HASMAL SINK ALL BLACKS (BACK PAGE)

Giants of the West, Sekondi Hasaacas, yesterday humbled visiting All Blacks with a 3-1 victory in their Premier League encounter at the Sekondi Sports Stadium.
Two goals by striker Charles Nettey (65th and 80th minutes) and Akowah Mensah (76th minute) sealed victory for Hasaacas.
All Blacks scored a consolation on the 85th minute through Aaron Baah.
Two goals by Daniel Bomfah (27th minute) and Amin Fuseini (64th minute) enabled Wa All Stars to beat visiting Sekondi Eleven Wise 2-0 at Wa Stadium, reports Chris Nunoo.
In Sunyani Samuel Duodu reports that controversial decisions and the inability of Tamale-based Class One Referee, Mohammed Awal, and his two assistants Mumuni Issaka and Eric Owusu Mensah, both Class One referees based in Tamale and Kumasi respectively, nearly marred the Glo premiership encounter between Bechem Chelsea and Kpando-based Heart of Lions.
The match ended in a goalless draw and was played at the Sunyani Coronation Park.
It all began when referee Awal on the 13th minute of the first half failed to whistle for a clear penalty for the visitors when a Chelsea defender handled the ball in the vital area of his team.
The failure of referee Awal to stamp his authority caused the game to degenerate into rough play which eventually compelled the referee to show Heart of Lions’ Evans Kwao the exit on the 18th minute.
However, Chelsea who failed to impress in the game, could not take advantage of their numerical strength.

MAN DEFILES IN-LAW, 7 (MIRROR, LEAD STORY)

From Moses Dotsey Aklorbortu,
New Takoradi

A fisherman at New Takoradi in the Western Region, who could not control his sexual urge after driving his wife away from their matrimonial home, is alleged to have defiled his seven-year-old sister-in-law.
He has been remanded in prison custody. Shortly after the act, the suspect gave the victim GH¢1.00 and asked her not to inform her sister who was behind the door trying to force it open.
Owing to the pain to which the victim was subjected, she could not lie about the incident as she was asked to. She was found crying and sweating profusely after her sister and some neighbours forced the door open.
The Western Regional Public Relations Officer, Chief Inspector Olivia Adiku, said the suspect, Joseph Koomson, 24, had a little misunderstanding with his wife and thus drove her out of the house.
Chief Inspector Adiku said even though the wife moved to stay with her parents in the same town, she left behind two of their children.
She said the victim constantly visited her nieces in the house of the suspect to play with them.
According to her, on the day of the incident, the victim visited her nieces and after hours of play, the victim requested to go home.
But the suspect was said to have told his little sister in-law to pass the night at his place, since it was too late to go home.
The Chief Inspector said the victim told the police that while she lay a mat on the floor to sleep, Koomson told her to come and sleep beside him on his bed.
The victim said while the other children were asleep, the suspect undressed her and forcibly abused her, and that while her sister, who was then looking for her was knocking on the door, Koomson was busily finishing his act.
The little girl was taken to the hospital the following day and doctor’s report confirmed it.

RURAL BANK DONATES TO AKROPONG HOSPITAL (PAGE 32)

AMENFIMAN Rural Bank in the Amenfi East District of the Western Region has presented eight power voltage regulators, cables and accessories worth GH¢3,500.00 to the Wasa Akropong Government Hospital.
The items are to halt the frequent faults the hospital’s equipment develops as a result of power fluctuations.
The bank will support more than a hundred needy students in its operational areas through bursaries and a scholarship scheme.
Making the presentation, the acting Chief Manager of the bank, Nana Yaw Osiakwan II, said it was the social responsibility of the bank to see to the health and educational needs of the people.
He said with the provision of a new mortuary facility at the hospital, there was the need to ensure that the facility was protected.
The chief manager said the internal and external publics of the bank were very important to its survival, adding that it was therefore important to ensure that the needs of the people in its operational areas were not neglected.
“It is from good health we derive our customer strength. Therefore, if we fail to listen to or ignore what will make life comfortable for the people, then we are not only failing our host communities but also ourselves,” he added.
He recalled that in the latter part of last year the bank presented a set of track suits to the Amenfi East District Education Sports Department and a computer with its accessories to the Amenfi East District Mutual Health Insurance Scheme.
The Senior Medical Officer of the hospital, Dr Fred Yaw Sarpong, thanked the bank for the support, adding that the difficulties facing the facility were power fluctuations which caused damage to electrical gadgets.
He said the items would go a long way to help the hospital and commended the board of directors of the bank for its quick response to their request.

