Today’s Front Pages

Emmanuel Tornyi | 09:31 pulse
Here are today’s newspaper headlines
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ANOTHER SCAM HITS POLICE
Another recruitment scam involving a number of
young men and women has hit the Ghana Police
Service.
NPP, NDC SELECT CANDIDATES FOR TALENSI
BY-ELECTION
The ruling National Democratic Congress (NDC)
and the dominant opposition party, the New
Patriotic Party (NPP) are set for the Talensi by-
elections slated for July 7, 2015.
CONTROVERSY: DICs APPLY FOR ‘EXPRESSION
OF INTEREST’ TO SETTLE JUDGEMENT DEBT
Despite the controversy surrounding the Ministry
of Trade and Industry’s (MOTI’s) request for all
the five Destination Inspection Companies (DICs)
to submit offers for the settlement of a GHC197
million judgement debt to Bankswitch Ghana
Limited, it has emerged that the companies have
submitted Expressions of Interest for
consideration.
DZAMEFE COMMISSION READY FOR SALE
The Assembly Press has stated that the Dzamefe
Commission’s Report is ready for sale to any
interested person and organisations.
SODOM AND GOMORRAH DEMOLITION EXPOSES
ILLEGAL CONNECTIONS
GOV’T ADMITS $175M CASH FOR CONTRACT
The National Democratic Congress (NDC)
government has admitted that it indeed asked
Destination Inspection Companies (DICs) to
contribute $175 million to the repayment of
judgement debt to Bankswitch, a private IT firm,
in exchange for contracts.
RAIN SCATTERS NDC RALLY
SODOM AND GOMORRAH FLATTENED
BFT
FUND MANAGERS BITTER OVER TIER-2 SNUB
Pension fund managers have threatened to lay-off
workers and close shop altogether over
government’s refusal to pay workers contributions
to the Tier-2 of the three-tier pension scheme.
DOMESTIC AIRLINES PONDER FARE INCREASE
GTBANK, AIRTEL PREMIER IN STRATEGIC
PARTNERSHIP
AMA PULLS DOWN SODOM AND GOMORRAH
SHOCKING REALITY OF VOODOO, HUMAN
SACRIFICE IN GHANA
NO HOPE FOR GHANA UNDER MAHAMA – EIU
PREDICTS
CHIEFS SHOULD PLAY PARTISAN POLITICS –
MAJORITY LEADER ADVOCATES
ECONOMY TIMES
BUSINESS CONFIDENCE DIPS
INFLATION EXPECTED TO SLOW TO 13% N 2016
TOR RECEIVES HOPES OF REVIVAL TO REFINE
60,000 BARRELS OF CRUDE OIL DAILY
SENCHI CONSENSUS IS ACADEMIC EXERCISE –
BEIGE CEO
The Chief Executive Officer of Beige Capital, Mike
Nyinaku says the various platforms for the
discussion of Ghana’s economic growth would
continue to remain merely academic exercises if it
is not backed by action.
GOV’T READY FOR EUROBOND BUT IMF SHOW
RESERVATIONS
Despite some speculations that the International
Monetary Fund (IMF) may delay government in
issuing a billion dollar Eurobond this year, the
Finance Minister, Seth Terkper has assured that
government will make all efforts to get the facility
in order to propel the infrastructure development
needed by the country.

Gyan complains about the state of Accra pitch again

Black Stars skipper Asamoah Gyan has called on the government to channel the needed funds into uplifting the state of the pitch at the Accra Sports Stadium.

The captain made these calls after Ghana’s opening game of the 2017 Afcon qualifiers against Mauritius.

“The pitch wasn’t good but we had to adapt so we can be able to get this victory that we all desired,” the Al Ain striker told the press after the 7-1 victory.

“We were aided by the weather which helped us a bit I am appealing to government to help improve the pitch here at the Accra sports stadium.”

There were major doubts on the readiness of the Accra stadium, which was renovated for the 2008 African Cup of Nations, prior to the game.

Gyan bagged a brace to help fire Ghana to the top of Group H.

