From Moses Dotsey Aklorbortu, Sekondi
The people of Enchi Bokasi, a farming community in the Western Region, woke up to a bizarre incident in which the headless body of a 37-year-old farmer was found on the footpath leading to his farm.
The body and head have been deposited at the Enchi Government Hospital while investigation is carried out by the police.
According to the police, initial information from a family source indicated that Kwaku Ninji left home at about 5:30 am only for the family to be informed that his headless body had been found at about 6:30 a.m on the day of the incident.
The police indicated that an eye witness, a farmer, claimed he saw a bare-chested man running as if someone was pursuing him. The police source said a group of young men chased the said man but found the head of the deceased wrapped in a piece of cloth and lying in the middle of the footpath.
Meanwhile the police say investigations are currently going on to find the perpetrator(s) of the crime.
In a related development, a man who allegedly offered money to his friend for ritual purposes at Sefwi Bokpa, also in the Western Region, has been arrested by the police.
According to the police, the suspect, Sampson Essuah (alias Ahumka), approached a taxi driver and his friend at a drinking bar and solicited their help to use his nephew for ritual purposes.
The taxi driver and his friend who were initially surprised, feigned interest in the deal and reported the matter to the police who arrested the suspect.
Thursday, July 2, 2009
COP IN HIGHWAY ROBBERY (MIRROR, LEAD STORY, JUNE 27)
From Moses Dotsey Aklorbortu, Sekondi
A policeman detailed for bank guard duties in the Tarkwa municipality of the Western Region who abandoned his post and rather connived with three civilians to allegedly rob an Indian businessman of 23.4kgs of gold bars worth $600,000 has been placed in police custody.
The four succeeded in executing the highway robbery after they • Continued from Page 1
had sprayed hot pepper into the eyes of the victim and assaulted his driver.
After the act, which occurred about 5:30 a.m. last Saturday, June 20, the four men bolted in a waiting taxi cab which later plunged into a ditch. But they still managed to escape with the booty, a mobile phone and a pistol belonging to the businessman.
However, General Lance Corporal Frank Addo, the policeman, and Karim Osumanu, the driver of the taxi cab, with registration number GR 6147 T, which was used in the act have been arrested and placed in police custody in Sekondi, while the others are currently at large.
Addo and his accomplices were said to have monitored the movement of the businessman and later mounted an unauthorised road check on the Bonsaso highway, near the defunct Bonsa Tyre Company, where the policeman stopped the businessman’s vehicle for a routine check.
The businessman, Mr Ashok Kothari, told the police that he had not suspected anything criminal, since it was a policeman who had stopped him.
He said the policeman walked to his (Kothari’s) side of the vehicle and ordered the driver to open the back door. But before the driver could open the door; the policeman kicked him (driver) in the abdomen and punched his face, which sent the driver reeling onto the ground.
The Indian businessman said before he could go to the aid of his driver, the four sprayed his eyes with pepper and started to struggle with him over his bag.
He said he was overpowered after the handle of his bag was detached from the bag and the robbers ran into a waiting taxi with the gold bars and sped off.
The businessman said he managed to clean the pepper and chased them until they branched off the highway onto a feeder road, leading to one of the villages.
“I managed to ram into the rear of the taxi, pushing it into a ditch, but before we could get to where the taxi landed, they had emptied the bag and escaped with the gold,” he said.
The policeman later went to his room and called one of his colleagues and confided in him that he had gone on an operation and so if his superiors asked about his whereabouts, he (the friend) should inform the station commander that they had gone out together.
Police sources said Addo was detailed for bank guard duties at 7 a.m. that Saturday and was dressed in the camouflage uniform but because of the struggle and the subsequent escape through the bush, he was so unkempt that he had to go back home to change into the black police uniform before reporting for work.
He was later identified and arrested, together with the taxi driver, and the two are currently helping the Western Regional Police CID in their investigations and the search for his other accomplices.
