February 14
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NO. 100648 WEDNESDAY, FEBRUARY <strong>14</strong>, 2018 PRICE: GH¢2.00<br />
DAILYHERITAGE.COM.GH<br />
•Mr Martin<br />
Alamisi Amidu,<br />
Special Prosecutor<br />
nominee<br />
visit us: @dailyheritagegh dailyheritage facebook.com/dailyheritage.com.gh<br />
GA-027-0054
02<br />
CONTENT<br />
DAILY HERITAGE. WEDNESDAY, FEBRUARY <strong>14</strong>, 2018.<br />
DAILY QUOTE<br />
Your problem isn't the<br />
problem. Your<br />
reaction is the problem<br />
--Anonymous<br />
ANNIVERSARIES<br />
06 March, Independence Day<br />
30 March, Good Friday<br />
02 April, Easter Monday<br />
Published by: EIB<br />
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WORLD<br />
South Africa: ANC<br />
decides Zuma<br />
must go ‘urgently'<br />
POLITICS<br />
Africa needs<br />
dynamic<br />
leaders – CPP<br />
PG.04<br />
PG.12<br />
VIEW<br />
My letter of<br />
condolence<br />
to father of Ebony<br />
Reigns<br />
PG.06<br />
HEALTH<br />
GHS dispels<br />
Lassa Fever<br />
outbreak<br />
scare<br />
PG.07<br />
Kas Estate caught up<br />
in sand winning brawl<br />
BY DAILY HERITAGE REPORTER<br />
REAL ESTATE developer, Kas Estate<br />
Ghana Limited has been accused<br />
of winning sand on plots of<br />
land they’ve sold to individuals<br />
and companies in the country.<br />
Some customers, who trooped to the office<br />
of the DAILY HERITAGE last Thursday,<br />
threatened to take legal action against the<br />
company for allegedly invading their private<br />
property without informing them.<br />
The company has, however, rubbished the<br />
allegations. As source at the company said illegal<br />
sand winners were responsible for the sand<br />
wining.<br />
The leader of the group, who did not want<br />
to be named, said he bought four acres of land<br />
in 2013 and was ready to commence his projects<br />
on the land only to find excavators on the<br />
land winning sand after destroying his pillars.<br />
He told the DAILY HERITAGE that<br />
the most annoying part was that the perpetrators<br />
use the sand for concrete blocks and sell<br />
to customers.<br />
“Why should the company go behind our<br />
backs to do that without our permission? Even<br />
if they want to do that they should leave our<br />
pillars alone and not destroy them without<br />
leaving a trace.<br />
“You visit the place, what you see is huge<br />
sand has been piled up on the land. You dare<br />
not use the sand for your projects. The pillars<br />
have the plot numbers on them,” he said.<br />
The complainants said they had reported<br />
the incident at the head office at Tesano for<br />
the broken pillars to be re-fixed, but the officials<br />
there rather blamed the land owners for<br />
not attending to the land.<br />
According to the company, before they<br />
could mount the pillars for the affected persons<br />
each ought to pay GH¢ 1,000.00.<br />
“Without the pillars with the plot numbers<br />
on them, they will not hand over the land documents<br />
to you as they say the surveying machines<br />
could not pick the plot number,” he<br />
said.<br />
When the DAILY HERITAGE visited<br />
the affected parts in Golden City Communities<br />
Two and Three, Great City Communities One,<br />
Two, Three and Four in the Ga South Municipality<br />
in the Greater Accra Region on Friday<br />
and Saturday there was evidence of sand winning<br />
activities in the communities.<br />
On Saturday when the reporter visited<br />
Great City Communities One, Two, Three and<br />
Four, 10 trucks were seen loading sand to be<br />
taken to another place.<br />
A caretaker, who had been given the right<br />
by the new land owners to cultivate the land<br />
for farming till they were ready to start their<br />
building projects, said his produce had been<br />
destroyed by the sand winners.<br />
According to the caretaker, he woke up in<br />
the morning and saw them winning the sand.<br />
He said at Golden City Community Two at<br />
Horbor, it took Ghana Police Service personnel<br />
to stop them from winning sand on a<br />
seven-acre land. “When you are lucky they will<br />
give you GH¢ 1,000.00 as compensation if you<br />
are not they give nothing at all,” he said.<br />
•Sand winning at Golden City Community Two, Horbor<br />
Land expert’s position<br />
A land expert at the Lands Commission in<br />
Accra told the DAILY HERITAGE in an<br />
interview that no real estate company had the<br />
right to win sand whether they have the permit<br />
or not.<br />
