Suhum (E/R), July 10, GNA - Kwame Asiedu, 38, who defrauded a miner of GH¢ 2,000.00 under the pretence of hiring an excavator to him, was on Tuesday sentenced to 14 months imprisonment in hard labour by the Suhum Magistrate’s Court.      Police Chief Inspector Ben Nyonator, prosecuting, told the Court, presided over by Mrs Naomi Akyeanu that Asiedu resides at Kyebi whilst the complainant stays at Asiakwa in the East Akyem Municipality.      He said in February this year, the complainant and his co-miner, were looking for excavator to work on their mining concession.    The prosecutor said Asiedu who had the information, approached them and introduced himself as an excavator operator who could assist them to get the facility.      The complainant therefore gave Asiedu GH¢1,000.00 to travel to Takoradi where he claimed he could get the machine.       Asiedu on the following day went to the complainant and told him that the owner of the excavator was demanding GH¢1,500.00 before releasing the machine.     He also requested the complainant to give him GH¢500.00 to enable him cart the excavator to Asiakwa.   The prosecutor said, Asiedu after receiving the money switched off his mobile phone and went into hiding and that all attempts to trace him proved futile.      At about 0800 hours on June 24, Asiedu was arrested in connection with another fraud case and the complainant went to the police station and identified him and during interrogation he admitted the crime and was charged with the offence.     GNA...

Sekondi, (W/R) July 10, GNA - A 12-year old Ivorian, Saudou Amin, has been apprehended by the Takoradi Port Police for attempting to stowaway aboard a Liberian vessel that docked at the Takoradi Harbour enroute to Brazil.   The Police has handed him over to the Ghana Immigration Service towards deportation to his home country.   The Takoradi Port Police Unit Commander, Chief Superintendent George Tweneboa, confirmed to the Ghana News Agency, on Tuesday, that the boy boarded the ship at Abidjan when it was sailing to Ghana.   He said on Thursday July 5, at about 1500hours when the Liberian vessel, MV Milos Monrovia, berthed at the Takoradi Port from Abidjan, the crew discovered Saudou Amin hiding in an obscure part of the ship.   Chief Superintendent Tweneboa stated that Amin was, consequently, handed over to the Immigration Service.   The Takoradi Police Unit Commander said the MV Milos Monrovia vessel has since departed to Brazil.     GNA...

Etwebo (W/R), July 10, GNA - Mr. Kenneth Norris, General Manager of Chirano Gold Mines Limited has called on employees to remain dedicated, work hard and ensure that they do not compromise safety in the discharge of their duties.     “We need to work safe and we can do so if we do not allow our years of experience to override our safety and security on the job” he stressed.     Mr. Norris said these when he was introduced to employees of the company on Tuesday as part of his orientation engagement strategy upon his assumption of office as General Manager at Chirano Gold Mines Limited on July 3.    He used the occasion to thank employees for their devotion to duty and reminded them that the Kinross Group had a brighter future and that employees should feel secure.    Mr. Norris assured the workers that management will make the necessary infrastructure and equipment available to enhance their work but “safety cannot be ignored in all we do” he added.    He said Kinross will continue to promote safety everydays which are key issues that the company will focus on to bring out the best in its employees.    Mr. Norris noted that changes were likely to occur and could be traumatic for many but that the company will do its best to ensure that the safety of its employees, family and work were protected.     GNA...

Suhum, July 10, GNA - Mr Samuel Oduro, a New Patriotic Party (NPP) activist, has appealed to the Party’s hierarchy to resolve differences between the former 51 polling station Executives of the party and the Member of Parliament for Suhum Constituency, Mr Fredrick Opare Ansah, to enable the party to win both the parliamentary and presidential elections in the area.     He noted that the differences had brought division among supporters of the party with some of them threatening to vote “skirt and blouse” in the December polls.     Throwing more light on the disagreement, Mr Oduro said during the 2008 parliamentary primary between Mr Opare Ansah and Mr Bryan Akyeampong, both of them had 51 votes each and that the national executive later asked Mr Opare Ansah to represent the constituency in the general election.     He said after Mr Opare Ansah won the election, he dismissed the 51 polling station executives and replaced them with his favourites.    Mr Oduro said that action brought about petty squabbles among party supporters till date.     GNA...

