Sunday, September 13, 2009

EP CHURCH COMMENDS GOVT (MIRROR, PAGE 42)

From Emmanuel Modey, Ho

The General Assembly of the Evangelical Presbyterian Church, Ghana has lauded the government on its decision to provide free uniforms for children in basic schools in the country and also provide an increase in their school feeding grant.
It however, cautioned the government to take care not to weaken the confidence of the vulnerable in the rural communities in the process.
These were contained in a 12-point message to the President, Professor John Evans Atta Mills, after its first general assembly session held at Ho during which the church also expressed its gratitude to the president for his acceptance to perform the opening ceremony of the Assembly.
The message expressed satisfaction at the relentless measures the government was taking to improve living conditions of the people as well as its determination to ensure good governance, rule of law, transparency, human rights, tolerance and accountability.
According to the message, signed by Right Reverend Francis Amenu, Moderator of the Church, the general assembly applauds " your Excellency for the moral and logistical support being given to the police and other security operatives in clamping down on crimes including armed robbery, drug trafficking, cyber fraud, corruption and the carnage on our roads".
" The General Assembly, however, exhort your Excellency to accelerate efforts at revamping and rehabilitating agricultural and manufacturing industries that have been left idle to enable them become operational and offer job opportunities for the large army of unemployed youth in the country".
The statement further noted that the General Assembly was concerned with the recent upheavals on the political front, that has resulted in unnecessary confrontation between the police and political activitists culminating in the destruction of property, injury and death of innocent people and appealed for dialogue and peaceful resolution in such matters".

'WEE' CONCEALED IN BAGS OF CHARCOAL IMPOUNDED (PAGE 3)

A vehicle loaded with 41 maxi bags of dried leaves suspected to be Indian hemp, was impounded by security officials at the Asikuma barrier in the Volta Region last Thursday.
The dried leaves were hidden in a large quantity of charcoal, which the vehicle, with registration number GE 5977 Z, was conveying from Gemeni to Accra.
According to the leader of the security officials, Mr Habib Osman, Chief Collector and Officer in charge of the Asikuma barrier, the vehicle was initially allowed to pass but the policemen at the barrier became suspicious later and, therefore, gave it a chase.
The driver, who was alone in the vehicle, sensing danger, abandoned the vehicle in the middle of the town at about 3.30 a.m. and ran into the bush.
When the vehicle was searched, GH¢2,000.00 was also found in one of its compartments. Each of the bags containing the dried leaves weighed 20 kilograms.
According to Mr Habib, both the vehicle and the dried leaves have been impounded at the Asikuma barrier, pending further investigations.

TWO RASTAFARIANS JAILED 10 YRS OVER WEE (BACK PAGE)

Two Rastafarians who claimed they used Indian hemp as food and medicine, have been sentenced to 10 years’ imprisonment in hard labour by the Ho Circuit Court.
The two convicts, Priest Yaw Bobo, 38, and Priest Jah Soldier, 26, who told the court that they were priests of “The Temple of Jah”, pleaded not guilty to the two charges of conspiracy to commit crime and cultivating Indian hemp.
The court, presided over by Mr Justice Frank Owusu Afriyie, however, found them guilty of the offences and convicted and sentenced them accordingly on each count to run concurrently.
The court further ordered that the Indian hemp should be destroyed in the presence of the police prosecutor and the court registrar.
Prosecuting, Deputy Superintendent of Police (DSP) Kwadwo Nkansah told the court that Bobo and Jah Soldier were arrested by the chiefs and elders of the Amedzofe Traditional Area on April 27, 2009 upon a tip-off.
The chiefs and elders took them and Indian hemp that the two had harvested to the Police District Command at Anyirawase where the suspects were detained for investigation.
Then on August 29, 2009, the police led a search party to their house and farm at Amedzofe where they discovered the Indian hemp the two had cultivated.
According to the prosecutor, the two priests claimed that they used the hemp as their means of livelihood, adding that they did not know that cultivation of the Indian hemp was a crime, since they and their relatives used them for food and medicine.

Thursday, September 10, 2009

4-DAY REFEREEES COURSE ENDS (PAGE 63)

A four–day regional course for the Volta Regional branch of the Referees Association of Ghana (RAG) on the rules and regulations governing the game of football and intensive physical exercise has ended at Ho in the Volta Region.
The annual course is to provide the referees with the requisite skills and knowledge in soccer and test their fitness level to enhance their performance during the forthcoming football season, scheduled for October, this year.
This year’s course, under the auspices of Ghana Football Association, attracted 13 match commissioners and 91 referees, assistant referees, most of whom will be eligible to officiate in the 2010 premier and Division One football league matches in the country
Apart from the physical fitness test, during which participants are supposed to run a distance of 3,000 metres in 12 minutes, the referees were taken through the recent modifications of the laws of the game, methods of interpretation of the laws and the powers and duties of the referees.
They were also taken through various signals, ball positioning, movement and treatment of injured players, match report writing and co-operation between referees and their assistant referees.
In his inaugural address, Mr Godsway Glah, General Secretary of RAG, was hopeful that the referees would take the training work seriously to the best of their abilities since training before and during matches was crucial for ensuring that one kept in tune and out of trouble during officiating on the field of play.
“ As referees you will be judged by thousands of eyes through television cameras, demanding absolute accuracy in your decision-making without much considerations to any shortcomings in matches”, adding that ,they should be fair, firm but flexible with their outlook and decisions on the field of play.
He reminded the participants that officiating in the country had taken a new dimension, with the Ministry of Youth and Sports attaches a lot of importance to the game.
This is because apart from its financial benefits, the game brings friendship between countries and peoples.
“In that connection, therefore, it is quite obvious that officials designated to handle such games should be given proper training and recognition,” he noted.
Mr Harry Attutornu, Volta Regional Chairman of RAG called on the referees to reciprocate the recognition given them by the Referees Appointment Committee and RAG by giving them regular appointments to the deserving ones.
This action of theirs, he said, had given the referees life and zeal to train harder and to perform better.

