Government must probe NPP for "chopping" Eurobond cash: Kweku Baako

Editor-in-Chief of the New Crusading Guide, Abdul Malik Kweku Baako         The Editor-in-Chief of the New Crusading Guide, Abdul Malik Kweku Baako has challenged the government to probe and sanction past officials believed to have squandered the Eurobond cash if there is evidence to that effect. The erstwhile Kufuor administration has been accused of squandering a $750 million it raised after it issued Ghana's first Eurobond in 2007, approved by Parliament. Various government officials have claimed the receipts were squandered, however the government has so far not announced any plan to deal with those past officials who allegedly squandered the money. Mr Kweku Baako is therefore drawing the attention of the government to the seriousness of the issue, saying “that’s criminality of the highest order and it is incumbent on this government … [to] interrogate [it], investigate it and make sure you sanction the perpetrators of that kind of crime.” He added that the issue “ought not to become a running propaganda battle in the media.” Kweku Baako who was speaking on Metro TV’s Good Morning Ghana programme Thursday, however doubted the ability of the ruling National Democratic Congress (NDC) to institute any such investigations because its communications outfit deliberately threw out "such lies" to discredit the New Patriotic Party (NPP), which he said is seen even by the NDC as an alternative government in waiting. “I don’t mind if newspapers and serial callers are engaged in [propaganda] … I only get worried when members of government, ministers of state, deputy ministers of state and top government functionaries also join that fray … because in your case you’re not entitled to do propaganda continuously, yours is to enforce the laws to ensure accountability …,” he noted. Kweku Baako assured that the government would get embarrassed again if it proceeds to court on this issue because the NDC is still wallowing in the kind of propaganda it used during the 2008 elections. He stated, “Those whole things they said about NPP ministers and president Kufuor and all the rest - [that they] have chopped left, right, centre, they believed those things they were saying whiles in opposition, they’ve come into government and they continue using those things and sometimes they end up in court with some of those cases only to get embarrassed in a very abysmal manner and I can predict that if they proceed in this direction relative to the Eurobonds, that’s the same thing that will happen to them.” Dr Omane Boamah, Deputy Minister for Science and Environment, contributing to the discussion, said the Finance Ministry is dealing with the issue and at the appropriate time investigations would be conducted. By: Dorcas Efe Mensah/myjoyonline.com/Ghana

CID questions ex-minister over 'dubious deal'