Accra, July 10, GNA - Building and civil engineering and road contractors would in September compete for eleven award categories at the second National Contractors Excellence Awards slated for Accra, organisers have said.   The awards, organized jointly by the Association of Building and Civil Engineering Contractors of Ghana (ABCECEG) and the Progressive Road Contractors Association (PROCA), is to recognize and reward star performers in the construction industry.   The organisers said contractors, who are desirous of competing for laurels at the event must submit their forms by 4th August.   The maiden award was held last year and limited to building contractors but following keen interest, this year’s edition has been expanded to include road contractors.   Apart from the contractor of the year award, other categories would recognise winners in each of the four classes of Building and Civil Engineering Contractors as well as the four classes of Road Contractors.   There will also be winners in the category of Corporate Social Responsibility for foreign and local contractors.   The Chairman of the Technical Committee of ABCECG, Rockson Dogbegah, said the Contractor of the Year as well as the winners in the Corporate Social Responsibility could either be a Road or a Building and Civil Engineering Contractor.   He said four categories each would be reserved for Building and Civil Engineering Contractors and Road Contractors respectively and that any contractor or construction firm that entered the competition must score at least 60 percent based on the set criteria in order to win an award.   “Even if you are the best in your category but you failed to score 60 percent, you will not be a winner otherwise we might end up rewarding substandard work,” Mr Dogbegah said.   He said a transparent criteria and scoring system, developed by a Committee of Experts chaired by Leslie Awere Kyere, an engineer, has been developed to ensure fairness and to achieve the objective of promoting excellence.   Last year, Jescan Construction Ltd was adjudged the overall best Building Contractor, with Proko Ghana, Consar Ghana, Kumfranky and Malkna winning in other categories. Plaques were presented to the winners while the overall winner drove home a truck donated by BBC Paints.   The National Contractors Excellence has been slated for September 21st this year with various events planned to herald the awards night.   One of the major events to usher in the awards is a Football gala among the various contractor associations at both regional and national levels.   The National Football gala will be held at El Wak Stadium on the 8th of September.     GNA...

Accra, July 10, GNA -  Orlando Wellington has resigned as Coach of the Black Satellites team with barely three weeks to the team’s African Youth Championship (AYC) qualifier billed against Uganda later this month.   Under-fire Wellington who supervised a chain of poor results in recent times walked, off on Tuesday morning, according to George Afriyie, Chairman of the Black Satellites Management Committee.   Afriyie told GNA Sports ‘I have been told about his resignation letter and I should have a hold of it any moment.’   He hinted that a Management Committee meeting originally scheduled for Thursday, July 12 will be pushed a day forward to allow a decision to be taken in time to salvage the effect of Wellington’s decision on the team’s preparation.   The Chairman described Wellington’s move as unfortunate and blamed it on what he described as harsh criticism of the Coach who has been the object of discussions after the Satellites relinquished a 2-0 first half lead to draw with Namibia in a three-nation tourney in Accra last Sunday.   ‘I saw this coming because the pressure is too much. The last few days have been difficult on all of us because of the manner of pressure from everywhere. I think he took the best decision under the circumstance. The criticism is harsh, most unfair and it got to him’   Afriyie was, however, quick to say the timing of the former Heart of Lions trainer’s decision was problematic.   ‘The timing of the resignation is very bad for us since we have almost three weeks to our game with Uganda. But we cannot use that as an excuse. Luckily, we have the core of the team in place and we will need to work hard not to have it affect our plans’         Afriyie however poured scorn on suggestions that the Ghana Football Association (GFA) had plans to show Wellington the door after Sunday’s results which the former considered the last straw.   ‘I do not know where that information is coming from and I can tell you it never featured in our discussion. That was not what we planned discussing at our meeting on Thursday. Wellington has enjoyed our support this far and we were not about to withdraw that.’   Afriyie said management will take a decision on Wellington’s move and report to the GFA for the necessary action in the ensuing days   The Coach was part of the technical staff that aided the Satellites to claim the World Youth Championship title in Egypt in 2009 but failed to qualify the team for the competition as substantive trainer two years on haven exited the AYC as defending Champions at the group stage. The Coach, like all the other local coaches for all the national teams apart from the Black Stars worked without a contract.     GNA...

