkrumah entered the witness box, defense counsel moved an application compelling the Attorney General to produce the all documents at the Wuaku Commission to the court but an affidavit by the Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP) responded that the AG does not have anything apart from the Wuaku Commission Report itself in their custody.

All the 15 accused persons, except Zakaria Yakubu aka Zakaria Forest, the seventh accused (A7) who is currently at large, were in court.

They have all pleaded not guilty to conspiracy, with Forest (A7) facing an additional charge of murder.

They are currently on remand except Iddrisu Iddi aka Mbadugu, due to old age.

Those on trial are Iddrisu Iddi aka Mbadugu, Alhaji Baba Abdulai Iddrisu aka Zohe, Kwame Alhassan aka Achiri, Mohamadu Abdulai aka Samasama, Sayibu Mohammed, Alhassan Braimah and Alhaji Mohammed Habib Tijani, 45, former District Chief Executive (DCE) of Yendi as second, third, fourth, fifth, sixth and eighth accused persons respectively.

The rest are Baba Ibrahim aka Baba Zey, Alhassan Mohammed aka Mohammed Cheampon, Mohammed Mustapha, Shani Imoro, Yakubu Yusif aka Leftee and Hammed Abukari Yussif aka Kuns and Abdul Razak Yussif aka Nyaa as ninth, 10th, 11th, 12th, 13th, 14th and 15th accused persons respectively.

Kabila Faces CPP

Kwabena Bomfeh aka Kabila is the National Youth Organozer of the Convention People's Party (CPP)
Posted on: www.dailyguideghana.com

By William Yaw Owusu

Tuesday October 19, 2010
Even before the committee set up by the Convention People’s Party (CPP) to investigate and recommend disciplinary action against James Kwabena Bomfeh aka Kabila, the party’s National Youth Organizer commences it work today, Daily Guide can confirm that the written summons contain unpardonable factual inaccuracies.

A letter issued on September 17, 2010, signed by Andrews Addy, Chairman of the Disciplinary Committee of the CPP could not even spell the surname of Kabila correctly (Bonfeh instead of Bomfeh) while the letter states that Peace FM is in Tema instead of Accra.

Furthermore, they are accusing Kabila of initiating legal action against Kosmos when in actual fact; Kabila had gone to court to stop Parliament of Ghana from passing the STX Korea Housing deal.

The committee has Wing Commander Pat Sogbordjor, Elizabeth Akpalo, Supi Bensti-Enchill, and Yaw Yegbe as members while Monica Quaison and Kwow Ansah are substituted members of the committee.

The summon states that Kabila stands accused on three counts of initiating legal action in respect of the “Kosmos Affair” without authorization from the party; insulting Ladi Nylander, the CPP Chairman on August 6, 2010 on Peace FM radio station in Tema; and finally posting a statement on the internet on August 6, 2010 challenging the authority of the CPP Chairman who had called on him (Kabila) and Ivor Kobina Greenstreet (CPP General Secretary) to step aside.

But in his response to the summon which was copied to CPP Council of Elders, Central Committee members, Disciplinary Committee, CPP Chairman and the General Secretary, Kabila challenged the constitutionality of the committee but said “I am ready to appear before any lawful forum either within or outside the party to answer to any allegation made against me.”

He said the committee should be guided by Section 9 (a) of the Political Parties Act, 2000 (Act 574) which enjoins all political parties registered in Ghana to conform to democratic principles and not contravene the 1992 Constitution.

He said the Disciplinary Committee cannot appoint itself under Article 76 (a) of the CPP Constitution, explaining that the Central Committee of the CPP had not appointed members of the Disciplinary Committee at the time the summon was prepared saying “the committee lacks legal basis to conduct the intended disciplinary proceedings.

The CPP Youth Organizer also said the Central Committee of the party was yet to enact and publish the required procedural rules to govern the activities and proceedings of the National Disciplinary Committee saying “your directive that I submit written responses within 48 hours of receipt of your invitation and appear before your committee a mere 18 hours later is not only arbitrary, but implies that your committee is enacting its own rules contrary to Section 76 (d) of the CPP Constitution.”

“Let me remind you that I am a duly elected national officer of our great party who is sworn to uphold the party’s constitution as well as the democratic ideals of the party and will do all in my power to do exactly that.”