Dr Anthony Akoto Osei         Ex-Minister of Finance and Economic Planning, Dr Anthony Akoto Osei was yesterday invited by the Criminal Investigation Department (CID) of the Ghana Police Service and subjected to rigorous interrogations in respect of his alleged involvement in the bizarre sale of government's interest in Ghana Oil Palm Development Company (GOPDC). According to an investigative report seen by The Enquirer, Akoto Osei led the sale of government's 20% interest in GOPDC at a residual price of US$2,315,946 even though the shares had been valued at$18,083,802. Worse still, the report revealed that, in the middle of efforts to offload the shares of government, one Mr. Albert Osei, said to be a brother of the minister, was tactically appointed as the country director of "SIAT s.a., with authority to negotiate with the minister, his brother, for the acquisition of GOG's 20% shares in GOPDC." Insiders familiar with the workings of the investigators hinted The Enquirer that aside all the under valuation of the company, "Dr. Akoto Osei should have excused himself as the minister with the assumed direct responsibility of overseeing the divestiture of GOG's 20% share in GOPDC, when his brother Albert Osei was appointed Resident Representative of SIAT s.a. and Director of GOPDC and SIAT Ghana Ltd. with a responsibility to negotiate for the sale of GOG's 20% shares in GOPDC." "With such irresponsible behavior, Dr. Akoto Osei must be held responsible for the loss incurred by the state in not selling 20% shares for US$18,083,802 but instead settling for a residual value of US$2,315,946. He must be held culpable," the report said. Enquirer sources say the ex-Finance Minister was evasive during interrogations yesterday and has been booked to re-appear before the CID on Thursday. The report has also recommended that the indecent haste with which government’s 20% shares in GOPDC was sold in December of 2008 "must be annulled" and a new and a more transparent sale procedure set in motion. The promoters of SIAT s.a., especially one Pierre Vandebeeck, who is blamed to have set in motion to corrupt the system, is also recommended to be charged for fraudulently orchestrating the bizarre sale of GOPDC. "Pierre Vandebeeck must be charged under Section 1, 2 and 5 of the Public Property Protection Act of 1977 (SMCD 140)" for causing the Ghana government to lose "US$13,364,779 which represent the fraudulently suppressed value of the GOG's 20% share" Even though GIMPA Consultancy Services had been engaged to value the shares of GOPDC, the Board of Directors of the company objected to their use and at a meeting on July 28, 2004 resolved to invite new entrants to put in proposals to undertake the valuation exercise. The Acting Executive, Secretary of DIC, on October 30, 2006 terminated the appointment of GIMPA Consultancy and invited selected consultants to submit their proposals to undertake the exercise to value the GOPDC shares. It was around this time that Mr. Albert Osei, the minister's brother, was appointed member of the Board of Directors of GOPDC. Notwithstanding, concerns, raised by a Mr. Walter Awuku of the DIC in an internal memo to the DIC boss, pointing out that a proposal submitted by PricewaterhouseCoopers (PWC) did not meet the terms of reference that invited the proposals in the first place; GOPDC awarded them the consultancy on January 4, 2007. Again, whereas GIMPA's scope of work had involved a complete due diligence, for which it was paid US$65,000.00, PWC, for its limited scope asked for a fee of ¢1,172,455,000 (US$126,687) which it was paid. Amidst protests by the Chief Director of the Ministry of Finance and Economic Planning, Nana Juaben Boateng Siriboe and the Acting Executive Secretary of the DIC, Mr. J.K.A. Wiredu, whose outfit is the statutory body mandated to undertake the exercise, PWC undertook the valuation exercise in a limited scope, thereby not giving the government shares its real value before the purported sale to GOPDC. By a letter dated October 23, 2008 Dr. Akoto Osei had informed the Executive Director of the DIC that "After negotiations, SIAT (Gh) has indicated that it will accept GOG's offer ofGHC5.0 million for its 20% shareholding," and that "The Government has however, decided its shareholding in GOPDC should be offered to SIAT (Gh) Ltd for GH¢5.5 million." It is not clear yet where the value of GH¢5.5 million cited by Dr. Akoto Osei for the 20% government shares was arrived at or whether it was approved. However, from the trend of turnover and assets of the company over the four-year preceding the sale of the 20% shares to SIAT (Ghana), it has emerged that the state did not get value for its 20% shares. Source: The Enquirer

Opinion: Say NO to Protectionism, Dr. Kwesi Nduom!

Franklin Cudjoe         By Franklin Cudjoe Dr. Kwesi Nduom, former presidential candidate of Ghana's socialist party, the Convention People’s Party (CPP), and now “Shadow Finance Minister” in the newly created CPP think tank, pledged to Ghanaians this morning on TV3,a private Ghanaian television station that he will “bring Ghana's [wandering] economy home”, by having the state support the private sector, decentralise economic decision to regions and districts, all very noble ideas, but sadly, he also wants the state to impose heavy tariffs on imports Ghana can’t even compete with, as if the current ones are business and consumer friendly. Ndoum is not the only one to hold this view. There are many think tanks and activist organisations here in Ghana and across Africa who share the view that Africa’s rice, tomato, and poultry farmers need to be protected from cheap imports. Yet the problems of African farmers lie elsewhere: they and other entrepreneurs are stifled by punitive tax regimes and the high cost of capital, not to mention our disarrayed land tenure systems which lead to low crop production. Seems to me, creating local champions is fine, but not at all cost, when the local costs outweigh international ones? Not even for patriotic reasons else we will end up with the likes of the defunct Ghanaian carrier, Ghana Airways - whose oversight employs more cooks and crooks than pilots, with a single but usually faulty aircraft that occasionally spins its passengers in the air with careless abandon, whilst maintaining its political status as “strategic national asset”. Arguably, the main reason the likes of Dr. Nduom support protectionism is the very offensive farm subsidies in western countries, whose abolition would indeed help to achieve a level playing field for agricultural producers around the world. Yet this view is rife with hypocrisy: the same organisations and activists promote subsidies (what they call "fair trade") for farmers and businesses in poor countries to shield them from the effects of competition. If we in Ghana did ban rice, poultry and tomato imports, just how would we feed ourselves? Ghanaians depend on rice as a major staple in our diets, yet local production caters for only 30 percent of the rice we consume, partly due to higher costs of production, poor storage and transport facilities. But the real problem is not "rigged" trade rules. The problem lies with us as Africans and especially our leaders, to improve our own wellbeing, and to encourage economic growth through political and institutional reforms. Intra-African trade is less than 10% - still a pale shadow of the numerous trade treaties signed in almost all the regional economic blocs. The solution to all that ails us is not protectionism, not even aid, debt relief or "fair trade". It is to adopt institutions to harness the entrepreneurial spirit that exists in every African country, to enable Africans to trade with each other and anyone else in the world. Establishing property rights would be an important first step; an effective, transparent and accountable legal system is another. Combined with respect for private property and the rule of law, LOWER TAXES and decentralised decision making, these broad reforms would encourage entrepreneurship, trade, innovation and even environmental protection because they empower people - rather than politicians. Franklin Cudjoe is Executive Director of IMANI, a Ghanaian think tank adjudged the 5th most influential in Africa by the Foreign Policy Magazine and Editor of AfricanLiberty.org.