KKD NEEDS PSYCHOLOGICAL COUNSIL

Doctors treating Kwasi Kyei Darkwah (KKD)
have recommended psychological counselling
for the embattled fashion icon who is standing
trial for rape.
This was after the ace broadcaster failed to
show up in court for the second time running
due to ill health.
His lawyers produced his medical report
before the court to authenticate their claims of
his poor state of health.
However, Starr News’ Wilberforce Asare who
was in court Thursday, reports that the State
prosecutor in-charge of the case, Cynthia
Lamptey was furious over the fact that she
was not given a copy of the medical report
before today’s hearing.
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The case has been adjourned to February
18,2015.
State prosecutors have accused KKD of
forcibly having sex with Ewureffe Orleans
Thompson in a hotel washroom, although he
insists the act was consensual.
Even though the 19-year-old lady says she
wants to discontinue the case, and the
accused has also apologised to the lady
publicly, state prosecutors are bent on seeking
legal redress for the alleged crime.
Prosecutors had earlier questioned the
authenticity of that letter purported to have
been written by Ms. Thompson.

Gov’t trying to retrieve SADA money

The Savannah Accelerated Development
Authority (SADA) says government is seriously
working through the Attorney General’s (AG)
Department to retrieve with interest, its funds
spent on various projects.
Angelina Mornah Domakyaareh, SADA Board
Chairperson, said the AG’s Department was
negotiating with the various partners involved
on the terms of the refund and that the Bank
of Ghana was now working out the interest
rates due.
She assured Ghanaians that under the new
Board, there would be openness and
transparency in the activities of SADA.
“We acknowledge as a new Board that SADA
had had some image problems in the past. We
may call that failings; it is a human
institution, but we the new Board having
accessed the situation, we acknowledge that
even though there has been some failings,
SADA has not failed,” Domakyaareh, stated in
an interview with the Ghana News Agency at
the press launch of the 2015 Engineering
Week Celebration and the SADA Business and
Investment Forum in Accra
She said: “The previous Board had done some
good things; we are going to continue and
build on them. The challenges that they faced
and could not overcome; we have the benefit
of hind-sight to be guided by that.
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It is not our intention to repeat the short falls
that plagued the old Board.”
The Chairperson said: “So based on that we
are refocusing SADA’s mandate from direct
implementation which the institution is not
matured yet to do, to the other core mandates
which have been given to SADA by the same
act of coordinating, collaborating and
facilitating development activities in the
Northern Savannah Ecological Zone of Ghana.”
She explained further that by doing so the
Authority would be getting the maximum
impact from its activities.
On the way forward, the Chairperson said
SADA is a national agenda; coordinating a
comprehensive development agenda for five
regions – Northern, Upper East, Upper West,
the northern parts of the Brong Ahafo and
Volta; representing the Northern Half of
Ghana.
She, therefore, urged the private sector and
major local and international investors and
development partners to support SADA’s
development agenda for the benefit of all
Ghanaians.
She described the collaboration of SADA with
the Ghana Institute of Engineers as very
pivotal in fulfillment of the Authority’s
mandate.

AG’s decision on KKD should be based on law – Lawyer

KKD
Private legal practitioner, Yaw Oppong has
said media icon, Kwesi Kyei Darkwa (KKD)
could be acquitted of the rape charge against
him if the court detects that the Attorney
General (AG) pursued the case based on other
considerations outside the law.
“When there is any doubt at all in the mind of
the judge or the court, the law is that it
should be resolved in favour of the accused
person,” he said.
He indicated when the state expresses its
intention to pursue the case without the
assistance from the plaintiff, “it should not be
made on emotions, politics or anthropological
considerations but the decision must be
informed by legal considerations.”
Last week, the 19-year-old girl who accused
KKD of rape, wrote to the court stating that
she is no longer interested in continuing with
the case.
She mentioned the “media frenzy” which
followed KKD’s arrest and the never-ending
buzz and social media posts as reasons for
her decision adding that she will be unable to
continue assisting the Police in prosecuting
the case.
The Police subsequently forwarded the letter
to the AG for advice and on Thursday, the AG
said it will continue to pursue the alleged rape
case against KKD.
Sharing his thoughts on the latest
development on Eyewitness News, Lawyer
Oppong said: “The AG and the others that she
has authorized by law to assist here to
perform that function may have a lot of
evidence that we may not be privy to and I
believe that such decisions should only be
made based on law and evidence.”
He however pointed out that if the decision by
the AG was made based on any other reason
aside the law, “the law provides a remedy and
if the necessary conditions are fulfilled, you
can then go to the Supreme Court for the
appropriate compensation to be paid to you.”
According to him, if there are other reasons,
the state prosecutors will be unable to prove
the guilt of the accused person beyond
reasonable doubt.
Lawyer Oppong expressed the hope that the
decision by the AG “has been made purely
based on legal considerations and in view of
evidence before them.”
He remarked that “it will be interesting to
follow this particular case as the evidence will
be presented to court and then we will see.”
By: Efua Idan Osam/citifmonline.com/Ghana

