The Western Regional Director of the Road Safety Commission, Mr Bismark Boakye, has called on members of the general public to be law-abiding to ensure that reckless driving and parking in the metropolis are reduced to the barest minimum.
He asked members of the general public to pick transport only at designated bus stops and authorised places.
Mr Boakye said if the passengers managed to walk from their home to the roadside, then they should be able to go to the bus stops to board vehicles to their destinations.
He said it was to provide security and safety on the road that every major and minor road had designated places where drivers could pick and off-load passengers.
He expressed regret that while the commission blamed drivers for loading and stopping at the wrong places, members of the general public whose interest and safety was being protected also condoned the behaviours of the drivers.
He said drivers and other motorists had relegated the safety and defensive aspects of the job to the background because of competition.
“Where the driver thinks first and foremost about money, he will definitely ignore the safety of the passenger,” Mr Boakye said.
According to Mr Boakye, much as drivers had the right to their daily bread they must employ tact and care in driving to ensure that the driver and his passengers arrived alive.
“The good driver is the one who arrives alive, ” Mr Boakye said.
Mr Boakye appealed to drivers to operate from the lorry stations, saying that because drivers had abandoned the stations they encouraged members of the public to stand anywhere to board vehicles to their workplaces and added that if all drivers moved to street corners to load, there would be nowhere for other road users.
He said there was no magic solution to a problem and that the only solution was in motorists especially commercial drivers and members of the public, changing their attitudes and making use of the bus stops.
When the Daily Graphic went to the metropolis to find out why the drivers were operating along the shoulders of the roads and not from the designated bus stops some drivers said their vehicle owners had given them targets to meet.
They said joining the queue at lorry stations would not allow them to meet those targets.
One driver said: “I have no option but to ‘sweep town’ to meet my target, get money for fuel and also something for my family at home. We are not happy loading on the street corners for the police to be chasing us around but we have no option.”
Passengers for their part said it was faster for them to get home by standing by the roadside than to move to the station where they would have to wait long hours before they got transport home.
Thursday, July 10, 2008
CLEARING AGENTS TO WORKK IN CONDUCIVE ENVIRONMENT (PAGE 29)
The management of Ghana Ports and Harbours Authority (GPHA) in Takoradi has given the assurance that it will provide a conducive environment to clearing agents operating within the port in order for them to operate without hindrance.
The assurance followed complaints by the clearing agents at a stakeholders’ forum about their inability to clear goods such as textiles during the rainy seasons.
The clearing agents were of the view that when they started clearing their goods and the rains set in, all activities had to be halted until the mud dried up after the rains.
“Once there is a directive that all textiles should be imported through the Takoradi Port, the port authorities should be able to create the necessary environment to ensure that we go about our business without any problem,” they said.
When contacted, the Director of the Takoradi Port, Mr Nester Percy Galley, acknowledged the problem and said the port was in the process of putting up a shed for them to go about their business activities even during the rainy season.
“What we have here is a cloth tent and that can only provide the agents with some comfort when the weather is hot but when the rains set in, the approach should be different,” he said.
Mr Galley said they were doing everything possible to ensure that they erected a shed to cater for the needs of the agents in both the rainy and dry seasons of the year.
Mr Galley said existing structures at the port were being appraised in a view to positioning them in a better state for business.
“At the moment we are going through the tender process to ensure the commencement of work on the new cargo platform at the port,” he said.
The director of the port said tender documents had been published awaiting approval for the award of the contract.
The director also gave the assurance that those works at the container terminal would not disrupt the business activities of the clearing agents, as the contractor would execute the work in phases.
The assurance followed complaints by the clearing agents at a stakeholders’ forum about their inability to clear goods such as textiles during the rainy seasons.
The clearing agents were of the view that when they started clearing their goods and the rains set in, all activities had to be halted until the mud dried up after the rains.
“Once there is a directive that all textiles should be imported through the Takoradi Port, the port authorities should be able to create the necessary environment to ensure that we go about our business without any problem,” they said.