Hannah Bissiw dodges Newsfile in protest against Ras Mubarak

Deputy Minister for Water Resources, Works and Housing, Dr Bissiw         A Rawlings loyalist and an avowed critic of the Mills-government has claimed that the ruling National Democratic Congress has threatened to sanction him for his vitriol against the government. In furtherance of this, Ras Mubarak said the party attempted to prevent from appearing on Joy FM’s news analysis programme, Newsfile Saturday. Consequently, he claimed the Deputy Minister for Water Resources Works and Housing Dr Hannah Bissiw who was billed to appear on the programme refused to, in protest against his (Mubarak’s) appearance on the show. Dr Hanna Bissiw was invited by the station to participate in the discussion particularly because the postponement of a planned signing of the STX deal was one of the topics to be treated. As Deputy Minister of the Works and Housing, she was expected to give impetus to the discussion, but as the programme wore on, the minister, it became apparent, was not attending. Then, surprisingly, Ras Muburak disclosed that Dr Bissiw’s absence was in protest against his presence on the show. Delving into the substance of the topic, he expressed regret that the governing party was not living up to its promise of being a transparent and open government. In his opinion, the people of Ghana deserve to be told in plain language the reasons that necessitated the postponement of the signing ceremony to which journalists had been duly invited. Mr Mubarak accused the government of lacking coherence in its management of the country’s affairs and that the NDC was now beginning to behave like the opposition New Patriotic Party (NPP). The Executive Director of the Danquah Institute Gabby Asare Otchere Darko, who was also on the show, said the sudden stalling of the signing ceremony coupled with the government’s inability to give reasons for its actions smacked of gross incompetence. He speculated that STX Korea were unhappy about the arrangements for revenue inflows, the oil option having been taken out of the agreement. Initially oil revenues were slated to be used to pay $10 billion loan but civil society organization vehemently opposed it leading to an amendment of the agreement that took out that payment option. This, Gabby claims, is what STX Korea is unhappy about and that that was why the agreement could not be signed. He challenged the government to contradict him. The Editor-in-Chief of the New Crusading Guide newspaper, Abdul Malik Kweku Baako who was also a panelist said he was embarrassed by the turn of events because he had supported the project right from day one. He also maintained that the issues that warranted to withholding of the signing of the deal must be disclosed. Story by Malik Abass Daabu/Myjoyonline.com/Ghana