A policeman detailed for bank guard duties in the Tarkwa municipality of the Western Region who abandoned his post and rather connived with three civilians to allegedly rob an Indian businessman of 23.4kgs of gold bars worth $600,000 has been placed in police custody.
The four succeeded in executing the highway robbery after they • Continued from Page 1
had sprayed hot pepper into the eyes of the victim and assaulted his driver.
After the act, which occurred about 5:30 a.m. last Saturday, June 20, the four men bolted in a waiting taxi cab which later plunged into a ditch. But they still managed to escape with the booty, a mobile phone and a pistol belonging to the businessman.
However, General Lance Corporal Frank Addo, the policeman, and Karim Osumanu, the driver of the taxi cab, with registration number GR 6147 T, which was used in the act have been arrested and placed in police custody in Sekondi, while the others are currently at large.
Addo and his accomplices were said to have monitored the movement of the businessman and later mounted an unauthorised road check on the Bonsaso highway, near the defunct Bonsa Tyre Company, where the policeman stopped the businessman’s vehicle for a routine check.
The businessman, Mr Ashok Kothari, told the police that he had not suspected anything criminal, since it was a policeman who had stopped him.
He said the policeman walked to his (Kothari’s) side of the vehicle and ordered the driver to open the back door. But before the driver could open the door; the policeman kicked him (driver) in the abdomen and punched his face, which sent the driver reeling onto the ground.
The Indian businessman said before he could go to the aid of his driver, the four sprayed his eyes with pepper and started to struggle with him over his bag.
He said he was overpowered after the handle of his bag was detached from the bag and the robbers ran into a waiting taxi with the gold bars and sped off.
The businessman said he managed to clean the pepper and chased them until they branched off the highway onto a feeder road, leading to one of the villages.
“I managed to ram into the rear of the taxi, pushing it into a ditch, but before we could get to where the taxi landed, they had emptied the bag and escaped with the gold,” he said.
The policeman later went to his room and called one of his colleagues and confided in him that he had gone on an operation and so if his superiors asked about his whereabouts, he (the friend) should inform the station commander that they had gone out together.
Police sources said Addo was detailed for bank guard duties at 7 a.m. that Saturday and was dressed in the camouflage uniform but because of the struggle and the subsequent escape through the bush, he was so unkempt that he had to go back home to change into the black police uniform before reporting for work.
He was later identified and arrested, together with the taxi driver, and the two are currently helping the Western Regional Police CID in their investigations and the search for his other accomplices.
ZOOMLION SUPPORTS MOSQUITO SPRAYING EXERCISE IN WR (SPREAD)
Zoomlion, a private waste management company in the country, has presented 340 mosquito spraying machines to its field workers in all the 17 districts of the Western Region.
The machines formed part of the 500 pieces allocated to the region to ensure eradication of mosquito and to enhance operations of the National Mosquito Control Programme.
The move was re-echoing the need to ensure that cases of malaria in hospitals in the region and the country as a whole were reduced to ensure a healthy workforce to increase productivity.
The officials also educate the people on the need to change their attitudes with regard to the indiscriminate dumping of solid waste into drains.
Speaking at the ceremony, the Minister of Health, Dr George Sepa-Adjah Yankey, commended the company and expressed the hope that the country could eliminate malaria through attitudinal change.
He said every year, a lot of fund was committed to malaria control programmes and treatment as well as decrease in productivity as a result of its effects on the people.
Dr Yankey said everybody was aware of the effects of a dirty environment, therefore, it was very important to work towards its elimination.
“At the moment, what we need is teamwork to clean the environment and to ensure that waste is deposited at the designated places,” he said.
The Western Regional Minister, Mr Paul Evans Addo, said the reason why very little had been achieved after vigorous campaign was due to a lack of will power of the people to change their ways.
He said the presentation of the machines and the campaign had provided another opportunity to change for the better.
The Regional Minister gave the assurance that his office could collaborate with the Ministry of Health and Zoomlion to ensure that people benefited,and malaria reduced.
