A staunch member of the Convention People’s Party (CPP), Professor Agyemang Badu Akosa, has said that the Preventive Detention Act (PDA) of 1958 and 1961 were necessary at the time of its enactment. The Act, which was passed by the first post-inde-pendence Parliament permitted the detention of subversive elements without trial for up to five years and later extended to 10 [...]The post Prof. Akosa justifies Preventive Detention Act appeared first on The Ghanaian Times.

The Chief Justice has urged judges not to engage in conduct that could impugn their personal integrity and that of  the judiciary, which she described as a key governance institution. Mrs Justice Georgina Theodora Wood told them that they had a sacred duty to enhance the authority of the courts and not to diminish or undermine it. “Public trust and confidence in the judiciary is so fundamental to the rule of law and democratic governance that any conduct by those of us entrusted with judicial power and which will be inimical to our interest should not be tolerated,” she stated. Swearing in seven circuit court judges at the Supreme Court yesterday, Justice Wood stated that, “we need to understand that public confidence in the judicial system must be guarded and protected at all costs, as when this is eroded, the rule of law and all those democratic values and principles that this nation has toiled so hard for would be irretrievably lost”. The judges are Ms Effia N. Adu-Amankwah, Ms Abigail Asare, Mr Kofi Ametewe and Mr Alexander Graham.  Others are Mr Michael Abbey, Mr Bernard Bentil and Mr Baptist K. Filson.  The judges took the oath of allegiance, the oath of secrecy and the oath of the judiciary. The swearing-in was attended by a delegation from Uganda, led by its acting Chief Justice, Mr Steven B. K. Kavuma, as well as the families and friends of the judges. Judges are accountable. The Chief Justice stated that being independent did not mean that members of the judiciary had free rein to do as they pleased.She said members of the judiciary must be accountable to the sovereign people of Ghana on whose behalf they exercised judicial power. “Ghanaians now, more than any period in our history, are increasingly aware of their rights and know what to expect from public servants.” Judges not above the law Justice Wood said to consolidate judicial integrity, it required that “we do understand that as judges we are not above the law; we are subject to it”. “Judicial transparency and accountability demands that indeed we should be the first to subject ourselves to the constitution and laws of this land and be ready to give a good account of our stewardship at all times. “We, therefore, have an important role to play in this regard by upholding very high standards of judicial conduct,” the Chief Justice added. Mr Kavuma reminded the judges to be mindful of their conduct in the eyes of the public, as any action and inaction on their part could either boost or affect public confidence in the judicial process. The Minister of Justice and Attorney General, Mrs Marietta Brew Oppong, said judges are the pillar of the entire justice system, hence they needed to avoid impropriety in their activities and decisions in order not to bring dishonour to the Judiciary. “You must not allow old boys, old girls, ethnicity, partisan and religious affiliations to affect your sense of judgement, as this will affect your integrity and that of the justice system,” she advised. Judgeship is a calling The President of the Ghana Bar Association, Nene Amegatcher, reminded the judges that their position is a noble one. Therefore, he asked them to see their career as a calling and not as a paid job. The President of the Association of   Magistrates and Judges of Ghana, Mr Dennis Adjei, expressed optimism that they would bring their expertise and good conduct to bear on their duties.  

A peace walk to celebrate this year’s World Hijab Day was held in Accra on the theme: “Hijab the pride of the woman”. The event, which was organised by the Greater Accra Branch of the Ghana Muslim Students Association (GMSA), was to sensitise the public on the need for Muslim women to wear the hijab veil as they go about their [...]The post Muslim Students Mark World Hijab Day With A Walk appeared first on The Ghanaian Times.

Recruitment into the Ghana Immigration Service (GIS) will remain frozen until a thorough staff deployment exercise has been undertaken to provide the real needs of the service. This is because the under-utilisation of human resources has been identified as one of the problems confronting the service, a situation which led to the freezing, last year, of  recruitment into the GIS. [...]The post Recruitment Into GIS Still On Hold appeared first on The Ghanaian Times.