NDC government lacks direction - Nana Addo

NPP flag-bearer, Nana Akufo-Addo         The flag bearer of the New Patriotic Party, Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo has criticized the NDC government for what he says is lack of direction for the country. He says several social intervention programmes started by the Kufuor administration have been rejected by the NDC. Nana Addo was speaking at the start of a two day tour of the Upper West region. Joy FM’s Upper West Regional Correspondent Rafik Salam reports that the NPP flagbearer maintained that the governing party rode on the backs of propaganda to come to power and was now finding it difficult to live up to its standards. The 2008 presidential candidate of the NPP also expressed concern about the president’s aloofness to topical issues in the country citing the raging controversy stirred by the ruling party’s Chairman, Dr Kwabena Adjei who called on the Chief Justice to purge the judiciary of corruption and bias or have the party do that for her. Nana Addo believes the taciturn comment – The judiciary is independent and I have no such intention – by the president in response to a question as to whether he intended to purge the judiciary, was not good enough. In his view, the president ought to have exacted his authority and spoken clearly on the issue to clear all doubts and reassure the judiciary, emphasise its sanctity and court public trust for the institution. Nana Akufo-Addo dispelled suggestions the opposition party was an Akan party, reminding residents of the Upper West Region that the NPP has its roots in northern parts of the country. Source: Joy News/Ghana

Kotoka is Ghana's hero - Mike Ocquaye

Prof. Mike Oquaye, Second Deputy Speaker of Parliament         Political Scientist and 2nd Deputy Speaker of Parliament Professor Mike Oquaye has defended Ghana’s first coup maker, the late Lt. General Emmanuel Kwesi Kotoka, after whom Ghana’s only International Airport has been named. Professor Ocquaye’s defense follows heightened calls on government by avowed Nkrumaist, Professor Agyemang Badu Akosa, for Government to scrap Kotoka’s name from the Airport. Professor Akosa argues that naming such an important national asset after a coup maker is a slap in the face of democracy and an affront to Dr. Kwame Nkrumah, Ghana’s First President and Founder. Lt. Gen Emmanuel Kwasi Kotoka was a member of the National Liberation Council (NLM) which overthrew Dr. Kwame Nkrumah on February 24 1966. He was subsequently killed a year after the coup at the forecourt of the country’s Airport. Although Professor Mike Ocquaye admits that Dr. Nkrumah deserves a national holiday for his great deeds, he told Citi News that Dr. Nkrumah had assumed too much power for himself becoming a 'dictator' in a one party state, which Ghanaians at the time did not support. “Nkrumah deserves a public Holiday because he was a great man nationally and internationally, but I want us to know that he was not the only founder of Ghana. There is the other side of Nkrumah which we don’t ever want to see again in Ghana". "Under Article 55 of the 1960 Constitution for example, we had a clear constitutional provision whereby the President had special powers to suspend the Constitution, suspend parliament, to rule by presidential fiat if he alone thought it was in the national interest and definitely we don’t want that again but he did it. There was also a one party state officially decreed. Do we want that again today?" he queried. “There was also power given to him by constitutional amendment to dismiss Supreme Court judges and many other powers. So people must not think that this was a man who did everything right and then some people conspired and removed him,” he said. “In fact so many aspects of the 1992 Constitution came because of the experiences under Nkrumah’s regime. Nkrumah did not even allow a Vice-President to be elected because he didn’t want anyone to contest him for power. The fact remains that his removal by Kotoka was not just something that came. Ghanaians were fed up with that same ‘good man’. So Kotoka’s removal of him from power and by his statue being at the Airport, is to remind us forever that no matter what good work any president may forever do for us here in Ghana, we Ghanaians are not going to accept autocracy, dictatorship, abuse of human rights and those kind of things". "Kotoka is a hero in his own right because today, what Kotoka stood for is what we are holding in the 1992 Constitution. We said we want fundamental human rights, we said we don’t want people to be arrested without trials, separation of powers, Independence of the judiciary and that Parliament cannot be abrogated by one man, and these are the things Nkrumah stood against, so it means that there is another side of the coin somewhere, and Kotoka represents that side which is epitomized in the 1992 Constitution," he emphasized. In a sharp rebuttal to Professor Ocquaye’s position, Professor Akosa told Citi News the Danquah-Busia Dombo Tradition which conceived the NPP, has a generational hatred for Dr. Kwame Nkrumah and Dr. Mike Ocquaye is no exception. He said Professor Ocquaye had dented his democratic credentials by approving a coup-d’état. Professor Akosa further argued that Lt. General Kotoka’s coup was meaningless because it yielded no results but only deprived Ghanaians of better development by Dr. Nkrumah. Source: citifmonline.com

