BUGGING OF MINISTER’S OFFICE: ARREST INUSAH FUSEINI – OKUDZETO CHARGES

Posted on: www.dailyguideghana.com

By William Yaw Owusu

Saturday, July 15, 2017

Pressure is beginning to mount on the government to arrest and prosecute former Minister of Lands and Forestry, Inusah Fuseini. 

Alhaji Fuseini, who was also a Minister of Roads under President Mahama’s National Democratic Congress (NDC) administration, made a shocking confession on Tuesday when he admitted the installation of the secret audiovisual recording gadgets at a hidden place in the office of the current Minister of Lands and Natural Resources, John Peter Amewu.

He claimed he planted the gadgets when he was a minister in that office before he was sent to the Roads Ministry.

Curiously, he left the gadgets in his former office, claiming that it was not working.

Naked

His admission got his successor, Nii Osah Mills – who served under President Mahama - boiling with rage because he said he had realized that for the two-and-a-half years he occupied the office, he was ‘naked.’

Nii Osah Mills, a lawyer who was once President of the Ghana Bar Association (GBA), clearly was not happy when he got to know that Fuseini, the MP for Tamale Central, had ‘spied’ on him for two years.

The issue is taking a new twist with a call to prosecute the NDC MP, who is also a lawyer.

Clarion Call

A member of the Council of State and veteran lawyer, Sam Okudzeto, has joined the call and said it was illegal for the former minister to plant the secret recorder in the office when he was no longer the minister.

Mr. Okudzeto said that in other jurisdictions the former minister would be facing the full rigours of the law.

“It is not allowed anywhere in the world. In fact, he should be prosecuted for doing that,” the former GBA President told Class FM in Accra.

He said Fuseini should have removed the gadgets when his tenure of office ended at the ministry.

Minister of Communications, Ursula Owusu-Ekuful, has also said the former minister should not be left off the hook.

Ms. Owusu-Ekuful, NPP MP for Ablekuma West, urged the National Security to conduct investigations and institute ‘punishment’ where necessary.

“It’s against the law... even if you take a picture and you are not given the permission to publish it, you can be sued, and so to fix a secret camera in an office which is not your personal property, you have to take it off when leaving the office. You have to take it to your house which is your personal property, since he claimed it was a gift for him.

"It was not right; maybe he might have forgotten but for all these years, he should have remembered at a point . . . It must be investigated, even though he has apologized because it might be intentional or unintentional,” she said on UTV yesterday.

According to him, in spite of the former minister’s apology, "There should be some form of caution or punishment to deter others from repeating it. He must not be left off the hook just because he apologized.”

Data Protection

Already, the Executive Director of the Data Protection Commission, Teki Akuetteh Falconer, has said the former minister’s action might have ‘breached’ the Data Protection Law.

Making references to the Data Protection Law passed in 2012 on Joy FM, the executive director said there is a breach of privacy and the law if one is recorded without his or her consent.

Quoting Section 19 of the law, Ms. Falconer pointed out two conditions under which a person may be put under surveillance.

“The law states, ‘Personal data may only be processed if the purpose for which it is to be processed, is necessary, relevant and not excessive,’ and added that ‘The person to be monitored needs to grant consent.”

Criminal Offence

She said it is a criminal offence to breach a person's privacy and added that the law also provides the option for an aggrieved person to sue for the invasion of privacy or lodge a complaint with the Data Protection Commission for investigation.

Mr Falconer explained that the purpose of the information is important in determining the breach of the law. Even where the purpose is determined, another question to consider is if there are other less intrusive means to monitor a target.

Initial Discovery

The discovery of the gadgets by the National Security set tongues wagging; and immediately the incident occurred, fingers were being pointed at those operating in the illegal mining sector because the current minister - Mr. Amewu - is waging a relentless war on the illegal mining activities popularly called galamsey.

Just as the government was directing the Bureau of National Investigations (BNI) to investigate the incident, Inusah Fuseini popped up, claiming ownership of the gadgets and said he hid them there in 2013 for his personal protection because he was then leading a clampdown on galamsey.

“It is true that I was installing it in 2013; but we never got around to completing the installation and so that is why when the national security did the swoop in the office, they didn’t pick any signal because it’s not working,” he said.

Defective Device

He claimed that the devices never worked because “somebody was doing it (for me) but I didn’t have time,” adding, “While doing it he needed me in the office but I didn’t have time so he couldn’t complete it.”

However, a security expert with the Kofi Annan International Peacekeeping and Training Centre (KAIPTC), Dr. Kwasi Aning, has called on the security agencies in the country to invite and interrogate Fuseini over the spying equipment.

Dr. Aning, who earlier said the ‘bugs’ found in the lands minister’s office was the tip of the iceberg, noted that the words of Insuah Fuseini are a security threat and that the issue is sensitive and must be clarified immediately.