Fake HIV/AIDS Ambassador sacks Lawyer

Controversial ex HIV/AIDS ambassador, Joyce
Dzidzor Mensah, says she has parted ways
with her legal counsel over public utterances
about her mental health.
She said that she was no longer represented
by Lawyer Kojo Koranteng, and that her
decision was based on suspicions that the
lawyer was rather on an image recovery
mission for the Ghana AIDS Commission.
News broke months ago that Dzidzor said she
lied about her HIV/AIDS status for years and
had never tested positive for the disease
before working with the Ghana AIDS
commission as HIV/AIDS Ambassador.
She has since been on different media
platforms defending her actions, even though
she has received widespread criticisms by
Ghanaians.
Last week, her lawyer, Kojo Korantenf
reportedly said that his “client should not be
given the needed attention in public space
because she is suffering from trauma and
depression.”
But Dzidzor told News One that he should be
ignored.
According to her, “it looks like he’s doing an
image recovery for Ghana’s AIDS to make the
public to believe I am depressed; hence my
reason to come out.”
“I am not working with my lawyer anymore. I
spoke with the doctor to find out if she had
any discussion with the lawyer concerning my
health and she said she hasn’t told him that I
am depressed. We started on a good note; for
him to have come out to declare that I’m
depressed and nobody should pay attention to
me really hit me. I think he is a lawyer and he
is supposed to handle my legal issues but not
my health issues. Even the doctor hasn’t said
I’m depressed. So I don’t think we can
continue working,” she added.

Source: myjoyonline

Ghana leads search for vessel carrying stolen crude

Tuesday 20th January , 2015 6:21 am
Ghana’s Navy is leading an international force
in search of a vessel suspected to be carrying
stolen cargo from the ship hijacked by
Nigerian Pirates.
Ghanaian Security Services believe that the
pirates managed to transfer the ship’s cargo
into another vessel prior to their arrest.
Eight Nigerian pirates were arrested on
Sunday by the Eastern Naval Command in
Tema for hijacking an oil vessel in Nigeria.
The vessel, MV Mariam, was carrying about
1,500 tonnes of crude oil at the time the
pirates hijacked it.
The pirates reporttedly turned the vessel
around and entered the territorial waters of
Ghana but a tracking device which had been
fixed on the vessel enabled the owner to track
it down.
The suspected pirates are currently in the
custody of the Bureau of National
Investigations.
The Director of public Relation of the Ghana
Armed Forces, lieutenant Colonel Eric Aggrey-
Quarshie who disclosed this to Citi News
revealed that they have enlisted the help of
other countries to help find the stolen cargo in
the missing vessel.
“We got to the place and we realized that
cargo on board the vessel had been
transferred into another vessel and so we had
to alert our colleagues We have also alerted
the Togolese, Beninois and Nigerians to also
join the search for the stolen cargo…”
–

Germany and Ghana collaborates to end dumsor

Germany has pledged massive support for
Ghana’s energy and education sector, a way
of fostering bilateral ties between the two
countries.
German Chancellor, Angela Merkel revealed
this after holding a closed-door talks with
visiting Ghanaian President John Dramani
Mahama
.
According to her, the two key areas were part
of the broader issues touched on during their
discussions and the need for support was
pronounced.
Government has been struggling to meet the
energy needs in the country despite various
interventions including the use of gas.
Addressing a joint press briefing the two
leaders indicated that the talks between them
centered not only on Ghana but also on
issues that affect the African continent as a
whole.
Angela Merkel affirmed how Germany is
prepared to support Ghana in the areas of
technical and vocational education and
renewable energy solutions.
She was optimistic that such support if
coordinated would yield maximum benefits
especially in the area of energy where Ghana
currently is facing huge challenges adding that
“for Ghana it is providing electricity and
electricity supplies which is of the greatest
importance and we have been talking about
making contribution towards developing
renewable energy.”
She said, “We value the partnership with
Ghana and it is a friendly one” saying “Ghana
is a good democracy and good partner in
West Africa. Our tides in the field of
Development Corporation are very close and
we will also corporate closely in the economic
spheres.”
On his part, President Mahama who expressed
gratitude to the Chancellor for the invitation
explained how necessary it is for Ghana to
collaborate with Germany in enhancing
technical education and Energy provision.
“On the bilateral corporation level we have
strong corporation in the area of energy and
renewable power and KFW is financing several
projects in Ghana in the way of energy. We are
working with KFW to increase the power we
get from solar energy into Ghana’s
transmission grid,” he said.
President Mahama further indicated that
Ghana is a lower income country, he was
expressed that the country is progressing into
a middle income status “and we are seeing a
strong demand for skilled professionals in
terms of technical experience and so we want
to see how vocational and technical training
can be strengthened in order that we are able
to produce more middle level manpower.”
–

Source: citifmonline.