Court throws out Gbevlo Lartey

Lt. Col. Gbevlo, Lartey (Rtd.), National Security Coordinator         The Human Rights Court in Accra has thrown out a legal objection raised by Lt. Col. Gbevlo, Lartey (Rtd.), National Security Coordinator in a case in which Shirley Ayorkor Botch way, Member of Parliament (MP) for Weija is seeking to enforce her fundamental human rights under the 1992 Republican Constitution. The NPP MP, who doubles as a former Deputy Minister under the President Kufuor, is currently battling the ruling National Democratic Congress (NDC) government in the law courts in relation to a piece of land (Plot No. 12A) she acquired at Ridge, Accra in 2007. She has jointly sued Brig. Gen. Joseph Nunoo Mensah Rtd, National Security Advisor, Lt. Col. (Rtd) Larry Gbevlo Lartey, and the Attorney-General, claiming that the first and second defendants are using security operatives to take the land which she has started developing on the basis that the land belongs to the state. The plaintiff's affidavit in support of her application said she leased a plot of land from the President of the Republic of Ghana in 2007 but on April 15, 2010 while her workers were busily at work, some group of men who said they were coming from the National Security and had been sent by the first and second defendants ordered the workers to stop work immediately. The security operatives, the plaintiff averred, then erected a signboard with the inscription 'Government Property. Stop Work. Keep Off, By Order' and left telephone numbers for her to call and find out. "'On April 16, 2010, the next day, the National Security operatives claiming to be acting on the instructions of first and second defendants visited the land again and took away various construction tools belonging; to her workmen with orders to stop work." She said she reported the matter to the Director-General of the Criminal Investigations Department on April 16,2010. Asa result she sought "a declaration that the respondents' interference with her right to develop, use and enjoy her land is wrong and an unlawful interference with her right to property and constitutes a violation of her fundamental human rights." She also wants damages for wrongful and unlawful interference and violation of the applicant's human rights and an order for perpetual injunction to prevent her from developing the land. As a result both the first and second defendants were served on April 28, 2010 and the third defendant was served on April 21, 2010. However, on May 11, 2010, Lt. Col. Gbevlo Lartey, through his solicitors, filed a notice to raise legal objection to the Weija MP's motion. The security capo contended that the applicants lease upon which she relies to enforce her alleged rights is ineffective as an instrument affecting the land. "It violates Section 24(1)of the Land Registry Law, 1962 .(Act 122) under which every instrument affecting land is considered ineffective until registered." The defendant contended that if the MP's lease were effective, the applicant would have been in breach of the covenant and would have failed to show that within three years of execution she has built a house to the value of the amount specified in the lease or has built a surrounding wall around the area to which the site plan attached to the lease relates. "The motion with the supporting affidavit raises so many terrible issues that cannot be appropriately resolved by an affidavit. A writ of summons would provide an appropriate remedy, not a motion." Dismissing the legal objection, the court, presided over by UP Derry said from the affidavit in support of the application there is no doubt that the MP is invoking article 18 of the Constitution adding "if any person's right to property is violated he is entitled to protection by this court by virtue of Article 33 (1) of the 1992 Constitution." The court said there arc no competing interests and the fact that the applicant has not yet registered her land does not bar her from taking steps to enforce under Article 18(1) Of the Constitution. The court also held that Mr. Gbevlo Lartey's argument that the MP should have issued a writ Instead of a motion is misplaced saying "by Article 33 (1), a person has a choice to take any action." The court therefore said the legal objection is misconceived adding that "the case should proceed." Source: Daily Guide

Time is not on Africa's side - President Mills

Source : GNA | Wed 22nd September, 2010 14:55 GMT

President John Evas Atta Mills

President John Evans Atta Mills on Tuesday September 21 urged African diplomats in the People's Republic of China to bring China's development "miracle" to bear on their respective countries on the continent, stressing that Africa cannot afford any further delay to accelerate her own development.

 He said time was not on the side of the continent for it to continue to get mired in endless conflicts to the detriment of her development, and called on African leaders not to allow anyone to drive a wedge between them.