“But I must say that no amount of mosquito spraying will give us the outcome we expect if we are not prepared to change our attitude towards the way we treat our environment,” he said.
Mr Addo urged the assemblies to ensure that they became active in the process to ensure a healthy country to ensure increase in productivity.
The machines formed part of the 500 pieces allocated to the region to ensure eradication of mosquito and to enhance operations of the National Mosquito Control Programme.
The move was re-echoing the need to ensure that cases of malaria in hospitals in the region and the country as a whole were reduced to ensure a healthy workforce to increase productivity.
The officials also educate the people on the need to change their attitudes with regard to the indiscriminate dumping of solid waste into drains.
Speaking at the ceremony, the Minister of Health, Dr George Sepa-Adjah Yankey, commended the company and expressed the hope that the country could eliminate malaria through attitudinal change.
He said every year, a lot of fund was committed to malaria control programmes and treatment as well as decrease in productivity as a result of its effects on the people.
Dr Yankey said everybody was aware of the effects of a dirty environment, therefore, it was very important to work towards its elimination.
“At the moment, what we need is teamwork to clean the environment and to ensure that waste is deposited at the designated places,” he said.
The Western Regional Minister, Mr Paul Evans Addo, said the reason why very little had been achieved after vigorous campaign was due to a lack of will power of the people to change their ways.
He said the presentation of the machines and the campaign had provided another opportunity to change for the better.
The Regional Minister gave the assurance that his office could collaborate with the Ministry of Health and Zoomlion to ensure that people benefited,and malaria reduced.
“But I must say that no amount of mosquito spraying will give us the outcome we expect if we are not prepared to change our attitude towards the way we treat our environment,” he said.
Mr Addo urged the assemblies to ensure that they became active in the process to ensure a healthy country to ensure increase in productivity.
Tuesday, June 30, 2009
STRONG LEGAL SYSTEM ADVOCATED
Story: Moses Dotsey Aklorbortu, Takoradi
The Chief Executive Officer of K-San Law Firm, Mr Kwame Amoako, has called for an urgent convergence of legal experts in the country to put up a proposition of law that would deal with emerging oil industry.
He said with the emergence of the new industry there would be avenues for wealth creation and white colour crimes that the country needed strong and specialized legal framework to protect itself.
Speaking to the Daily Graphic in Takoradi, Mr Amoako said one of the first things to do was to ensure that there was a legal system that spelt clearly certain prohibited acts in the industry that the country frowns upon.
He said it would not be prudent to review the laws of the country at the moment, but the important thing to do at the moment was to assemble the country’s legal brains home and abroad to help put out a healthy proposition that would help the country and guide the investor community.
“It is very interesting to note that people were suggesting that Ghana was not ready for the oil boom and supporting their claims with lack of minor skills that people needed in order to be employed,” he said.
The CEO said the fact was that it was a corporate body that employs skill labour.
He said in view of the local content Ghanaians should be encouraged to set up there own businesses to employ the experts to work for them.
Mr Amoako said with local companies employing foreign experts, in no time the skills of these so-called experts would be transferred to enrich the country’s human resource capital needed for the sector.
Asked if that was not capital intensive, he said, in the contemporary world one did not need all the money to roll out a business plan, saying “even the business plan and contract at hand are enough to guarantee one loan from the bank to finance itself.”
He said the mentality of many African countries enriched with minerals deposit was that they did not have money to set up therefore they wanted foreigners to travel down to set up, extract and then pay them little.
“It is about time that we also set up the needed companies and employ the skills required to ensure that we took the lion’s share of what is rightfully ours,” he said.
“I therefore call on the government of the day to create the think tanks to come up with right policies which can be made into a law to protect the country’s interest,” he said.
Mr Amoako said what the country should not forget was that the only thing that could stop the foreigners from coming to visit any pain on the country was a very strong legal system for the sector.
Regulations he said could be rolled over by international laws or regulations but if the country had a law and the investors agree to do business in the country they had to abide by it and that was safe.