“I think a nice invitation by the respective security agencies will be fine. So the agencies involved in the issue must invite him through the right channel since he is a Member of Parliament, so we can clarify this as quickly as possible,” he said.

On Monday, news broke that operatives of the National Security had found gadgets secretly planted in a plaque bearing the Coat of Arms of Ghana, which had been hanged at a corner in the office of the minister.

The devices are said to be very powerful, with an inbuilt camera, storage unit and another device believed to be a transmitter.

According to sources, the ‘highly’ sensitive device can pick a whisper about 35 feet away, had been neatly put in a black metal box and uses batteries.

DEATH OF PROF MILLS: WAS THERE A COVER-UP? FAMILY WANTS INVESTIGATION

Posted on: www.dailyguideghana.com

A Feature By William Yaw Owusu

Saturday, July 15, 2017

On Tuesday, July 24, 2012, Ghanaians had a shocker when news came through that the sitting president, Professor John Evans Atta Mills, had died mid-morning.

His party, the National Democratic Congress (NDC), was preparing the tax law expert for a second term in office in December 2012, but that never was.

The circumstances surrounding President Mills’ death has continuously been shrouded in secrecy ever since. Activities marking the fifth anniversary of the sad passing of Prof Mills, as he was affectionately called, are approaching very fast but details about what caused the president’s death are still outstanding.

There is currently a divided opinion about whether the autopsy report of the president, if there was any, should be made public and it looks like pressure is beginning to mount on the current government to do something about the issue so that the records could be settled.

The government of former President John Dramani Mahama, who was Prof Mills’ vice and subsequently succeeded him upon his demise, from all indications, did not tell Ghanaians what actually was the cause of death and are still not in any position to say so.

In fact, what actually led to the death of the president was a taboo topic when the NDC ruled, but the maternal family now wants it done by the current government.

They believe there is currently a window of opportunity because a government other than the NDC is in office, and it is possible for the investigation to be done.

DAILY GUIDE caught up with the head of the family, Ato Harry Brew, an 85-year-old consultant in industrial etymology, who says they have nothing against any effort to investigate the death of the president. “If the opinion of the country is that it should be done then it has to be done,” he tells DAILY GUIDE.

“We won’t mind if the new government probes what actually caused the death of our brother, the president. We don’t mind if they do that so that everything will be clarified,” the first African cocoa insect pollinator biologist/taxonomist explained at his residence in Ashongman Estate, Accra.

Funeral Snub

The octogenarian who calls himself the family’s ‘encyclopedia’ says the family’s history, including tribute he personally wrote for the funeral planning committee, was rejected without any explanation.

The NDC government ended up producing what he called a brochure full of ‘half truths’ about the late president during his funeral on August 10, 2012.

Funeral Planning

“Most of the things about Prof Mills captured in his tribute were false. I sent the right one but they threw it away. I don’t want to mention the name but they didn’t use what I sent to them.

“When they were preparing the funeral, they all consulted me and I gave them all the fact about the Prof. I remember Ato Dadzie, Kofi Totobi Quarchie and a fair lady I cannot remember her name (sic) and two others came to me and I gave them all the facts and I wrote a tribute. They said my brother was poetic and I am poetic so what I wrote was poetic so they sent it back to me then I wrote another one but they didn’t publish,” Mr Brew narrates.

He says, “What I wrote was not in tune with the political air at that time.”

Mr Brew states, “The widowhood rites by President Mills’ wife Ernestina (former first lady) were brought to him, and the wife knew that I was the right person.”

Castle Visit

He says some three days to the unfortunate passing of the president, the family visited him at the Osu Castle, the then seat of government, and says, “He looked very sick and was speaking through his nose.”

 “Myself, my nephew Brew-Butler and the wife and other nephews, we went there to the Castle and it was a nice reunion. He would talk and then I told them jokingly that I was giving him a bath when he was a little boy and Uncle Fiifi (President Mills) would say ‘don’t put the water on my head’ then he said ‘yes I remember it’,” the head of the family discloses.

Unfolding Events

He mentions that he heard about the president’s death through his daughter domiciled in the UK and adds that no government official contacted him about the death. “It was Cadman who later called to say ‘Yes, Brother we’ve lost him!”

“Cadman was living in the Castle so they were altogether every day. Sometimes Cadman is sent by government on official assignments outside Ghana. He told me he was going to China. 

When he came back, he saw that he (Prof Mills) had changed instantly so he came here and told me Brother, I want to send Uncle Fiifi (Prof Mills) back to the United States and then I said Yes! Why Not!”

Political Sacrifice

“So we decided he (Prof Mills) was going to fly on a Monday or so. When he was going to fly him, they (NDC government) said no! I said take him! Whatever they say we should not listen to them!”