MAN, 22, ATTEMPTS KILLING WOMAN AFTER RAPE (BACK PAGE)

A suspect who raped a middle-aged woman in the bush and inflicted machete wounds on her at Axim in the Nzema East Municipality in the Western Region has been arrested by the police.
The suspect escaped after allegedly raping the victim and attempting to kill her.
The victim, a coconut farmer, was later rescued by other coconut farmers, who rushed her to the Eikwe Hospital and reported the case to the police.
The police arrested the suspect, whose name was given only as Millechie, 22, and said to have met the victim alone harvesting coconut on her farm.
Millechie is said to have asked the victim for her machete to break some coconut.
After he got hold of the machete he used it as a weapon and ordered her to strip naked after which he dragged her to the bush and forcibly had sex with her.
As if that was not enough, Millechie inflicted severe machete wounds on the victim, completely dismembering her left arm.
Narrating the ordeal to eyewitnesses, the victim said when Millechie realised she would report him to the police he started hacking her with the machete he took from her.
The woman, currently in coma at the Mission Hospital at Eikwe, has been amputated with several deep machete wounds on parts of her body.
According to the eyewitness, the suspect, who hails from Kikam near Axim, was taking a walk along the coast where the victim was harvesting coconut for her oil business.
Eyewitnesses said they saw the suspect running, but they did not know why until they heard the victim screaming for help as they got closer to the crime scene.
They said the woman narrated what happened to her and fell into coma before they arrived at the hospital.
The District Police Commander, ASP Ohene Gyan, confirmed the story and said the suspect, a hearing impaired person, was currently in police custody and would be processed for court.
He said the woman was currently receiving medical treatment at the hospital, but with the level of infection, it was very difficult for the medical team to help save her left arm and therefore, she had to be amputated.
He said the wounds that were inflicted on the other parts of the body were also very deep.
The district commander said it was not clear why after sexually assaulting the victim the suspect decided to hack her.
The police are currently investigating the incident.

CASUAL WORKER INFLICTS WOUND ON COLLEAGUE (BACK PAGE)

Casual workers of an importing company at the Takoradi Port witnessed a horrible scene last Monday, when one of their colleagues inflicted a deep machete wound on another, claiming that he was a threat to his job.
The suspect, David Aheto, was said to have entered the warehouse of the company for a machete and inflicted wounds on the co-worker, who is currently on admission at Effia-Nkwanta Regional Hospital.
As he inflicted the wounds, he said “you are a threat to my job, you kept reporting me for me to be sacked and worrying me.”
Aheto fled after the act, while other casual workers, who thought the victim was dead, pursued him to beat him up, but he was rescued by some people.
An eyewitness told the Daily Graphic that on Monday afternoon they were all at work, when Aheto suddenly went into the warehouse and came out with a machete.
He then descended heavily on Owusu-Mensah, who he claimed had been giving negative reports about him to their employers resulting in uncertainty surrounding his being retained on the job. He said the only way to stop him was to eliminate him.
The witness said after inflicting the machete wound on him, the victim fell, while Aheto still stood over him. His colleagues were scared of going closer to Aheto because of the machete.
“But one of our colleagues managed to pass behind him and hold him from behind and the victim was rescued,” he said.
When contacted, the Takoradi Port Police confirmed the story and said Aheto was in custody.
The police said the two were rushed to the Effia-Nkwanta Regional Hospital where the suspect was treated and discharged and is currently in cells, while the victim is still on admission.
Investigations continue.