“This is a serious matter and I will urge the<br />
clients to take them on,” the officer said.<br />
Kas Estate Ghana Limited<br />
A source at Kas Estate Ghana Limited,<br />
when called, rubbished the allegations of being<br />
involved in sand winning activities. The source<br />
said the sand winning was being carried out by<br />
illegal sand miners and not from the company.<br />
According to him, the land belonged to the<br />
buyer so there was no way they could win sand<br />
after selling it out.<br />
He noted that the company had communication<br />
channels where affected persons could<br />
channel their grievances through for redress.<br />
“We have asked them to erect corner fence<br />
wall which is stronger than the pillars.<br />
“It is not compulsory for each affected<br />
person to pay GH¢ 1,000.00. You can decide<br />
not to pay if you have the time do it yourself,”<br />
he explained.<br />
2 jailed<br />
120<br />
months,<br />
10 caged<br />
• Over Kwabenya<br />
cell break<br />
BY MUNTALLA INUSAH<br />
muntalla.inusah@dailyheritage.com.gh<br />
TWO OUT of 10 accused persons, who are<br />
standing trial for the cell break at the<br />
Kwabenya Police Station which led to the<br />
death of one police officer, have been<br />
handed 120 months custodial sentence to<br />
share.<br />
The two-Prince Osei and Atta Kwadwo<br />
were convicted on their own plea by the Circuit<br />
Court after pleading guilty to two<br />
charges of abetment to escape lawful custody<br />
and escape from lawful custody.<br />
They are to serve 30 months each on<br />
count one and another 30 months each on<br />
count two, meaning each serves 60 months<br />
on both counts and 120 in total. But, they<br />
will only serve the first 30 months as the<br />
sentenc es run concurrently.<br />
The Circuit Court judge, His Honour Mr<br />
Aboagye Tandoh in handing them the sentence<br />
said, the maximum punishment for<br />
the offense of misdemeanor is three years<br />
and it took into consideration, the fact that<br />
the accused persons pleaded guilty and<br />
never wasted the time of the court.<br />
According to him, given the modus<br />
oparandi, heavy sentence would have been<br />
expected but it also took into consideration<br />
their plea for mitigation. The two, together<br />
• CONTINUE ON PAGE 3
WWW.DAILYHERITAGE.COM.GH DAILY HERITAGE. WEDNESDAY, FEBRUARY <strong>14</strong>, 2018. 03<br />
2 jailed 120 months, 10 caged<br />
• READ FROM PAGE 2<br />
with a third person Kofi Darko, who pleaded<br />
not guilty, were those who escaped from cells.<br />
Master Osei, a 25-year-old scrap dealer lives<br />
at Dansoman while Kwadwo, a 20-year-old<br />
driver's mate lives at Tema, pleaded guilty to<br />
charges of abetment to escape lawful custody<br />
and escaping lawful custody.<br />
The third accused person, master Darko<br />
pleaded not guilty to the charges. The three,<br />
together with others escaped when some<br />
armed men attacked the Kwabenya Police station<br />
killing a police officer.<br />
The remaining nine others including one<br />
woman Nancy Denteh, a bread seller who<br />
were charged for abetting the escape of the accused<br />
persons in connection with the<br />
attack have been charged with abetment to escape<br />
from lawful custody. They all pleaded not<br />
guilty.<br />
• Over Kwabenya cell break<br />
Bail deferred<br />
Counsel for the remaining accused persons<br />
took turns to apply for bail for their clients and<br />
the first to do so was Lawyer Bernard<br />
Owiredu, for Nancy Dentah, the only female<br />
and the bread seller among them.<br />
He told the court that, his client is a single<br />
mother and an entrepreneur in her own right,<br />
adding that, she has a six-year-old son who always<br />
needs her mother. Counsel said his client<br />
has relatives ready to stand sureties for her and<br />
she would submit herself anytime the court<br />
needed her.<br />
Counsel for Prince Kofi Acheampong and<br />
Edward Lartey, said his clients have sureties to<br />
stand in for them and that Lartey is a young<br />
man of 20 years and per the facts from the police<br />
he was not mentioned anywhere in it.<br />
Lawyer for George Yeboah told the court<br />
that, his client is a family man and has a wife<br />
and that he has competent people to stand<br />
sureties including members of his church,<br />
Jesus Action International Ministry.<br />
Elvis Owusu and Theophilus Bandah<br />
through their lawyer said the two are gainfully<br />
employed and while Owusu works with Le<br />