“They said they were going to have election and when they send him to the US, it will affect the election and all that. I said but he is a human being and he is my brother if he is sick and we are taking him what is their problem,” he adds.

Family Encyclopedia

When you visit Ato Harry Brew at Ashongman Estates, you will leave the residence without any shred of doubt that President Mills is truly his first maternal cousin. This is because he has in his possession important archival documents, including old pictures, indicating he is a blood brother of the late president. In fact, he has the names of every family member at his finger tips. He is the head of the Nkuma-Kyerba Twidam Ebusua of Tantri, Cape Coast, the maternal family of the late law professor.

He even has in his possession a site plan indicating his great great grandmother’s acquisition of a plot of land at Kotokuraba, Cape Coast in 1890. That building housed President Mills’ mother Mercy Dawson-Ahmoah who later became Mercy Dawson Atta Mills, as well as Mr Harry Brew’s own mother, Emma Dawson-Ahmoah who later became Emma Dawson Brew.

He tells DAILY GUIDE that their maternal great grandmother was called Nkuma acquired a land at Kotokuraba in 1890 and it was this lady who gave birth to Prof Mills’ grandmother called Kyerba. Interestingly,  and it was the same street that the NDC recently renamed after President Mills in Cape Coast as Prof Atta Mills Street.

Cameroun Connection

He says President Mills’ mother, Mercy, was born in Cameroon, so they used to call her Esi Yaounde or Esi Amoanua.

 “Our maternal grandfather was called Lt Commander Edmund Dawson-Ahmoah. He was a soldier who was sent to Cameroon by the British Forces from Cape Coast to fight the Germans in World War I. He married our grandmother Kyeraba and gave birth to our mothers, including that of Prof and my mother.”

“When he returned from Cameroon, he was made a registrar in the High Court of the Castle. He died in the Castle and so it is not any co-incidence that Prof Mills also died in the Castle.”

He says their grandmother Kyereba had 13 children. Her first husband was called Mensah, whom she had four kids with and later married Lt. Commander Dawson-Ahmoah, who also gave her nine children.

“One of Mensah’s children was Theophilus, who also gave birth to Robert Mensah, the famous Ghana Black Stars goalkeeper.”

“In Kyerba’s line, my mother Emma was the sixth and Prof’s mother Mercy was the last born. Prof’s mother gave birth to six children (three boys and three girls). They include Emma, Prof, Cadman, Adjoa, Araba and Sammy (the current NDC MP for KEEA).

Otuam Link

There is also the issue of where President Mills comes from. This is because since the Professor hit the political limelight somewhere in 1995, the NDC has continuously made the public to believe that he hailed from Ekumfi Otuam.

Mr Brew says Prof Mills was named after his paternal grandfather called Edward Atta Mills, who hailed from Ekumfi Otuam, but the Fantes called him Mbir Atta.

“The name was, however, anglicised to Atta Mills,” he says.

“He was the father of John Evans Atta Mills Snr. So I can say that Edmund begat John Evans Snr and John Evans Snr begat John Evans Jnr.”

“They have to explain why they are claiming that Prof comes from Otuam. Clearly they were playing politics out of it,” he says, adding, “It is supposed to be matrilineal and not patrilineal. Fantes are matrilineal. We are from Cape Coast.”

Nostalgic Feeling

He says the president was born in Tarkwa in the Western Region in 1944 because the father had been transferred there as a teacher.

Mr Brew says he was the person who was sent to Abosso near Tarkwa to bring a midwife to deliver President Mills, adding, “I was 12 years when the president was born.”

Twin Charade

He says President Mills is never a twin as some have cynically claimed and adds that the president was given the name Atta because he was name after his paternal grandfather, Mbir Atta.

“Prof was born on 1944 and Cadman was born in 1946. How can they be twins? It is not possible.”

When asked whether the government disclosed any autopsy results to him as the family head, he answered rhetorically, “Would they even do that?

PROBE MILLS’ DEATH – SAYS FAMILY HEAD

Posted on: www.dailyguideghana.com

By William Yaw Owusu

Friday, July 14, 2017

The maternal family of the late President John Evans Atta Mills has said it would support any attempt by the Akufo-Addo-led New Patriotic Party (NPP) government to investigate the circumstances surrounding the death of the late head of state.

Prof. Mills died suddenly on Tuesday, July 24, 2012 when he was preparing to contest for a second term in office. Since then, details about what caused his death are still shrouded in secrecy.

“We won’t mind if the new government probes what actually caused the death of our brother, the President. We don’t mind if they do that so that everything will be clarified,” Ato Harry Brew, an 85-year-old first cousin of the late president, told DAILY GUIDE in an exclusive chat in Accra on Monday.