TAKORADI CEPS EXCEEDS TARGET (SPREAD, JAN 26)

The Takoradi Collection of the Customs, Excise and Preventive Service (CEPS) exceeded its revenue target by 11.5 per cent for the year ending December, 31, 2008.
Although a target of GH¢79 million was set more than GH¢ 91 million was collected at the end of the period.
Speaking at the end-of-year awards night for staff in Takoradi, the Sector Commander, Mr Anthony K. Sewor, said the continuous positive achievements at the sector could largely be attributed to the vigilance and hard work of members of staff.
He described 2008 as challenging for the Takoradi Collection, saying “in the face of these challenges, revenue collection was not bad and the performance of the import sector was very impressive.”
The sector commander said the performance would have been higher if the petroleum sector had lived up to its projected figure. “Under the petroleum sector, our target was to collect about GH¢43 million but unfortunately we collected only GH¢28.9 million.”
He said the sector was on the edge of performing better this year. “This is because we have started on a good note. Before the end of the first month of the year, we have already collected GH¢11 million.
He said despite their busy schedules and ensuring that revenue due the nation was collected, Takoradi collection also engaged in many social projects to make life a little better its hosts in the Western and Central regions.
Mr Sewor, who is proceeding on his terminal leave this year, after 32 years service, commended officers for helping him achieve the set targets for the collection and urged them not to relax but rather continue to ensure that the sector collected enough revenue for the nation.
The Chief Director at the Western Regional Coordinating Council, Mr David Yaro, reminded the officers that the expectations of Ghanaians could not be met if there was no sound economic base.
He said the call for more schools, hospitals and other development projects as well as the extension of social services to communities could not be met when the national kitty was not sound.

STATE LOSES MILLION OF GHANA CEDIS ...As customers refuse to demand VAT receipts (BACK PAGE , JAN 23)

THE country is said to be losing millions of cedis in tax revenue annually as a result of the refusal of customers to demand Value Added Tax (VAT) receipts at points of service.
Experts and analysts at a workshop in Takoradi said some service providers were exploiting that show of public apathy to deny them VAT receipts, thereby making it difficult for tax inspectors to measure the volume of transaction.
They said hotels, restaurants and shops were the worst offenders and suggested an electronic system that would eliminate cheating from the vat collection machinery.Briefing the Daily Graphic, a Senior Lecturer at the University of Ghana Business School, Mr Kwame Gyasi, said if nothing was done to change the culture of apathy for people to insist on their VAT receipts, it would have serious effects on the country’s revenue mobilisation efforts.
He said the situation called for a mass education for the public to realise the effects of their action on revenue mobilisation, saying, “If receipts are not collected, the buyer and the state are both cheated.”
Daily Graphic investigations in the Sekondi/Takoradi area revealed that some restaurants, shops and hotels were not making use of VAT booklets at all.
At some of the places the Daily Graphic visited, waiters, at the end of service, walked to the tables and just mentioned the bill to the customers, without issuing any receipts.
When the Daily Graphic contacted the Western Regional Office of the VAT Service, the Regional Manager, Mr Francis A. Sapathy, corroborated the story and said the act was robbing the nation of revenue.
According to him, in most of the facilities the true volume of transaction did not reflect in what was collected for the state.
Mr Sapathy said if members of the general public began to demand receipts after every service at restaurants, hotels and other public places, the situation would change.
“The tax that we collect is supposed to build our social structures. We the people who demand these facilities are the same people refusing to acknowledge that our apathy is not helping to raise the needed funds.
“There are triplicate carbonated pages involved in each transaction — the original page is issued to the customer and this makes it easy for us to check the volume of transaction against what is declared.
“But if the transaction took place and there is no record of it, then it means there is no evidence to prove that the transaction really took place,” he said.
Asked what the service was doing about the situation, Mr Sapathy said the best way forward was to let those service providers acquire cash machines or adopt retail schemes.