Maxx Restaurant at Accra Mall, Bandah also<br />
had his employee in court, Madam Theresa<br />
Gaise to attest to that.<br />
Superintendant Kweku Bempah, the prosecutor<br />
in the case objected to the application<br />
for bail and argued that it would be for their<br />
own safety to remain in custody, especially<br />
with the public attention it has received.<br />
He added that, if granted bail, they may not<br />
avail themselves to stand trial and the court<br />
should therefore refuse their application for<br />
bail. The court subsequently deferred ruling on<br />
the bail application to <strong>February</strong> 26, 2018.<br />
Plea not taken<br />
The accused persons, whose plea in respect<br />
of possessing of firearms without authority<br />
and abetment to possessing firearm without<br />
lawful authority were not taken, will reappear<br />
in court on <strong>February</strong> 13.<br />
The court directed that, the prosecution<br />
take necessary steps to get the necessary information<br />
by consulting the Attorney General before<br />
the next adjourned date. According to the<br />
court, investigations must be completed and all<br />
those needed to be consulted in respect of the<br />
matter ought to be done with immediacy.<br />
12 accused persons<br />
The accused persons who were arraigned<br />
are Prince Odeon, Atta Kwadwo, Kofi Darko,<br />
Nancy Dentah, and George Yeboah. The rest<br />
are Prince Kofi Acheampong, Edward Lartey,<br />
Kofi Seshie, George Sarbah, Elvis Owusu,<br />
George Asante and Theophilus Bandah.<br />
The attack on the Police station led to the<br />
escape of seven suspects. A police officer on<br />
duty was also killed in the attack.<br />
Amidu shows<br />
resilience<br />
BY STEPHEN ODOI LARBI<br />
THE NOMINEE for<br />
the Office of the Special<br />
Prosecutor, Mr<br />
Martin Alamisi Burns<br />
Kaiser Amidu yesterday<br />
told the Appointments Committee<br />
of Parliament that in him as<br />
an investigator and public prosecutor,<br />
President Nana Addo Dankwa<br />
Akufo-Addo has made the best<br />
choice for Ghana.<br />
Should Parliament disagree and<br />
rather opt for a different person, he<br />
wants the legislature to disapprove<br />
his nomination.<br />
He told the Committee during<br />
his over eight hours grilling that he<br />
is non-comparable for the Office<br />
of the Special Prosecutor job in<br />
terms of investigations and prosecution.<br />
Giving an account of a contract<br />
he once abrogated during the<br />
PNDC regime to buttress his argument,<br />
Mr Amidu said “SIC decided<br />
to enter into a contract with Elcom<br />
• Grilled for 8hrs<br />
• Says I’m best choice for<br />
Special Prosecutor job<br />
6 for building of accommodation<br />
in Accra. We disapproved it. It was<br />
in Kumasi when I was coming<br />
from the North that I heard it in<br />
the air that the Ministers for Works<br />
and Housing and the Chairman,<br />
Committee of Secretaries, had inaugurated<br />
the Board. When I came,<br />
I wrote to the Chairman of the<br />
PNDC and told him we hadn’t approved<br />
it.<br />
“A PNDC meeting was called,<br />
right? I was able to get the background<br />
of the company from the<br />
United Kingdom and it showed<br />
that the company which was coming<br />
to partner the most viable financial<br />
institution in Ghana had<br />
only £200.00 as stated capital with<br />
all the PNDC Secretaries, Committee<br />
of Chairman making this thing.<br />
That is the job I did,” he noted.<br />
He said as then Chairman, Public<br />
Agreements Board, he was the<br />
gatekeeper against people, ministers<br />
and others trying to push<br />
through contracts agreements<br />
which were not in the national interest.<br />
He further told the Committee<br />
that he distinguished himself so<br />
creditably that unlike his predecessor<br />
who lasted for six months on<br />
the job, he was able to hold on to<br />
his position until the country once<br />
again entered into constitutional<br />
regime.<br />
With his experience in investigations<br />
and public prosecution, he<br />
said he is the best person for the<br />
job, daring the Committee to disapprove<br />
his nomination if it prefers a<br />
different person to that position.<br />
“If you want anybody who will<br />
be meticulous with investigations<br />
•Martin Amidu during the<br />
Special Prosecutor vetting<br />
and prosecutions, the President has<br />
made the best choice. But if you<br />
want somebody who will look the<br />
other way, just disapprove me,” he<br />
stressed.