“If the opinion of the country is that it should be done, then it has to be done,” he said from his Ashongman Estates residence when he took DAILY GUIDE through the family history of the late president.

He said the maternal family of Prof Mills - who was a Tax Law Expert - is called Nkuma-Kyerba Twidan Ebusua of Tantri, Cape Coast.

Mr. Harry Brew’s mother (Emma Dawson-Ahmoah or Nee Emma Dawson Brew) and the late President Mills’ mother (Mercy Dawson-Ahmoah/Nee Mercy Dawson Atta Mills) are sisters from the same mother called Kyereba aka Esi Yaunde or Esi Amoanua (because she was born in Cameroon) from Kotokuraba, Cape Coast.

Mr. Harry Brew, who is the first African Cocoa Insect Pollinator Biologist/Taxonomist, said, “I fully support what Cadman said if the investigation into what killed President Mills was done during the NDC’s tenure, many people would not have believed the outcome.

“I feel once there is a new government we should all, especially the family, get to know the circumstances surrounding his death, if that is what a lot of Ghanaians want.”

He said the NDC administration blocked the family from sending President Mills to the United States for further medical attention because the government officials said the 2012 general election was getting close.

“They said they were going to have election and when they send him to the US it will affect the election and all that. I said but he is a human being and he is my brother; if he is sick and we are taking him, what is their problem?” Mr Harry  Brew, who is still a consultant in industrial etymology, disclosed, adding, “It was politicized. I am telling you I told Cadman to take him to the US for medical attention.

“I saw him on Saturday but he was speaking through the nose.”

He debunked rumours that Prof Mills’ body was sent to South Africa for autopsy. “They even said the body was dressed in South Africa. It was all untrue.

“The Lashibi Funeral Home where he was kept belongs to my wife’s sister.  It was there the government put my brother’s body. They had removed him from the 37 Military Hospital Morgue. So it was never true that the body was flown to South Africa,” he cleared the air.

When asked whether the government disclosed any autopsy results to him as family head, Mr Ato Harry Brew asked rhetorically, “Would they even do that?

Cape Coast/Otuam Debate

Taking DAILY GUIDE through volumes of documents, including archival images dating back to the 1890s, he slammed all those who are claiming that President Mills came from Ekumfi Otuam in the Central Region.

“Of course, we are matrilineal. We are not from Ekumfi Otuam. It was his father who came from Otuam. We are from Kotokuraba, Cape Coast,” he underscored.

He said it was President Mills’ father called John Evans Atta Mills Senior who hailed from Otuam; and once Fantes practise matrilineal inheritance, the family could not be said to be coming from that town.

 “If you want gains you can formulate something and that has misfired so long as I am alive,” he stressed, adding, “The Otuam people cannot lay claim to President Mills. We are matrilineal and we are Akans and therefore, nobody can use a false tongue to change and hang anything on our necks. These things must cease before the fifth anniversary comes.”

Twin Myth   

Mr. Harry Brew also said that President Mills was never a twin but was rather named after his paternal grandfather called Edward Atta Mills.

“Prof. Mills was named after his paternal grandfather called Edward Atta Mills and the Fantes called him Mbir Atta. The name was however, Anglicised to Atta Mills,” he explained.

Some have strongly claimed that his twin brother is Cadman Mills, but the family head said that cannot also be true.

“Prof was born in 1944 and Cadman was born in 1946 so how can they be twins?” Mr Brew wondered.

DUMELO BUYS STOLEN CAR

Posted on: www.dailyguideghana.com

By William Yaw Owusu

Thursday, July 13, 2017

The vehicle retrieved from popular movie actor and National Democratic Congress (NDC) activist, John Dumelo, by National Security operatives, has been moved to the State House Workshop in Accra for maintenance - even as the actor insists he bought it.

Dumelo’s insistence, according to a security analyst, implies that he bought a stolen National Security vehicle fitted with sophisticated communication gadgets.

Since it was seized from the opposition NDC ardent supporter in March this year, the Toyota Land Cruiser V8 cross-country with registration number GE 8118 –16, and chassis number JTMHVOJ2F4159829, 2015, had been parked at the Annex of the Office of the President, near State House in Accra.

Transport Directorate at the seat of government - Flagstaff House – took over the vehicle on Tuesday and was taken to the workshop to be worked on.

Incidentally, the vehicle was moved just after Mr John Dumelo had granted an interview on Joy Fm’s ‘Cosmopolitan Mix’ programme when he insisted that he bought it from an unknown person.

Speaking publicly on the controversial V8 saga for the first time, John said he bought the vehicle from “somebody” and didn’t know or care whether it was a “government car or not.”

He claimed he couldn’t have kept a government vehicle since he was not a state official.