President Mills made the call when he met with African Ambassadors in Beijing, on the third day of his five-day state visit to China.

He acknowledged the massive economic transformation in China within the last three decades, and wondered why Africa's development had been slow despite the continent's vast natural and human resources.

President Mills appealed to the Ambassadors to take advantage of their presence in the Asian nation to study the operations of the Chinese system and apply their experience in practical terms to the development of their home countries.

He registered his appreciation to the Chinese government for the impressive reception accorded he and his entourage comprising Ministers of State, Ghanaian investors, entrepreneurs and business people, since their arrival, and explained that the Chinese development experience was a demonstration of what could be achieved in Africa with focus and unity of purpose.

President Mills reiterated his message that the only justification for being in leadership was for governments to provide the right environment for their citizens to thrive and to use the resources of the state to improve the standard of living of the people.
Stressing that African leaders had to interact regularly to exchange ideas; President Mills called for more co-operation and collaboration among nations on the continent and more intra- African trade to bridge the development gap between Africa and the developed world.

He announced that his Administration was charting a new path of development under the "Better Ghana" agenda, and called on leaders to subject their individual interests to the national interest, and to ensure that they did not abandon the very people who elected them into power.

Later in an interview with the China Central Television, President Mills expressed Ghana's interest to collaborate with the host nation in the area of sports.

Ghana which emerged as a quarter finalists in the recently held FIFA World Cup soccer competition in South Africa, would make available her expertise in football and expect China to coach her in gymnastics, President Mills indicated.
 

JJ must be arrested to name Ya-Na's killers - Frances

By Kobina Welsing/Citifmonline.com | Wed 22nd September, 2010 13:00 GMT

Frances Asiam, A member of the NPP

A member of the New Patriotic Party, Frances Assiam says they (NPP) would step up their campaign for the arrest of former President Jerry John Rawlings and other NDC executives to provide evidence of the killers of the Ya-Na and the serial murders of women some years ago.

Frances Essiam’s comments come in the wake of calls by a Pro NDC faction known as Media Analyst group who have asked the IGP to arrest Frances Assiam, National Chairman of the NPP, Jake Obetsebi Lamptey and General Secretary Kwadwo Owusu Afriyie for what they describe as inciting fear and panic with their statements of the death of two people during the Atiwa by-election.

Frances Essiam during the Atiwa by-election told Citi FM in an interview that two people had died which later turned out not to be true.

Jake Obetsebi-Lamptey, has however denied ever saying that two people died during the Atiwa by-election held on August 31, 2010.

According to Frances Essiam, the group should first call for the arrest of ex President Rawlings and other NDC officials before asking for her arrest.

In an interview with Citi News, Frances Essiam said ex President Rawlings must also be arrested if she would be arrested for her comments.

“We are going to step up the issues for the arrest of people like former President Rawlings who knows the Dagbon killers, the serial women killers and also the arrest of Ofosu Ampofo and Baba Jamal. You remember the serial killing of women, former President Rawlings claimed that it was certain political elements in the NPP who were responsible for those murders, have the police arrested him? Has anybody called him to come and prove?”

“Former President Rawlings also said he had evidence as to who killed the Ya-Na, we have all heard it, we have it on tapes...he has even said it on platforms, why don’t the NDC go and ask for the arrest of the former President Rawlings so that this Dagbon trial would be easy, so that the culprits would be brought in and jailed”   

NDC breakaway party grabs NDC Financier

Source : Daily Guide/Ghana | Wed 22nd September, 2010 12:29 GMT

Nana Braimah (l), being congratulated by Raph Cubagee,RDPP

A chief financier of the Brong Ahafo regional branch of the ruling National Democratic Congress (NDC) who doubled as the Tano North constituency chairman of the party, Nana Braimah, has been elected as the Brong Ahafo Regional chairman of the newly-outdoored Real Democratic Patriots Party (RDPP).

Nana Braimah resigned from the NDC about six months ago, citing injustices that had been meted out to some of them, as well as unfulfilled promises of transforming the lives of the rural folks by the Mills administration.

Prior to the election on Monday September 20, DAILY GUIDE gathered that the NDC made frantic efforts to disrupt the event as top guns in the party thronged the residence of Nana Braimah to coax him to reject the RDPP offer. However, it did not work since the man had made a no-turning-back decision.