When contacted, the Director of the Takoradi Port, Mr Nester Percy Galley, acknowledged the problem and said the port was in the process of putting up a shed for them to go about their business activities even during the rainy season.
“What we have here is a cloth tent and that can only provide the agents with some comfort when the weather is hot but when the rains set in, the approach should be different,” he said.
Mr Galley said they were doing everything possible to ensure that they erected a shed to cater for the needs of the agents in both the rainy and dry seasons of the year.
Mr Galley said existing structures at the port were being appraised in a view to positioning them in a better state for business.
“At the moment we are going through the tender process to ensure the commencement of work on the new cargo platform at the port,” he said.
The director of the port said tender documents had been published awaiting approval for the award of the contract.
The director also gave the assurance that those works at the container terminal would not disrupt the business activities of the clearing agents, as the contractor would execute the work in phases.
Wednesday, July 9, 2008
TWO WHO OFFERED BOY FOR SALE JAILED 40 YEARS (BACK PAGE)
TWO young men who offered a 16-year-old boy for sale have been jailed 20 years each by the Tarkwa Circuit Court.
The victim, Akwesi Buabeng, was offered for sale at Sefwi-Asawinso in the Western Region at a price of GH¢30,000.
He was transported from Kumasi by the convicts, Kenneth Owusu Badu, 26, and Moses Atongo, 20, kept in a house where he was well fed while they went round looking for a suitable buyer.
The victim, who did not know his new environment, mentioned his father’s name only as Eblutor from Denu in the Volta Region.
He told the police that one of the convicts told him they should relocate to the Western Region for a lucrative ‘galamsey’ business to which he obliged.
After the foiled trafficking, the Asawinso Police are now left with the puzzle as to how to locate the relatives of the victim.
According to the police, Badu, who lived in the Sefwi area, was informed by Atongo, who resided in Kumasi, that he had managed to secure a boy who he was sending to the region for sale.
Badu was said to have quickly gone to town to look for potential buyers for the transaction.
Upon a tip-off however, a policeman was made to disguise himself and posed as an Alhaji interested in buying the boy.
Badu then informed Atongo, who had then returned to Kumasi, that a buyer had been found.
When Atongo arrived at Asawinso, the disguised police officer was contacted and offered to pay GH¢20,000 for the boy.
Atongo, however, insisted on GH¢30,000 but after a lengthy bargaining they agreed on GH¢20,000.
The buyer then offered them part of the money which they accepted and as agreed upon, offered the boy to him.
They were arrested just after the transaction.
Meanwhile, the police are making frantic efforts to find the parents of the victim.
The victim, Akwesi Buabeng, was offered for sale at Sefwi-Asawinso in the Western Region at a price of GH¢30,000.
He was transported from Kumasi by the convicts, Kenneth Owusu Badu, 26, and Moses Atongo, 20, kept in a house where he was well fed while they went round looking for a suitable buyer.
The victim, who did not know his new environment, mentioned his father’s name only as Eblutor from Denu in the Volta Region.
He told the police that one of the convicts told him they should relocate to the Western Region for a lucrative ‘galamsey’ business to which he obliged.
After the foiled trafficking, the Asawinso Police are now left with the puzzle as to how to locate the relatives of the victim.
According to the police, Badu, who lived in the Sefwi area, was informed by Atongo, who resided in Kumasi, that he had managed to secure a boy who he was sending to the region for sale.
Badu was said to have quickly gone to town to look for potential buyers for the transaction.
Upon a tip-off however, a policeman was made to disguise himself and posed as an Alhaji interested in buying the boy.
Badu then informed Atongo, who had then returned to Kumasi, that a buyer had been found.
When Atongo arrived at Asawinso, the disguised police officer was contacted and offered to pay GH¢20,000 for the boy.
Atongo, however, insisted on GH¢30,000 but after a lengthy bargaining they agreed on GH¢20,000.
The buyer then offered them part of the money which they accepted and as agreed upon, offered the boy to him.
They were arrested just after the transaction.
Meanwhile, the police are making frantic efforts to find the parents of the victim.