 “I will never keep a government car. First of all, I am not a government official so I will never keep a government car. I bought the car from somebody, I bought it,” he insisted.

 He underscored, “Some people come and say ‘hey, it's a government car you have.’ I say to them, keep it. What is a car?” Mr Dumelo explained that it was not a difficult decision to “let it go” because “it’s just a car” which he could have lost in an “accident or anything.”

According to the actor, “In 2010, I bought a car; in 2011, I bought another one; in 2013 (and) 2015 I bought another, so it’s something that I can afford.”

He added, “So when this happened, I said let them take it because of course, they were going around saying ‘we will seize your car.’ It’s a car, I let it go. You can have an accident tomorrow and the car is damaged, so after all, I said, ‘To hell with it.’ I bought myself a new car and moved on.”

Special Car

The V8 Landcruiser is said to be a very special one fitted with important communication gadgets, suggesting that it is only the National Security operatives and other security agencies that use such vehicles.

Interestingly, the vehicle has been in the custody of the National Security without any attempt by the actor to get it back.

According to the taskforce that impounded the vehicle, John Dumelo was allegedly attempting to conceal the identity of the metallic black Toyota Land Cruiser when the security operatives pounced on it at a garage at Abelemkpe in Accra, where it had purportedly been sent for re-spraying.

When the operatives invited him to the garage, he reportedly panicked before surrendering the expensive vehicle without any protest.

The security men, acting on a tip-off, swooped on the garage and got hold of the auto mechanic, who told them that the vehicle belonged to John Dumelo.

He was then telephoned to come to the garage and upon arrival, he’s reported to have first said that he bought the V8 from a car dealer, Svani Company Limited, and claimed he was yet to complete the payment.

The operatives then keyed in the chassis number into a centralized computer system but the results showed that the vehicle was registered in the name of the National Security Secretariat, which is a property of the Government of Ghana.

Sensing he was getting into trouble, John was reported to have quickly changed his story, claiming that it was the former first lady, Lordina Mahama, who gave the vehicle to him.

The security operatives immediately decided to crosscheck from Lordina to ascertain the facts but the actor (Dumelo) reportedly pleaded with them to stop and just take the vehicle away.

The operatives’ checks at Svani Motors, along the Spintex Road, indicated that the company imported the vehicle for the National Security Council Secretariat and that the company is one of the several auto dealers used by the government to import vehicles for the state.

Inspection

When DAILY GUIDE inspected the vehicle before it was driven to the workshop, it had been disfigured and was going through re-modeling, with all the parts packed in it.

There were no batteries in the engine and the four tyres had been deflated.

John Dumelo was said to have brought some spare parts from Dubai to enhance the look of the vehicle, ostensibly to disguise it from the public.

There have calls for Dumelo’s arrest since he was changing the features of the vehicle.

DAILY GUIDE learnt that he had not been invited since the seizure of the expensive vehicle.

FORMER MINISTER ADMITS SECRET RECORDER

Posted on: www.dailyguideghana.com

By William Yaw Owusu

Wednesday, July 12, 2017

Former Minister of Lands and Natural Resources, Alhaji  Inusah Fuseini, has admitted installing the secret audiovisual recording gadgets which were found in the office of the current Minister of Lands and Natural Resources, John Peter Amewu.

His admission has got his successor, Nii Osah Mills - during President Mahama’s National Democratic Congress (NDC) administration - fuming with rage because he said he had realized that for two-and-a-half years, he was ‘naked.’

The discovery of the devices by the National Security a couple of days ago, set tongues wagging and fingers were being pointed at those operating in the illegal mining sector because Mr. Amewu, backed by President Akufo-Addo’s government, is waging a relentless war on the illegal and irresponsible mining activities popularly called galamsey.

Just as the government was directing the Bureau of National Investigations (BNI) to investigate the incident, Alhaji Inusah Fuseini popped up, claiming ownership of the gadgets. He said he hid them there in 2013 for his personal protection because he was then leading a clampdown on galamsey.

“It is true that I was installing it in 2013; but we never got around to completing the installation and so that is why the National Security did the swoop in the office but didn’t pick any signal because it’s not working,” he said yesterday.

“As a minister, I had started the fight against galamsey. That was an investment in my own security. Kumbour had been shot during the time we came into office and I had been advised by National Security to leave my private residence at Ridge and move into government residence in town. So I was doing that to ensure that I monitor people who were coming into my office in my presence and in my absence,” Inusah Fuseini explained.

He claimed that the device never worked because “somebody was doing it (for me) but I didn’t have time,” adding, “While doing it he needed me in the office but I didn’t have time so he couldn’t complete it.”

According to the former lands minister, the device was given to him as a gift by a certain Haruna soon after he assumed office as minister of lands and natural resources, which he fixed to monitor the happenings in his office.