The University of Ghana has reverted to its old Hall quota of three people to a room, following the decongestion exercise, carried out last semester. The exercise saw the student population at the Halls reducing. For instance Commonwealth Hall which over the past years used to host between 3,000 and 4,000 students, had its number reduced to 928last semester. The Vice Chancellor, Prof. Ernest Aryeetey, disclosed this at the biennial jamboree on Republic Day at the Commonwealth Hall gardens ... Read More

By A suspected armed robber on the wanted list of the police has been arrested in Accra. Stephen Quarshie, alias Bossing, an ex-convict, is said to be part of a group involved in a number of robberies at filling stations and shops in Tema and Accra. He was released during the Justice for All programme in 2010, after serving three-and-a half years jail term at the Nsawam medium prison. Quarshie, together with others on the run are said to have robbed a filling stations ... Read More

A group of armed robbers on Saturday attacked some Chinese nationals allegedly engaged in illegal gold mining, popularly called galamsey, killing one of them. The incident, which occurred at about 8:30pm at Manso-Mpatasie in the Amansie West District of Ashanti, saw the robbers making away with several items, including cash, mobile phones as well as some gold. Police Superintendent, S.K. Kwakye, Manso Nkwanta District Police Commander, confirmed the incident to The Ghanaian Times and said ... Read More

There seems to be uncertainties surrounding the registration of the National Democratic Party (NDP) at the National Electoral Commission because of issues concerning its selected colours. This is due to conflicting statements announce by officials of the Electoral Commission (EC). While the Deputy Chairman in charge of Operations of EC, Mr. Kwadwo Safor-Kantanga is quoted by the Ghana News Agency (GNA) as saying that the black, red, white and green colours of NDP has been rejected, the ... Read More

Accra, July 10, GNA - A two-day workshop on African Risk Capacity (ARC) project, which seeks to pull financial resources for African governments to fall upon to manage disasters is underway in Accra.   “This would provide African governments with timely, reliable resources in the event of severe drought.”   In an address read on his behalf, Mr William Kwesi  Aboah, Minister of  the Interior, said ARC would be one of the number of tools that governments could use to eliminate delays in disaster response due to lack of predictable funding.   Mr Aboah said the high cost of disaster response, limited budgetary, reallocation of government resources from planned development activities in times of crisis are the challenges, hence the need for long-term solutions.   “We need a communal approach to fight a common fate, and a combined resource would ensure that finance would be available for countries in trouble when they need it.”   He called for collaboration among stakeholders to respond to disasters effectively.   The workshop is being organised by the National Disaster Management Organisation in collaboration with the African Union (AU) and the World Food Programme.   The aim of the workshop was to educate stakeholders about ARC risk pooling concept, risk modelling and Africa Risk View software as well as share ideas on how ARC and the Government of Ghana could facilitate the concept.   The Union is currently working toward establishing an African-owned, Pan-African Disaster Risk Pool called the African Risk Capacity which could potentially improve the efficiency of current responses to natural disasters.    Ms Jane Pearce, Chief Contingency Planning Director, ARC said the project forms part of AU move to develop an insurance package for member countries.   She said the impact of disasters on lives especially women, children and the disadvantaged in society is worrying as the education of pupils are curtailed, adding that the project would reduce the suffering of mankind.   Ms Fatou Diagne, Regional Programme Officer for West Africa, said the goal of ARC would enable Africa to better manage extreme climate change.     She said ARC is a software tool that allows financial management by bringing existing information on food security together to assess related risk using standard setting methodology designed design to provide quick distribution of funds.   About sixty participants from both bilateral and multilateral organisations as well as the Ministry of the interior are attending the workshop.   GNA...

Accra, July 10, GNA - The winning numbers of the Lucky Tuesday Lotto draw held in Accra were, 66-3-2-87 and 64, according to a bulletin of the National Lottery Authority.   GNA...