He said to improve other local content; existing companies must also upgrade their existing corporate and insurance laws to be able to meet the expectations of the companies that in order not lose business.
The Chief Executive Officer of K-San Law Firm, Mr Kwame Amoako, has called for an urgent convergence of legal experts in the country to put up a proposition of law that would deal with emerging oil industry.
He said with the emergence of the new industry there would be avenues for wealth creation and white colour crimes that the country needed strong and specialized legal framework to protect itself.
Speaking to the Daily Graphic in Takoradi, Mr Amoako said one of the first things to do was to ensure that there was a legal system that spelt clearly certain prohibited acts in the industry that the country frowns upon.
He said it would not be prudent to review the laws of the country at the moment, but the important thing to do at the moment was to assemble the country’s legal brains home and abroad to help put out a healthy proposition that would help the country and guide the investor community.
“It is very interesting to note that people were suggesting that Ghana was not ready for the oil boom and supporting their claims with lack of minor skills that people needed in order to be employed,” he said.
The CEO said the fact was that it was a corporate body that employs skill labour.
He said in view of the local content Ghanaians should be encouraged to set up there own businesses to employ the experts to work for them.
Mr Amoako said with local companies employing foreign experts, in no time the skills of these so-called experts would be transferred to enrich the country’s human resource capital needed for the sector.
Asked if that was not capital intensive, he said, in the contemporary world one did not need all the money to roll out a business plan, saying “even the business plan and contract at hand are enough to guarantee one loan from the bank to finance itself.”
He said the mentality of many African countries enriched with minerals deposit was that they did not have money to set up therefore they wanted foreigners to travel down to set up, extract and then pay them little.
“It is about time that we also set up the needed companies and employ the skills required to ensure that we took the lion’s share of what is rightfully ours,” he said.
“I therefore call on the government of the day to create the think tanks to come up with right policies which can be made into a law to protect the country’s interest,” he said.
Mr Amoako said what the country should not forget was that the only thing that could stop the foreigners from coming to visit any pain on the country was a very strong legal system for the sector.
Regulations he said could be rolled over by international laws or regulations but if the country had a law and the investors agree to do business in the country they had to abide by it and that was safe.
He said to improve other local content; existing companies must also upgrade their existing corporate and insurance laws to be able to meet the expectations of the companies that in order not lose business.
ACCOMODATION FOR AIR FORCE OFFICERS
Story & Picture: Moses Dotsey Aklorbortu, Takoradi
The Air Force Command has planned to build 50-bedroom accommodation for its staff to mark the commemoration of its golden jubilee celebration.
The command had also instituted provident fund aimed at taking care of the retirement needs of its officers and men as well as its civilian employee.
Speaking at Takoradi Air Force Station on his maiden visit, the Chief of Air Staff, Air-Vice Marshal, Michael Samson-Oje said, the visit was to introduce the team at the headquarters to other stations and to encourage the officers and airmen of the Air Force.
He visit was also to roll out the command’s vision that was aimed at teamwork to achieve its focus as well as be loyal to the Commander in Chief.
The air chief said the introduction of the provident fund was to ensure that officers and men planed towards their retirement which was the in the life of every worker.
That aside, he said the GAF, which was founded in 1959 is planning to build a 50-bedroom in Accra to solve part of its accommodation problem while they plan to build more to curb the accommodation problem.
He said the building would serve as memoriam to mark its 50 years of its existence and on the side of God and country.
Air-Vice Marshal Samson-Oje urged the officers to let teamwork and diligence to be part of their daily activities and to be loyal to the commander in chief of the Ghana Armed Forces, who is the President of the Republic of Ghana.
He also announced that with the discovery of oil, the government had directed that the command should select the appropriate aircraft and platforms that would be perfect for it to better protect the interest of the country.
The air chief said it was a fact that there some challenges such as accommodation and other logistics were needed for their daily activities and that plans are far advance in addressing some of this challenges as well as provide training for officers and men.