Invitation

But a security expert with the Kofi Annan International Peacekeeping and Training Centre (KAIPTC), Kwasi Aning, has called on the security agencies to invite and interrogate Alhaji Fuseini over the spying equipment. 

Security Threat 

Dr. Aning, who earlier said the ‘bugs’ found in the lands minister’s office are the tip of the iceberg, noted that the words of Inusah Fuseini are a security threat and that the issue is so sensitive that it must be clarified immediately. 

He stated categorically, “I think a nice invitation by the respective security agencies will be fine. So the agencies involved in the issue must invite him through the right channel since he is a Member of Parliament, so we can clarify this as quickly as possible.” 

Dr Aning also chided the former minister for planting the surveillance equipment inside the Coat of Arms – a national emblem - which was installed in his office.  “You don’t defame the symbol of national identity. It is disrespectful to the nation and the people you seek to serve for you to hide such a thing in the Coat of Arms.  The claim that it was not working must be investigated. What was the purpose of hiding such equipment and why wasn’t it revealed in the handing over notes to the incoming minister?” he wondered.

Successor

Inusah’s successor, Nii Osah Mills, was shell-shocked at his colleague’s admission when the media contacted him for his reaction, saying he was unknowingly under secret surveillance while in office.

“It came as a surprise to me to hear in the news that such a device has been found in the room I used to occupy. I think and I do feel that I was being monitored,” he said.

“Any ordinary human being will equally feel bad because it is something that you least expected. One feels that in a sense, one was naked at work each day because I think one was creeping around and looking at everything that you did. It’s a very bad feeling,” he lamented.

The current minister has also said he was not ‘too surprised’ that such a device was found in his office.

 “It is quite shocking. It is a caution for us to be careful in the environment we are working in. I am not too surprised; but it is an interesting thing that has been uncovered,” Mr. Amewu said.

On Monday, news broke that operatives of the National Security had found a device secretly planted in a plaque bearing the Coat of Arms of Ghana which had been hanged at a corner in the office of the minister.

The device is said to be very powerful, with an inbuilt camera, storage unit and another device believed to be a transmitter.

According to sources, the ‘highly’ sensitive device can pick a whisper about 35 feet away, had been neatly put in a black metal box and uses batteries.

The supposed secret recording gadget had been reportedly discovered during a screening exercise known in security parlance as ‘sweeping of the office.’

This paper learned that National Security operatives suspected the ‘bug’ when they embarked on a routine screening exercise at the ministry late last month.

STUDENTS SUE GLC OVER LAW SCHOOL ADMISSION

Posted on: www.dailyguideghana.com

By William Yaw Owusu

Wednesday, July 12, 2017

The General Legal Council’s (GLC’s) decision to go ahead with the organization of entrance examination for students seeking admission into the Ghana School of Law - in spite of the Supreme Court’s judgment that the process is unconstitutional - is meeting stiff resistance from some prospective law students.

This is because 11 LLB students who are all planning to enter the school have jointly filed a suit against the council, which is the regulator of the training and practise of law  in the country, to stop the authorities from conducting the examination on July 14, 2017.

The suit, filed yesterday at the Human Rights Court by the students through their lawyers - Hencil Chambers in Accra -  after a petition they sent to the council had not yielded dividends, wants a declaration that “the General Legal Council is a creature of statute i.e. the Legal Profession Act, 1960 (Act 32),” and therefore should obey the order of the court.

They are asking for a further declaration that “as the statutory body responsible for the organization of legal education in Ghana, it comes under a statutory duty under the Legal Profession Act 1960 (Act 32) and the Professional Law Course Regulations 1984 (L.I. 1296) to comply with the terms of the law regarding admission of law graduates into the Ghana School of Law.”

According to the students, the court should also declare that “the passage of L.I. 1296 under the powers conferred on the defendant council by Section 14 of the Legal Professional Act 1960 (Act 32) makes Regulations 2 and 3 (L.I. 1296) the only lawful criteria for admission of the plaintiffs into the Ghana School of Law.”

The lawyers want the court to declare that the plaintiffs and other persons with the requisite qualifications in terms of the law (i.e. Act 32 and L.I. 1296) “automatically qualify for admission into the Ghana School of Law,” and “a declaration that the admission criteria imposed by defendant council in terms of an entrance examination and an interview for admission into the Ghana School of Law since 2015 contravene the provisions of Act 32 and L.I. 1296.”

The students are asking for an order of the court “setting aside the unlawful criteria complained of as illegal and unconstitutional and an infringement upon the plaintiffs’ fundamental human rights enshrined in the 1992 Constitution,” and also a further declaration that “being itself a creature of statute by virtue of the 1992 Constitution and the Courts Act 1993 (Act 459), the court could not fail to take up the issue of illegality arising from breaches by defendant council of Sections 13 and 14 of the Legal Profession Act 1960 (Act 32) and Regulations 2 and 3 of the Professional Law Course Regulations 1984 (L.I. 1296) which had come to its notice.”