Accra, July 10, GNA - Most Reverend Charles Palmer-Buckle, the Metropolitan Archbishop of the Catholic Archdiocese of Accra, has appealed to media practitioners to be circumspect and professional in their reportage before, during and after the December polls.   Bishop Palmer-Buckle said some media houses have made it their trade mark to report only negative things instead of focusing on the positive news which contributed to the development of society.   He said this on Tuesday in Accra at the launch of the Ghana Independent Broadcasters Association (GIBA) Code of Conduct for Election 2012 under the theme: “Responsible Reportage for Ghana Election 2012”.   The code of conduct was funded by STAR-Ghana.   The code comprises 18 articles which include planning, professionalism, monitoring and evaluation, party broadcast, objectionable broadcast material, bribery and corruption and the right to reply.   Some of the articles are opinion polls, editorial independence, hate, incitement and insulting speech, encourage free speech, voter registration, cooperation with electoral commission and cross check allegations of malpractices.   The rest of the articles are reporting trends and calling elections, good conduct commitment by political talk show panellists, election related reports, and non compliance and sanctions. The Most Rev Palmer-Buckle said the code enjoined media practitioners to differentiate between good and bad journalism and help promote genuine media in support of the country’s democracy.   He said the media landscape is characterized by intemperate language and admonished Ghanaians to pray for peace and beyond the impending general elections.   Most Rev Palmer-Buckle advised the media and all stakeholders to be mindful of their utterances and further advised the media to play their gate-keeping role effectively.   Mrs Dorcas Ansah, Results and Communication Manager of Star-Ghana, said elections are central to the promotion of democracy and that the media has a role to play in informing and educating the citizens at each stage of the electoral process.   Mrs Ansah stressed that the media must play its role in relaying and amplifying the aspirations and concerns of the people to ensure citizen’s ownership and participation in the process.   She said the media is most effective and contributed in promoting democracy when it is guided by professionalism and responsible practices.   Mrs Ansah noted that the media must commit to ensuring that elections are transparent, peaceful, free and fair by delivering thorough, verified and unbiased information and refrain from messages that will incite violence.   Chief Paul A. Crystal-Djirackor, President of GIBA, said the code would give assurances of holding high regime of self-regulation and bring errant members to order.   “As broadcasters who are aware of our responsibilities as the nation’s gate-keepers, adherence to this code will aid the performance of our duties as required so that our good works will ensure a successful electioneering process,” he said.   GNA...

Kumasi (Ash), July 10, GNA – The Church of God, Ghana has elected Bishop Kwebena Opoku Appiah of the Sunyani branch as its new Presiding Bishop.   He polled 149 votes to beat his close contender Bishop Alex Mensah, who attracted 139.   Bishop Opoku thanked the delegates for the trust reposed in them.   He urged members to bury their differences and forge ahead with unity of mind and purpose to realise the church’s Vision 2020.   He explained that the vision seeks to move the church to a new level that would bring glory and honour to God.   Bishop Ofori was returned unopposed for the position of General Secretary, while Bishop Philip Manu secured 247 votes against 133 by Rev Kofi Twumasi to take the position of Missions Director.   Rev Ernest Asare, Rev Saint Oteng Joseph, Rev Emmanuel Suuk, Rev Osei Yaw Clement, Rev William Adjei Harrison and Rev Andrew Donkor were also elected to the National Executive Council.    GNA...

Accra, July 10, GNA - Ghana needs to do more to promote gender equality in the form of promoting Affirmative Action law to ensure that more women occupy leadership positions and are elected into political offices.   Mrs Juliana Azumah- Mensah, Minister of Women and Children’s Affairs, said Ghana, being a lead democratic country in Africa, had more to do in that area since women representation, particularly in the legislature and at the district levels, was too low.   Taking her turn at the meet-the-press series on Tuesday in Accra, Mrs Azumah-Mensah said the sector ministry had initiated various activities to solicit expert views and ideas into drafting the Affirmative Action (AA) bill for subsequent passage into law.   She said  institutions like political parties needed to be gender sensitive as well as the Electoral Commission, Civil society and individuals should supports attempts to ensuring that the AA came into being.   She announced that a National Gender Policy, expected to provide a timely and comprehensive framework to include gender awareness approaches in development, was also being processed to serve as a guide for the various stakeholders operating in the country to design gender sensitive programmes to enhance equitable socioeconomic development for men and women.   The Minister said other issues like exposure of women and children to harmful socio-cultural and antiquated traditional practices such as ritual servitude in witches camp, female genital mutilation and trokosi, human trafficking involving mostly women and children, domestic violence and gender stereotyping, were still major challenges facing women and children in the country.   Also, the high incidence of maternal deaths, breast and cervical cancer as well as gender discrimination in access to and control over productive resources and social services, all together exacerbate women’s vulnerability to poverty.   Mrs Azumah-Mensah indicated that the Ministry had put up interventions including the formulation of policies, coordinating, executing and monitoring of programmes and activities relating to the welfare of women and children, and providing the requisite platform and mechanism to implement government’s commitments expressed at international fora towards improving the status of women and children.   She said a Domestic Violence fund and human trafficking fund had been established to generate funds to assist and care for victims of abuse and for paying the repatriation fares of rescued human traffickers.   She said government launched the Domestic Violence fund with 20,000 Ghana cedis which had grown to 35,889.60 Ghana cedis at ECOBANK with account number 0134404636306 and urged corporate entities to donate towards it.   Mrs Azuma-Mensah noted that the Ministry of Women and Children's Affairs (MOWAC) in partnership with other development partners, have sponsored and trained  poor girls in vocational and technical institutions to enable them to acquire employable skills.   She announced that a new office complex of the Ministry was being put up near the Afua Sutherland Children’s Park to make more spaces for the staff of MOWAC, adding, the work is about 20 per cent completed and and expected to fully completed in 18 months.       GNA...