Wednesday, September 9, 2009

MISSING GIRL FOUND DEAD (BACK PAGE)

A five-year-old girl, Juliana Acquaye, who was reported missing from the grandmother’s home last Monday, was found dead in a manhole on Tuesday.
The body was found by a family member, Madam Christine Okai, just some few metres away from the family house at Ahado in Hohoe in the Volta Region.
According to the Hohoe Police, Juliana, who had been living with her grandmother, Veronica Okai, at Hohoe Ahado, near the Sankis Preparatory School, was last seen playing with other children around 8 a.m. that Monday morning before the grandmother left home for the market.
She could not be traced after then and a thorough search by the family in the neighbourhood proved futile.
The police said the search took the guardians to the house of the father, a Nigerian known as Moses, who told them he had not seen the child. The search became very frantic when they made a report to Lolonyo Radio, a local FM station, and the police around 7 p.m.
The next morning, according to the police, the search resumed in earnest and Christine found the child dead in the manhole which had been forced open.
The mother of the child, Mawufemor Adzrakor, was not in town at the time of the incident.
The police said what was shocking most was that just about 10 metres away from where Juliana was found dead, another manhole had been forced open.
The situation had caused some apprehension among the residents about the safety of their children.

Monday, September 7, 2009

FARMER, 35, ARRESTED FOR MURDER (PAGE 45)

A THIRTY-FIVE-YEAR-old farmer from Akpafu Todzi in the Hohoe Municipality, Frank Kwakye, has been placed in police custody for allegedly murdering a farmer, Emmanuel Adasu, aged 50.
Kwakye was alleged to have hit the head of the deceased many times with a pestle until he fell unconscious. Adasu was rushed to the Hohoe Government Hospital where he died the following day.
According to the Hohoe Police, on August 11, this year, the deceased who resided at Sokpo, a village near Todzi, visited his niece, Madam Patience Wolanyo and spent some days with her.
On August 14, while he assisted his niece to process rice, Kwakye visited them and joined their conversation.
The police quoting the deceased’s niece, said without any provocation, Kwakye seized the pestle the deceased was using to process the rice and hit his head many times rendering him unconscious.
People in the neighbourhood were attracted to the scene by the screams of Patience, who rushed Adasu to the hospital where he died the following day.
Sensing danger, Kwakye took to his heels and took refuge in the bush where he threatened the people pursuing him with a machete.
A search party of police personnel and civilians searched for him and managed to arrest him after he was shot in the leg.
According to the police, Kwakye would be prosecuted after they had completed their investigations.

Sunday, September 6, 2009

POLICEMAN FOUND DEAD IN BEDROOM (PAGE 35)

THE Station Officer of the Ve Golokuati Police Station in the Hohoe Municipality in the Volta Region, Chief Inspector Ben Asiama, was found dead in his bedroom at Segbedeme, a suburb of Hohoe, last Wednesday morning.
The deceased’s body was found sitting in his sofa after his room had been broken into during a search for him by his colleagues.
According to a police source, Chief Inspector Asiama was taken ill under mysterious circumstances and was rushed to a healing camp at Gbi Atabu, some months ago.
He became a bit better at the camp but his case worsened when he was struck by lightning.
On the day in question, when his supper was sent to him at the prayer camp, he could not be traced, so a report was made to the Hohoe District Police Commander, Assistant Superintendent of Police (ASP) Daniel Abloddey, who ordered a vigorous search for him.
It was during the search that his bedroom at the police quarters in Hohoe was broken into and he was found dead there.
The body of the deceased has been deposited in the morgue at the Hohoe Municipal Hospital for autopsy.

Friday, September 4, 2009

FARMERS WELCOME SUBSIDY ON FERTILSERS (PAGE 15)

Farmers in the Hohoe Municipality in the Volta Region have lauded the initiative of the government to subsidise the cost of fertilisers to make it affordable to farmers to ensure increased yields.
The farmers expressed their appreciation at Hohoe after collecting their fertilisers from the Green Shield Agro Chemical Company. The farmers, led by Mr George Agbemavor of Gbi-Kpoeta, said the government’s decision to absorb half the cost of the input had brought great relief, which would encourage them to increase their production this season.
Under the subsidy arrangement, the farmers were supplied with coupons by extension officers of the Ministry of Food and Agriculture (MOFA), to enable them to access fertilisers from some selected input dealers at half the cost.
Mr Agbemavor said they purchased the fertilisers with credit obtained from the Millennium Challenge Account (MCA).
The farmers, who are into rice and maize production, expressed the hope that their produce would be purchased by the Ghana School Feeding Programme to reduce the country’s over-dependence on imported rice significantly to save foreign exchange.
The Hohoe Municipal Director of MoFA, Mr Geoffrey Honu, commended the Green Shield Agro Chemical Company for keeping faith with the farmers in the area by supplying the fertilisers readily.
He said last year, 19,000 farmers benefited from the subsidy programme and this year 12,000 farmers had already submitted their coupons and expressed the hope that many more would do so.
Mr Honu expressed optimism that large scale farmers would also be roped in to enjoy the subsidy.
The Manager of the Green Shield Agro Chemical Company, Efo Kumah Ameyibor, who expressed the company’s commitment and support for the farmers, said they would always have their inputs ready at the right time to ensure that farmers maximised yields on the field.