In his acceptance speech after a unanimous acclamation as the sole candidate to the position, at the election held at Braimakrom near Tanoso, Nana Braimah promised to use his influence in the area to attract more supporters and sympathizers of the NDC, especially the Wangala community, to the RDPP.

According to the former NDC financier, he has been with the NDC through thick and thin, however his expectations have been shattered, following the NDC government’s failure to fulfill the promises they made.

The RDPP chairman disclosed that he has imported two brand new pick-up vehicles to help in the effective running of the party’s operations. He also promised to foot all expenditures in running the RDPP.

The national coordinator of the RDPP, Raphael Cubagee, who supervised the election, promised the teeming supporters of the new party a better life in line with their motto: ‘Together We Build: Together We Enjoy.’

Mr. Cubagee lashed out at the Mills administration’s inability to stamp its authority over corrupt government appointees whose actions continue to embarrass the ruling party.

He disclosed that the NDC government appointees live profligate lifestyles at the expense of the poor tax-payer. According to him, several tender documents at the Sunyani Municipal Assembly have been forged by officials in an attempt to give contracts to their cronies.

Mr. Cubagee further hinted that a grader and a bulldozer purchased by the assembly cost a whopping ¢12bn, a transaction which has been kept in secrecy up to today. He has promised to expose more rot in the NDC government soon.

Per its regulations, the RDPP, an offshoot of the NDC, rotates the elections of its leaders from town to town on a weekly basis. It is expected that it will elect other officials in subsequent weeks at Wenchi and Dormaa Ahenkro.

Ex-Supreme Court Judge slams undue pressure on judiciary

Prof Kojo Kludze         A former Supreme Court Judge, Prof. Kojo Kludze has expressed worry about what he says is the undue but increasing pressure being put on the judiciary. He says it is wrong for successive governments and their functionaries to think that they must necessarily win every case and the judiciary must pander to them. A few months after the ruling National Democratic Congress came into office, foot soldiers of the party started agitating for the prosecution of former government officials suspected to have engaged in financial malfeasance. In the heat of the agitations, the Bureau of National Investigations (BNI) restrained the former Information Minister Stephen Asamoah Boateng and his family from travelling abroad. The Bureau also seized the passport of former Foreign Minister, Akwasi Osei Adjei also toprevent him from travelling out of the country. The two former ministers, the BNI, argued were being investigated for some wrong doing. Unhappy with the behaviour of the state investigator, the two went to the Human Rights court seeking various declarations and the release of their passports which were granted. Then Attorney-General and Minister of Justice, Mrs Betty-Mould Iddrisu came under intense criticism by National Democratic Congress footsoldiers for allegedly not doing much to secure the prosecution of some Kufuor appointees. In the wake of the pressure, she processed former Chief of Staff, Kwadwo Mpiani and the CEO of the erstwhile Ghana@50 Secretariat, Dr Charles Wereko-Brobby for court in connection with their handling of the celebration of Ghana’s 50th independence anniversary, but emphasised the prosecutions were not in direct response to the pressure brought to bear on her. That case was however struck out, infuriating some members of the government and the ruling NDC. Next, the NDC’s National Chairman, Dr Kwabena Adjei generated a lot of furore when he accused the judiciary of delivering political judgements and advised foot-soldiers of the ruling party to direct their anger at the judges and not the A-G. He subsequently cautioned the Chief Justice Mrs Georgina Theodora Wood to cleanse the judiciary of its corruption and biases or the NDC would do that for her. However, speaking at a forum organized by the Institute of Economic Affairs for political parties on political accommodation, Prof. Kludze warned that the situation where governments expect to win all cases they take to court could lead to chaos. Joy News’ Cyrus De-Graft Johnson who sat through the forum reports that the retired judge cited many examples to back his concerns. Prof. Kludze said all successive governments were guilty of putting undue pressure on judges to deliver judgments favourable to them. He said any case before a court must of necessity produce two outcomes – a winner and a loser. To expect to win all cases therefore cannot be consistent with democratic tenets. Story by Malik Abass Daabu/Myjoyonline.com/Ghana