Kokofu-Bedomsae (Ash), July 10, GNA – Barima Offe Akwasi Okogyeasuo II, Omanhene of Kokofu in the Ashanti Region, has donated six-acre of land to Orphans and Needy Smile Foundation (OANSF), a non-for-profit, humanitarian organisation based in Kumasi.   The land located at Kokofu-Bedomase is for the construction of an orphanage complex, which would comprise dormitories, recreational centre, classrooms and an administrative block.   Barima Okogyeasuo said at a sod-cutting ceremony to commence the project, that he has immense passion and concern for the well-being of orphans and has been yearning for the opportunity to support them.   He said this was why he fell in love with the vision of the Foundation and decided to partner it to fulfill his life-long dream.   He said his doors are always opened to the orphanage for any form of assistance for the successful completion of the project.   Reverend Ross Addae, President of OANSF, said his organisation is committed to practically support orphans and the needy in the society to bring smile on their faces.   He observed that the unfortunate children are always filled with grief and despair and it takes gestures like provision of food, clothing shelter and money to make them happy and bring hope to their lives.   Rev Addae said when the project is completed it would initially house 350 inmates.   The President appealed for local and foreign support to enable the foundation reach out to many needy peoples.   GNA...

Accra, July 10, GNA - Stakeholders in the maritime industry were on Tuesday tasked to come out with strategies and a roadmap that would effectively curb the scourge of maritime piracy and insecurity in the Gulf of Guinea.   Mr Peter Issaka Azuma, Director General of Ghana Maritime Authority (GMA), noted that piracy was becoming the criminal growth of the 21st century and a multi-million dollar criminal enterprise that had the tendency to grow into perpetuity.             According to him, pirates now made use of sophisticated technology and were able to adapt operational and tactical patterns and procedures faster than many navies and coast guards.             Mr Azuma was speaking at the opening of a two-day conference on combating piracy in West Africa.            Maritime Piracy, an act of robbery or criminal violence at sea, has now become a global threat causing lot of international concerns among states.        The conference, jointly held by Hanson Wade and the International Maritime Organization (IMO), would look at issues pertaining to identifying the nature and extent of piracy and maritime crime in the Gulf of Guinea, and maritime security operation in West Africa.             The participants, mainly ship owners and security experts, would also delve into exploring the success of counter-piracy forces and analyze how pirates operations were intercepted and disrupted and how complex maritime threats could be tackled.             The Director General mentioned that from 2006 over 500 to 2000 seafarers had been taken hostage adding that the total cost of those activities to the global economy was estimated at 12 billion dollars.             According to him, despite the world wide awareness of maritime piracy at national, regional and international level to stem it, the situation was becoming worse in West Africa.             He mentioned the lack of economic opportunities and bright futures and livelihood for the youth, lack of governance, peace and political instability as some of the factors accounting for the menace.             Mr Azuma further mentioned other factors as ineffective boarder controls, illegal migrants from troubled spots, maritime boundary disputes and lack of comprehensive strategy at the national and regional levels to address the problem.             He said Ghana has therefore clothed itself with the requisite legislative and administrative infrastructure to handle matters of maritime safety and security.             Alhaji Collins Dauda, Minister of Transport, recounted the number of acts of piracy and armed robbery against ships worldwide in 2011.             He said 544 cases were reported in 2011 as against 489 cases in the previous year saying that represented an increase of 11.3 per cent.             Alhaji Dauda noted that most areas affected by maritime piracy were East Africa, Far East, South China Sea, the Indian Ocean, South America, the Caribbean and West Africa.             “The number of incident reported for West Africa increased from 47 as reported in 2010 to 61 in 2011. Most incidents which occurred this year took place in Abidjan and Democratic Republic of Congo.”             The Minister said the United Nations Security Council had expressed deep concerns over maritime insecurity in the region and it had therefore condemned the act.             In the case of Ghana, Alhaji Dauda said government had taken steps to curb the situation. These include the passage into law of the Ghana Maritime (Protection of Offshore Operations and Assets) Regulations.             Alhaji Dauda said the Ghana Navy in collaboration with the GMA undertook patrols to deter, interdict, arrest and detain law breakers.             He said the GMA was in an advance state of implementing the Vessel Traffic Management Information Systems.              This, he said, was an integrated electronic surveillance system intended to enhance the country’s maritime domain awareness for the purpose of combating piracy and armed robbery within Ghana’s maritime jurisdiction.             He pledged Ghana’s commitment to align herself with international and multinational bodies to fight unlawful acts at sea.   GNA...