Monday, July 7, 2008
HASMAL ESCAPE RELEGATION (BACK PAGE)
Sekondi Hasaacas fans went gay yesterday and smeared powder on their players and team officials after their idol club escaped relegation by thrashing visiting Kessben FC 4-1 in their last Onetouch Premier League match at the Sekondi Stadium.
Top marksman, David Anass, hit a hat trick to give the homesters a commanding 3-0 first half lead with strikes in the eighth, 25th and 32nd minutes.
Though Kessben fought back strongly in the second half, they had to wait till the 90th minute before Baba Iddi could get them a consolation goal.
However, enterprising Isaac Donkor replied almost immediately with Hasaacas’ fourth goal three minutes inside injury time to set their teeming fans on a carnival which began from the stadium all the way to Takoradi.
Top marksman, David Anass, hit a hat trick to give the homesters a commanding 3-0 first half lead with strikes in the eighth, 25th and 32nd minutes.
Though Kessben fought back strongly in the second half, they had to wait till the 90th minute before Baba Iddi could get them a consolation goal.
However, enterprising Isaac Donkor replied almost immediately with Hasaacas’ fourth goal three minutes inside injury time to set their teeming fans on a carnival which began from the stadium all the way to Takoradi.
Sunday, July 6, 2008
WOMAN ASSAULTS SUSPECTED RIVAL (MIRROR, PAGE 34)
From Moses Dotsey Aklorbortu, Sekondi
The Sefwi Asawinso community in the Western Region was thrown into a state of shock after a jealous wife had inflicted serious injuries on another lady she suspected to be having an affair with her husband.
This was after she had ignored police advice to allow them to investigate her claim. As a result of her action, Mercy Fuachie's marriage to her husband has been truncated following a 24-month jail term handed down on her by the Sefwi-Juaboso District Magistrate Court.
She was said to have used a new razor blade to slash the chest of the victim, leaving her breast and the left wrist bleeding from deep cuts.
According to the police, Mercy suspected the victim, Victoria Tawiah, of allegedly having intimate relationship with her husband, and had warned her several times to stay away from her husband.
The police said she later made a report to them about the supposed invasion into her marital affair by the victim and the police advised her that any time she saw the victim, she should inform them so that they would invite her for an amicable settlement.
Unfortunately for the victim, when Mercy was returning home from the police station, she bought a packet of new razor blades and met the victim on her way to the farm and without any provocation, she was said to have pounced on the victim (Victoria) and inflicted the cuts on her.
She later left her bleeding and the case was reported to the police, who then went to the scene and carried the victim to hospital. Mercy was thus arrested.
She was immediately processed for court, where she was sentenced.
The convict has since began her prison life at the Sekondi Female Prisons.
The Sefwi Asawinso community in the Western Region was thrown into a state of shock after a jealous wife had inflicted serious injuries on another lady she suspected to be having an affair with her husband.
This was after she had ignored police advice to allow them to investigate her claim. As a result of her action, Mercy Fuachie's marriage to her husband has been truncated following a 24-month jail term handed down on her by the Sefwi-Juaboso District Magistrate Court.
She was said to have used a new razor blade to slash the chest of the victim, leaving her breast and the left wrist bleeding from deep cuts.
According to the police, Mercy suspected the victim, Victoria Tawiah, of allegedly having intimate relationship with her husband, and had warned her several times to stay away from her husband.
The police said she later made a report to them about the supposed invasion into her marital affair by the victim and the police advised her that any time she saw the victim, she should inform them so that they would invite her for an amicable settlement.
Unfortunately for the victim, when Mercy was returning home from the police station, she bought a packet of new razor blades and met the victim on her way to the farm and without any provocation, she was said to have pounced on the victim (Victoria) and inflicted the cuts on her.
She later left her bleeding and the case was reported to the police, who then went to the scene and carried the victim to hospital. Mercy was thus arrested.
She was immediately processed for court, where she was sentenced.
The convict has since began her prison life at the Sekondi Female Prisons.