“My fellow brothers, we might have challenges, but with team work and dedication, there would be no challenge insurmountable in the interest of our dear country,” he said.
He reminded them that with the discovery of oil, there was a lot of attention to the region and urged them play the role that would expected of them.
The air chief also interacted with the team in Takoradi Station currently under the command of Group Captain Abass and urged them to ensure good civil military relations.
COMPANY SUPPORTS PALM FRUIT PRODUCERS
Picture & Story: Moses Dotsey Aklorbortu, Busua
PANINVEST Group, a Ghanaian-Italian bio-energy company has reached an agreement with palm-fruit producers in the Ahanta West District of the Western Region to provide them with tools to add value to their product for export.
Under the agreement, the farmers would be given machines at no cost to enable them to extract the palm-oil and sell to the company at a competitive and a value added price.
According to the farmers, before they were approached by Paninvest, there were only two buyers who determine the price of their primary products.
This they said had demoralized many farmers who had contracted loans to expand their farms and that some had started cutting down their palm tree for palm wine and to cultivate other crops.
Speaking at the meeting with the farmers, chiefs and opinion leaders at Busua also in the Ahanta West district, the Country Director, Mr Samuel Martin Kyerematen, urged the farmers not to be discouraged.
“I can assure you that every component of the palm tree is useful, but unfortunately, we only know the palm tree for oil, soup, soap, and palm wine which constituted the minute part of what the tree could be used for,” he said.
He explained that the company did not intend setting up a huge factory to buy the primary product from them to add value to it, but rather provide them with manual and generator powered machines to enable them add value to the product before selling it.
Mr Kyerematen said the generators that would be used in powering these machines were designed to would use the palm oil as fuel instead of any of the petroleum products.
He said at the moment, Paninvest had started producing the machines which would be ready in September, this year.
“At the moment, the only problem is that we have to create a data base to know exactly how many farmers in the district and their output, how many are located at a particular area to inform shipment of the machines into the country.”
He said they would also create jobs, empower the people, build schools and work on the community roads as part of their corporate social responsibilities to their host communities.
The country director said when production begins; Paninvest Group would build a storage facility at the Takoradi Port to store the product for onward shipment.
The Chief of Ahantas, Otumfuor Baidoo-Bonsu XV, in his remarks thanked the company for their move to empower farmers to add value to their products and also ready market.
He assured the company that farmers in the district were into large scale palm plantation, adding “I can assure that with your help they would provide you with what ever quantity you would require.”
The Chief of Ahantas said it was sad that, during the bumper harvest, the prices of the palm fruit fall and the producers were left with no option than to sell them to existing companies at giveaway prices.
Otumfuor Baidoo-Bonsu who is also a Member of Council of State said such situations demoralize the farmers, therefore, giving them the machines to extract the oil and help control the price during the peak season, the farmers would not feel cheated again.
He said with the value addition, the farmers would preserve the product during the bumper harvest to ensure that they had a fair bargain.
He also urged the companies to also consider training some of the young ones technically to enable them service the machines incase it develops fault.
The Ahanta Chief assured the investors that, he would do everything possible to ensure that the data of the farmers are created to inform their preparations for the farmers.
COP IN HIGHWAY ROBBERY (MIRROR FRONT PAGE)
Gold robbery on the highway
Story: Moses Dotsey Aklorbortu, Sekondi
A Policeman and three civilians at Tarkwa Municipality in the Western Region have allegedly robbed an Indian businessman of 23.4kgs of gold bars worth $600,000 after spraying his eyes with hot pepper and assaulting his driver on the highway.
After the act at about 5:30am at the weekend the four then bolted in a waiting taxi cab and later went into a ditch but manage to escape with the booty, a mobile phone and pistol of the businessman.
However, suspects, G/L/CPL Frank Addo and Karim Osumanu the driver of the Opel taxi cab with the registration number GR 6147 T used in the act have been arrested and placed in police custody at Sekondi, while others are currently at large.