United Efforts Can Deal with Boko Haram

ECOWAS Chairman, President John Mahama
has proposed the setting up of a multi-
national force to fight Islamist militant group,
Boko Haram.
To be able to achieve this, ECOWAS has
requested that the next African Union (AU)
meeting in Addis Ababa must include a
special session on terrorism.
This will enable West African leaders to seek
authority to create the multi-national force to
help combat the operations of Boko Haram.
Thousands of people in North Eastern Nigeria
have either lost their lives or have been
abducted by Boko Haram.
Nigerian authorities have for years been
unable to fight the group which has been
terrorizing citizens.
ECOWAS heads of states have been meeting
periodically to re-strategize to help Nigeria
fight the Islamist group and protect citizens
as well but not much success has been
recorded.
Regarding the number of African countries
willing to contribute troops to the force,
President Mahama told the BBC on Saturday
that “it will depend on the discussions at the
AU and that will determine how many forces
and how many troops are needed and which
countries will participate.”
He was however quick to mention that so far,
“there is already a consensus in the region
from Niger, Chad, Cameroun, Nigeria and
Benin so we can start from there.”
The ECOWAS chair admitted that it is more
difficult for the individual countries to cope on
their own with Boko Haram therefore, “a
regional force will be a better alternative than
leaving the countries on their own to deal with
it.”
He disclosed that there had already been an
effort to create a multi-national force and
“countries of the Lake Chad Development
Authority came together and agreed to create
an international force.”
This force, he said was supposed to be based
in Baga in North Eastern Nigeria but it was
recently overrun recently by Boko Haram
This, he said points to the fact that there is an
urgent need to “create a better conceptual
plan and an operational plan so that this is
more effective.”
President Mahama was optimistic that many
countries will be willing to support this
venture, adding that “already, Nigeria and
Cameroun have been getting assistance from
France, the UK and the United States but I
believe that if we were to organize this
properly, then we must get an African Union
mandate.”
He stressed that if ECOWAS is able to secure a
mandate from the African Union, and set up a
multi-national force with a proper operational
plan, “I guess it will be more effective than
what is happening currently.”
President Mahama however indicated that the
force can only be set up in a few months
because “these things take a couple of
months; logistical planning must take place
and even mobilizing forces so as rapidly as we
might want to do it, it will take a couple of
months.”
He was certain that at this point, “a military
solution is the most viable option…I think the
whole world is threatened if there is terrorism
in any other part of the world.”

ECG on the verge of collapse,Power Minister

The Minister of Power, Dr. Kwabena Donkor
has served notice that the Electricity Company
of Ghana (ECG) is on the brink of collapse if
debts owed it are not recovered immediately.
He said it will be “most irresponsible” if “this
valuable asset that we call ECG” is allowed to
collapse.
Speaking at the inauguration of a committee
to oversee the collection of debts owed ECG,
the Power Minister said: “We are on the brink
of collapse if we do not have cash infusion
and yet we are owed hundreds of millions of
cedis. This, ladies and gentlemen, cannot and
must not be allowed to continue.”
Both state and private institutions are said to
owe ECG about GHC 500 million.
In 2014, the power distributor embarked on a
nationwide disconnection exercise by cutting
power to such institutions.
It included the Baba Yara Sports Stadium in
Kumasi, GBC Radio in Kumasi, Koforidua
Polytechnic, the Geological Survey
Department, Kumasi Technical Institute (KTI)
and some other organizations.
He stressed that his Ministry will take the
necessary measures to protect the power
distributor.
ECG staff at work
According to him, the management and board
of ECG are determined to have a “lean,
efficient, commercially sensitive and aware
organization that will ensure the survival of
the power industry.”
The sector Minister said the government will
solidly back efforts by ECG to recover all debts
owed it “not only current bills but
accumulated debts.”
Dr. Donkor also mentioned that “the anti-
social behaviour of some ECG workers who
collaborate with people to steal from ECG; the
various bypasses that ECG has the capacity to
detect and for which sections ECG has ignored
their responsibility to detect because they
stand to benefit,” will no longer be accepted.
By: Efua Idan Osam/citifmonline.com/Ghana