54-YEAR-OLD CONVICT TO FACE ANOTHER CHARGE (PAGE 38)
Fresh trouble hit a 54-year-old trickster on his way to prison to serve a five-year jail term for stealing when he was identified as the man who had earlier snatched a taxi from its driver.
Evans Acquah had been convicted and sentenced by the Takoradi Circuit Court, but before he could begin his jail term, the taxi driver, who was on the court premises, identified Acquah as the one who snatched his taxi in the Central Region last year.
A warrant of gaoler is, therefore, to be issued by the Central Regional Police to the Sekondi Prisons for Acquah to be escorted to the Central Region to face fresh charges.
According to Joseph Kweku Mensah, the taxi driver, Acquah hired his taxi, with registration number WR 300 Y, from Takoradi to Abura Dunkwa in the Central Region some time in November last year but halfway through the journey, he (the driver) stopped to attend the call of nature.
He said Acquah took advantage of his short absence and drove the car away, adding that “November last year was the last time I saw the taxi and I reported the matter to the police”.
In the substantive case, Acquah had approached mobile vendors who were dealing in generators and other household equipment and expressed interest in buying two of the generators for his two wives for domestic use.
After arriving at a price of GH¢600 for the two, Acquah led the vendors to a woman he described as his first wife, where he deposited the items and asked the vendors to accompany him to his second wife for the money.
The police said Acquah took the vendors to a location and asked them to wait while he picked the money. The vendors waited for hours and later realised that there had been a scam.
They combed every part of the vicinity and went back to the place where they left the generator, only to be told that the convict had gone to collect them and left.
Two days later, Acquah was spotted by the mobile van team at Kwesimintsim on its way to Tarkwa and he was apprehended and handed over to the police.
He led the police and the complainants to Kokompe in Takoradi, where the two generators had been displayed for sale.
He has begun his sentence at the Sekondi Prison, waiting for the gaoler’s warrant for his movement to the Central Region to help in investigations into the fresh charge.
Evans Acquah had been convicted and sentenced by the Takoradi Circuit Court, but before he could begin his jail term, the taxi driver, who was on the court premises, identified Acquah as the one who snatched his taxi in the Central Region last year.
A warrant of gaoler is, therefore, to be issued by the Central Regional Police to the Sekondi Prisons for Acquah to be escorted to the Central Region to face fresh charges.
According to Joseph Kweku Mensah, the taxi driver, Acquah hired his taxi, with registration number WR 300 Y, from Takoradi to Abura Dunkwa in the Central Region some time in November last year but halfway through the journey, he (the driver) stopped to attend the call of nature.
He said Acquah took advantage of his short absence and drove the car away, adding that “November last year was the last time I saw the taxi and I reported the matter to the police”.
In the substantive case, Acquah had approached mobile vendors who were dealing in generators and other household equipment and expressed interest in buying two of the generators for his two wives for domestic use.
After arriving at a price of GH¢600 for the two, Acquah led the vendors to a woman he described as his first wife, where he deposited the items and asked the vendors to accompany him to his second wife for the money.
The police said Acquah took the vendors to a location and asked them to wait while he picked the money. The vendors waited for hours and later realised that there had been a scam.
They combed every part of the vicinity and went back to the place where they left the generator, only to be told that the convict had gone to collect them and left.
Two days later, Acquah was spotted by the mobile van team at Kwesimintsim on its way to Tarkwa and he was apprehended and handed over to the police.
He led the police and the complainants to Kokompe in Takoradi, where the two generators had been displayed for sale.
He has begun his sentence at the Sekondi Prison, waiting for the gaoler’s warrant for his movement to the Central Region to help in investigations into the fresh charge.
TAKORADI DRIVERS THRETEN STRIKE (PAGE 28
A legal practitioner, has faulted the procedure under which 17 people suspected to be involved in the Bawku conflict were airlifted from Tamale to Accra to ensure what the police called speedy investigations and trials.