The suspect and the accomplices were said to have been monitoring the movement of the businessman and mounted an illegal road check at Bonsaso highway near the defunct Bonsa-Tyres where policeman stopped the vehicle of the businessman for a routine check.
The businessman, Mr Ashok Kothari, told the police that, he did not suspect anything criminal intent since it was a policeman who was stopping them.
He said the policeman walked to his side and ordered the driver to open the back door and that before the driver could open the door; the policeman kicked the driver in the abdomen and gave him blow on the face which sent the driver to the floor.
The businessman said before he could go to the aid of the driver the four sprayed his eyes with pepper and struggle with him over the bag.
Mr Kothari said he was over powered after the handle of the bag removed and they run into the waiting taxi with the gold bars and sped off.
The businessman said he managed to clean the pepper and chased them until they branched off the highway on a feeder road leading to one of the villages.
“I managed to ram into the rear of the taxi pushing it to ditch but before we could get to where the taxi landed, they had emptied the bag and runaway with the gold,” he said.
The suspected policeman later went to his room and called one of his colleague and told him that he went on an operation and should they asked of his whereabouts, he (the friend) should tell the station commander that he went out with him.
A source told the Daily Graphic that, Frank was arrested because while the businessman was chasing them, he (Frank) was sitting in front of the taxi used in the robbery and told the officer on duty on the highway that there were late for an operation.
Frank, who according to his unit, was detailed for bank guard duties at 7am at the weekend in their multi-coloured camouflage uniform, but because of the struggle and the bush he waded thought to get to his bungalow, he reported to work in the black uniform instead.
He was later identified and arrested together with the taxi driver are currently helping the Regional CID in their investigations and the search for his accomplices.
Story: Moses Dotsey Aklorbortu, Sekondi
A Policeman and three civilians at Tarkwa Municipality in the Western Region have allegedly robbed an Indian businessman of 23.4kgs of gold bars worth $600,000 after spraying his eyes with hot pepper and assaulting his driver on the highway.
After the act at about 5:30am at the weekend the four then bolted in a waiting taxi cab and later went into a ditch but manage to escape with the booty, a mobile phone and pistol of the businessman.
However, suspects, G/L/CPL Frank Addo and Karim Osumanu the driver of the Opel taxi cab with the registration number GR 6147 T used in the act have been arrested and placed in police custody at Sekondi, while others are currently at large.
The suspect and the accomplices were said to have been monitoring the movement of the businessman and mounted an illegal road check at Bonsaso highway near the defunct Bonsa-Tyres where policeman stopped the vehicle of the businessman for a routine check.
The businessman, Mr Ashok Kothari, told the police that, he did not suspect anything criminal intent since it was a policeman who was stopping them.
He said the policeman walked to his side and ordered the driver to open the back door and that before the driver could open the door; the policeman kicked the driver in the abdomen and gave him blow on the face which sent the driver to the floor.
The businessman said before he could go to the aid of the driver the four sprayed his eyes with pepper and struggle with him over the bag.
Mr Kothari said he was over powered after the handle of the bag removed and they run into the waiting taxi with the gold bars and sped off.
The businessman said he managed to clean the pepper and chased them until they branched off the highway on a feeder road leading to one of the villages.
“I managed to ram into the rear of the taxi pushing it to ditch but before we could get to where the taxi landed, they had emptied the bag and runaway with the gold,” he said.
The suspected policeman later went to his room and called one of his colleague and told him that he went on an operation and should they asked of his whereabouts, he (the friend) should tell the station commander that he went out with him.
A source told the Daily Graphic that, Frank was arrested because while the businessman was chasing them, he (Frank) was sitting in front of the taxi used in the robbery and told the officer on duty on the highway that there were late for an operation.
Frank, who according to his unit, was detailed for bank guard duties at 7am at the weekend in their multi-coloured camouflage uniform, but because of the struggle and the bush he waded thought to get to his bungalow, he reported to work in the black uniform instead.
He was later identified and arrested together with the taxi driver are currently helping the Regional CID in their investigations and the search for his accomplices.
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