They are praying the court to declare that “the courts are the servants of the Legislature and are legally enjoined to pay strict obeisance to statute; allowing the defendant council to administer the entrance examination on Friday, 14^th July, 2017 would amount to a grant of immunity from the consequences of breaching Sections 13 and 14 of the Legal Profession Act 1960 (Act 32), Regulations 2 and 3 of the Professional Law Course Regulations, 1984 (L.I. 1296) and Articles 11 (7), 23, 296 (a) and (b) and 297 (b) of the Constitution, 1992.”

According to the plaintiffs, the court should also declare that “the Independent Examinations Board which is to administer the entrance examination on Friday, 14^th July, 2017, has no legal right so to do because it is unknown to either the Legal Profession Act 1960 (Act 32) or the Professional Law Course Regulations, 1984 (L.I. 1296).”

They also want an order “prohibiting the so-called Independent Examination Board, a faceless body unknown to Ghanaian Jurisprudence, from administering the entrance examination for admission into the Ghana School of Law, planned to take place on Friday, 14^th July, 2017, is irregular, improper, illegal, unconstitutional and a legal nullity.”

According to the plaintiffs, they instituted the action because “they have personal interest either by virtue of the fact that they have been affected by the institution of an entrance examination for admission into the Ghana School of Law by the defendant council and they failed to gain admission or that they are being made to write it (again) even though the entrance examination and interview are both illegal by statute and declared unconstitutional by the Supreme Court in its judgement in June, 2017.”

They said they would contend at the trial that based on the Supreme Court’s order, “the combined effect of Sections 13 and 14 of Act 32 and Regulations 2 and 3 of L.I. 1296 renders introduction of an entrance examination and its attendant selection interview before a qualified law graduate is admitted into the Ghana School of Law illegal and unconstitutional.”

GLOA WANTS NLA MONOPOLY BROKEN

Posted on: www.dailyguideghana.com

By William Yaw Owusu

Wednesday, July 12, 2017

The Ghana Lotto Operators Association (GLOA) is intensifying its campaign to lobby the government to amend the Act that has given the National Lottery Authority (NLA) monopoly in the gaming industry.

The promulgation of the National Lotto Act, Act 772 (2006), created a monopoly for lottery in Ghana and GLOA is arguing that the move is defeating the NPP Government agenda to place the private sector at the centre stage of the development agenda which will ultimately lead to the expansion of the economy. 

Private lotto business known in local parlance as Banker to Banker was curtailed after the promulgation of Act 722 but GLOA is arguing that the move has since rendered many people jobless and said the government needed to reinstate them by urging Parliament to change the law.

At a heavily-attended news conference in Accra yesterday on the recent discussions between GLOA and the NLA regarding the creation of a Public Private Partnership in lottery, Seth Asante Amoani, GLOA's Secretary said they were sending a proposal to the government for consideration on the way forward for the country.

He said allowing private operators back into the lottery sector might help to solve the ongoing galamsey situation since many people involved in illegal mining could return to the kiosks and work to earn a living.

“GLOA declares its unflinching support towards the implementation NPP’s promises to the ordinary people of Ghana, and its proposed public-private partnership in lotto,” he said.

He said GLOA is proposing a dialogue between them and the NLA, Ministry of Finance and all stakeholders to make private sector participation in lotto a reality under a public-private partnership arrangement with commitments for all parties.

He said they are also calling for the constitution of a legal review committee “to explore modalities for the amendment of National Lotto Act, Act 722 (2006), with particular reference to section 2 (4).”

GLOA is also calling for “a separation of the regulatory function of NLA from its commercial/operational functions, and to ensure that NLA does not regulate and compete at the same time, with other private sector operators.”

According to them, the appointment of “a truly independent regulator for lottery in Ghana, and the restructuring of NLA’s lotto commercial operations under a different arrangement, for a transparent and impartial regulation with private sector operators,” will help to bring economic development.

They said they are not against any periodic monitoring of operators to ensure full compliance with the regulations, and ensure that all the districts are covered for uniform and accelerated economic growth.

They said there should be a creation of modalities for the establishment of the Lotto Commission, the issuance of licenses to private operators nationwide, and the payment of appropriate registration fees, monthly GRA taxes, VAT, P.A.Y.E., SSNIT and other charges to government adding “there should be regulation and control of fiscal activities of all operators, to ensure that taxes are fully paid and at periodic intervals to the state.”