Speaking to the Daily Graphic at Bolgatanga, Mr Cletus Avoka, a lawyer and a former Member of Parliament for the Bawku West Constituency, said “the procedure adopted by the police was arbitrary and wrong.”
Last Tuesday 17 persons arrested in connection with the conflict in Bawku were transported by road from Bolgatanga to Tamale to be airlifted to Accra.
The Upper East Regional Police Commander, Deputy Commissioner of Police Ofosu Mensah-Gyeabour, told the court that the cases were being sent to Accra to ensure speedy investigations and trial of those cases.
He said that decision would also prevent relatives and friends of the suspects in the region from interfering with police investigation into the cases.
Mr Avoka explained that the manner in which the accused persons were transferred was inconsistent with the legal procedure of transferring cases from one court to the other.
According to Mr Avoka, it was evident that some of those airlifted to Accra had earlier been arraigned before the Bolgatanga District Court and remanded in custody and pointed out that the only way one could carry out such an act was for the Chief Justice to direct the judge(s) sitting on the case to transfer them.
He said the other option was for the prosecution to apply to the court to have the cases withdrawn, re-arrest the suspects then process them before another court.
“But for a case before a court of competent jurisdiction and without appropriate instructions have the case transferred is inconsistent with the known principles of criminal procedure in our jurisprudence”, he said.
In the view of Mr Avoka, the action embarked on by the police constituted contempt of court since “they have disabled the judge from carrying out his function and brought the administration of justice into disrepute.”
Meanwhile 18 persons who have been granted bail by the Bolgatanga District Magistrate’s Court in connection with the conflict in Bawku, who were due to appear before it on Thursday failed to turn up in court.
When the case was called, counsel for 11 of the suspects, Mr Cletus Avoka, said the suspects failed to turn up in court probably out of fear because unconfirmed information going round indicated that those on bail should also be arrested and sent to Accra.
That, he said, might have led to their absence from court.
He therefore prayed the court to adjourn the case in order to allay the fears of his clients. The judge concurred and adjourned the case to July 17, 2008.
Speaking to the Daily Graphic at Bolgatanga, Mr Cletus Avoka, a lawyer and a former Member of Parliament for the Bawku West Constituency, said “the procedure adopted by the police was arbitrary and wrong.”
Last Tuesday 17 persons arrested in connection with the conflict in Bawku were transported by road from Bolgatanga to Tamale to be airlifted to Accra.
The Upper East Regional Police Commander, Deputy Commissioner of Police Ofosu Mensah-Gyeabour, told the court that the cases were being sent to Accra to ensure speedy investigations and trial of those cases.
He said that decision would also prevent relatives and friends of the suspects in the region from interfering with police investigation into the cases.
Mr Avoka explained that the manner in which the accused persons were transferred was inconsistent with the legal procedure of transferring cases from one court to the other.
According to Mr Avoka, it was evident that some of those airlifted to Accra had earlier been arraigned before the Bolgatanga District Court and remanded in custody and pointed out that the only way one could carry out such an act was for the Chief Justice to direct the judge(s) sitting on the case to transfer them.
He said the other option was for the prosecution to apply to the court to have the cases withdrawn, re-arrest the suspects then process them before another court.
“But for a case before a court of competent jurisdiction and without appropriate instructions have the case transferred is inconsistent with the known principles of criminal procedure in our jurisprudence”, he said.
In the view of Mr Avoka, the action embarked on by the police constituted contempt of court since “they have disabled the judge from carrying out his function and brought the administration of justice into disrepute.”
Meanwhile 18 persons who have been granted bail by the Bolgatanga District Magistrate’s Court in connection with the conflict in Bawku, who were due to appear before it on Thursday failed to turn up in court.
When the case was called, counsel for 11 of the suspects, Mr Cletus Avoka, said the suspects failed to turn up in court probably out of fear because unconfirmed information going round indicated that those on bail should also be arrested and sent to Accra.
That, he said, might have led to their absence from court.
He therefore prayed the court to adjourn the case in order to allay the fears of his clients. The judge concurred and adjourned the case to July 17, 2008.
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