The Greater Accra Regional branch of the Association of Road Contractors (ASROC) Ghana, is pushing for a law to protect it against delayed payments for executed road contracts. The contractors argued that the late payments for contracts executed by them, was negatively affecting not only their jobs but the quality and time used in constructing the nation’s roads. Mr William Apraku Bondzie, the Greater Accra Regional Chairman of ASROC, said the practice had placed many local road contractors in financial difficulty, because after executing road contracts, their investments, usually commercial bank loans accessed at high interest rates, got locked up with the government for years. Addressing the news media on the issue in Accra yesterday, Mr Bondzie said the situation was one of the biggest causes of stress for the contractors, adding that it significantly reduced their profits and had rendered a number of  them bankrupt. “Often, we do not even know when we will be paid and some have gone to the extent of selling their property to pay off the loans,” Mr Bondzie stated. Mr Bondzie said the association was aware that the enactment of such a law would require time and it was prepared and willing to travel the journey to get the law passed. Payment processes “The question, we, the members of ASROC, keep asking based on a very disturbing observation is why is it that upon completion of an assigned construction work, contractors have to wait for a minimum of three months for their documents to get processed for payment?” Mr Bondzie asked. He cited series of documentation, inspections, as well as what he described as “back and forth movements” between road contractors and their respective road agencies, the district assemblies and the Ghana Road Fund Secretariat as some of the processes the contractors had had to endure over the years. “While all of these back and forth movements go on, road contractors who have taken loans pay huge interests on these loans taken to pre-finance the contract work. This leads to high cost of doing business and reduces profitability.” Mr Bondzie explained that while the struggle over late payments to contractors had been a protracted one, a lasting solution was yet to be found to it, hence the latest advocacy by the association.  

Four suspected armed robbers who allegedly terrorised residents of Kasoa “CP” and its environs have been arrested by the Police in the Central Region. The suspects, Yaw Seffa, 25, mechanic and kingpin of the group; Iddrisu Ibrahim, 19, driver; Anas Ibrahim,24, labourer and Haadi Osmanu, 22, designer; were reported to have been on the police wanted list for the past [...]The post 4 Kasoa CP Terrors Arrested appeared first on The Ghanaian Times.

Ecobank Transnational Incorporated has been declared the most valuable brand in Africa outside South Africa  in the annual ranking of the global banking and financial magazine ‘The Banker’ in its special edition Brand Finance Banking 500 of February 2014. Present in more African countries than any other bank in the world, Ecobank has successfully taken advantage of its unparalleled footprint [...]The post Ecobank Ranked Top African Banking Brand appeared first on The Ghanaian Times.

Cabinet  has given approval for the establishment of the 600-million-dollar Atuabo Free Port project in the Western Region, which is expected to create more than 2,500 jobs. The construction of the free port, being promoted by Lornho, a leading British firm, will make Atuabo the West African hub for the servicing of vessels, especially those operating in the oil and [...]The post Cabinet Approves $600m Atuabo Port Project appeared first on The Ghanaian Times.

Real Madrid all but booked their place in the Spanish Cup final with convincing 3-0 win over Atletico Madrid in an ill-tempered first leg at the Santiago Bernabeu – the scene of last year’s final which they lost to their city rivals. It was hardly revenge served cold in a heated affair with both sides fortunate to finish with 11 [...]The post Real Madrid Take Big Leap Into Spanish Cup Final appeared first on The Ghanaian Times.

Workers of Intercity STC (ISTC) have called on the Ministry of  Transport to constitute an independent committee to examine their grievances critically to avoid any protracted and unforeseen development in the forward march of the organisation. They stressed that the committee of enquiry set up earlier to investigate the circumstances leading to workers agitation was not properly constituted, and that they disagreed with its recommendations. These were contained in a petition addressed to the minister and signed by Messrs Samuel Clottey and Hope Kofi Klu, chairmen of the Senior Staff and the Junior Staff unions. It said the ISTC Board, the Social Security and National Insurance Trust and management, who constituted the committee, were the same entities against whom the workers had levelled allegations. “We, therefore, find the setting up of the committee of enquiry as ill-fated and not human centred,” it stated. The petition said the protest by the workers in September, last year was to draw attention to the need for the stakeholders to take steps to recapitalise and ensure the growth and sustainability of the company, but strangely the committee did not take account of that in its report. It said looking at the sensitivity of the grievances raised by workers and the recommendations of the committee, it was clear that nothing concrete had been done or achieved in the interest of the company and its employees. “Our major concern as workers is to ensure that the government salvages this onetime very promising, successful and vibrant transport organisation,” the petition stated. It would be recalled that workers of ISTC, on September 25, 2013, began a three-day protest to register their rage and despair at management’s inability to address their concerns. According to the workers, management had refused to pay their provident fund and had not increased their salaries for 10 years, although the managing director had allegedly increased his salary twice within the period. They, therefore, decided to lay down their tools until management addressed all their concerns.  

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