GLOA said if that was done, the government should be able to grant private sector operatives a 5-year moratorium to recapitalize their operations by investing in equipment for independent draws on their own machines, or the payment of fees for use of drawn numbers in the interim as well as monitor and evaluate the actual employment creation data submitted by operators from time to time.

They also called for modalities for the legalization of District Lotto, as part of efforts to build the needed revenues for the district industrialization programme of the NPP Government, adding “there should be modalities for registering the agents of private lotto operators to ensure a take-off of district economic re-generation,” as well as “create a national database to register all operators and their sub-agents to facilitate tax collection.”

“The private sector has proved itself a viable partner in national revenue mobilization activities under several governments until Act 722 was promulgated in 2006, creating a lottery monopoly in Ghana. PNDC Law 223 (1989) deregulated lottery in Ghana, occasioning massive improvement in the revenue and development activities of district Assemblies.”

Dr    Ato Conduah an lawyer who is consulting for GLOA said “our proposal is a panacea for the lottery industry. We want to lawfully earn a living so they should give us another chance.”

LAW SCHOOL INSISTS ON ENTRANCE EXAMS

Posted on: www.dailyguideghana.com

By William Yaw Owusu

Monday, July 10, 2017

The General Legal Council is bent on organizing entrance examination for potential students to the Ghana School of Law, in spite of the Supreme Court’s ruling that the process is unconstitutional.

A group calling itself Concerned LLB Graduates has petitioned the council - which regulates the training and practice of law in the country - to scrap the examination in the wake of the judgement secured by a United States-based law professor, Stephen Kwaku Asare aka Kwaku Azaa, and facilitate automatic admissions into the law school.

The examination has been slated for July 14, 2017, and there is no sign that the concerns raised by the LLB graduates might be considered so that the examination would be scrapped.

The concerned graduates are insisting that the examination would amount to an illegality since the Supreme Court has declared it as unconstitutional.

Council Adamant

The council, in its response letter, has reportedly “decided that in line with the terms of the judgement in the above-mentioned case, the law school entrance examination scheduled for Friday, July 14^th, would take place as planned, “Your petition, which includes among other things, a request for automatic admission to the Ghana School of Law, is therefore declined.”

The letter was signed by the Judicial Secretary, who doubles as Secretary of the General Legal Council, Justice Alex B. Poku-Acheampong.

The Concerned LLB Graduates in their petition, threatened to go to court if their request was turned down.

Judgement

The Supreme Court on June 22, 2017, declared as unconstitutional the entrance examination and interview before admitting new students into the Ghana School of Law.

The plaintiff, Professor Asare, who filed the suit in 2015, had insisted that the requirements for the writing of an entrance examination were in violation of the Legislative Instrument 1296 which gives direction for the mode of admission.

The justices, in delivering their judgment, also indicated that their order should not take retrospective effect, but should be implemented in six months’ time, when admissions for the 2018 academic year begin.

Plaintiff Reacts

Prof Asare on Friday, issued a release describing as unconstitutional the attempt by the council to go ahead with the organization of the entrance examination, in spite of the express order of the court.

“My attention has been drawn to another unconstitutional administrative fiat (SCR 92/Vol. 78) issued by the GLC to the effect that it plans to conduct its unconstitutional entrance examination in contempt of the Supreme Court's clear declaration. Further, and contemptuously, the administrative fiat is copied to the IEB, another body characterized as an alien by the Supreme Court,” Prof Asare noted.

He said, “The court's declaration is clear that the entrance examination is unconstitutional; that students are automatically qualified for admission; and, that the entrance examination, and its associated interviews, cannot be used to exclude any qualified student from admission.”

The law Prof said, “The Council seems to misunderstand, or perhaps seeks to distort, the court's consequential order on the 2017 admission arrangements and is misappropriating it as a licence to administer the undoubtedly unconstitutional examination. Nothing could be further from the truth.”

Consequential Order

He reproduced the court’s ‘consequential order’ and said, “This order simply means the Council should continue with ongoing admission arrangements, bearing in mind that students are already qualified and hence need not be subject to any entrance examinations, interviews or other screening devices, as articulated by the Court in its unequivocal declarations.

“It goes without saying that it can never be in the public interest for the Court to order anyone to violate the Constitution. As such, the public interest here relates to the admission arrangements sans the unconstitutional transactions.”

Mind-boggling

Prof. Asare said, “It boggles the mind that the regulator of the legal profession in the country will seek to put an interpretation on the Court's consequential order that essentially sinks its declarations into atrophy. It is elementary knowledge that consequential orders are ancillary to declarations and cannot undermine or otherwise contradict them.

“The interpretation, if taken seriously, puts the Court in a comical situation of declaring that the Council is engaged in unconstitutionality while ordering the Council to persist in its constitutional sinful way. No court will engage in such approbation and reprobation and the Council's attempt to paint the Court's order in that light must fail.”