Kumasi (Ash), July 10, GNA – After about 45 years of being governed by the “Minutes Book” of the Church of God, Cleverland, Tennessee of the US, the local church of God, has now become autonomous.   The Church of God, Ghana will now be governed by its own constitution.   According to Bishop David Ofori Adu, Chairman of the Church’s Seven-member constitution drafting committee, said the move was not to break away from the affiliated church but to ascertained sovereignty as a people, church and nation.   He said Ghana as a sovereign nation, must have its people posing the free will to chart its own course in all aspects of human endeavour including religious affairs.   Bishop Ofori was briefing newsmen after the adoption of an 88-page constitution of the church, in Ghana at a four-day national delegates’ conference in Kumasi on Tuesday.   He explained that with the coming into force of the new constitution, the church’s relationship with that of the affiliate mission would no longer be a master-servant one but a sisterly relationship as existed among other churches.   He stated that the church would continue to maintain cordial relationship with the mother church.   Bishop Ofori expressed the hope that this would pave the way for exchange programmes.   The conference was climaxed with the election of national officers who would govern for four years as adopted in the constitution.   GNA...

Takoradi, July 10, GNA - A Takoradi Circuit Court on Tuesday remanded three persons into prison custody for possessing narcotics without authority.   Their pleas were not taken and the court adjourned proceedings to July 31.   Chief Superintendent Felix Danku told the court presided over by Mr Charles Bamford Nimako that on July 4, the personnel of the Drug Law Enforcement Unit of the Police Service undertook a dawn swoop at the Tarkwa Railway station.   He said during the police arrested Nicolas Ntamah,19, with 68 wrappers of dry leaves, James Obeng,23, with 31 wrappers and three compressed parcels of leaves, Ekow Ankomah,24, with 15 wrappers and quantities of dry leaves suspected to be Indian hemp.   Chief Superintendent Danku said that before their arrest the police received reports from Tarkwa that some “wee smokers” had created ghettoes at the Tarkwa railway station, harassing residents at night and snatching people’s mobile phones, bags and other valuables.   He said the police arrested five people while some escaped but after screening, the three accused had dry leaves on them suspected to be Indian hemp.   The prosecution said the substances had been forwarded to the police forensic laboratory for examination in Accra.   GNA...

Accra , July 10, GNA - The Cocoa Affairs Court has issued a warrant for the arrest of  26-year old Lewis Yaw Oppong, who was granted bail pending investigations in connection with an amount of GH¢55, 180.00, stolen from Mr Dua Agyemang.   The Police said this in a press statement issued to the Ghana News Agency in Accra on Tuesday.   The statement urged anyone with information leading to the arrest of the suspect to contact the nearest police station or call MTN/Vodafone short code 18555 or 0202012211, for a reward.   According to the statement, Oppong is about 5 feet tall, fair in complexion, speaks English and Twi and is believed to be hiding in Takoradi, Accra and Fomesua in the Ashanti Region.   GNA...