Inside <strong>February</strong> <strong>14</strong>, 2018 .qxp_Layout 1 2/13/18 8:41 PM Page 3<br />
•Spinal fluid is obtained by inserting a needle<br />
into the spinal canal<br />
Pakistan gang 'stole spinal fluid from women’<br />
PAKISTANI POLICE have arrested<br />
four people accused of<br />
stealing spinal fluid from<br />
women.<br />
The suspects told women<br />
they had to provide blood samples<br />
to qualify for financial assistance<br />
from the Punjab<br />
government, police told BBC<br />
Urdu.<br />
However, they extracted<br />
spinal fluid instead, and attempted<br />
to sell it on the black<br />
market, police added.<br />
The gang is thought to have<br />
stolen spinal fluid from over 12<br />
women, including a teenager.<br />
"It appears the gang has been<br />
active in the Hafizabad area for<br />
some time," regional police officer<br />
Ashfaq Ahmed Khan told<br />
BBC Urdu's Shahzad Malik.<br />
One member "went around<br />
posing as an employee of the<br />
District Headquarters Hospital,<br />
telling his victims they would<br />
need to provide blood samples<br />
in order to qualify for the Punjab<br />
government's dowry fund".<br />
"But instead of taking them<br />
to the hospital to obtain their<br />
'blood samples', he would take<br />
them to the house of a female<br />
member of the gang to perform<br />
the procedure," Mr Khan added.<br />
BBC<br />
DAILY HERITAGE WEDNESDAY, FEBRUARY <strong>14</strong>, 2018<br />
WWW.DAILYHERITAGE.COM.GH<br />
World news in 4 stories<br />
Uzbek man pleads guilty in Stockholm terror trial<br />
South Africa: ANC decides<br />
Zuma must go ‘urgently'<br />
SOUTH AFRICA'S ruling<br />
African National Congress<br />
(ANC) has formally<br />
asked President Jacob<br />
Zuma to resign "for the<br />
sake of the country".<br />
But despite the ANC's top leadership<br />
deciding to "recall" him "urgently",<br />
the scandal-hit Mr Zuma<br />
was still in power on Tuesday.<br />
He is expected to respond to the<br />
request on Wednesday, an official<br />
said.<br />
He had already told them he was<br />
•Jacob Zuma has been president of South Africa since 2009<br />
AN UZBEK man on trial in<br />
Sweden has pleaded guilty to<br />
carrying out a lorry attack<br />
which killed five people in<br />
Stockholm last April.<br />
Rakhmat Akilov, 39, admitted<br />
driving at high speed<br />
down a pedestrian street, the<br />
country's worst terrorist attack.<br />
His asylum claim had been<br />
rejected in 2016. He had expressed<br />
sympathy for the Islamic<br />
State (IS) group.<br />
He appeared in an underground<br />
Stockholm court, in<br />
handcuffs and clad in a green<br />
prison uniform.<br />
Survivors and relatives of<br />
victims can watch a live<br />
stream screened next door.<br />
Rakhmat Akilov fled the<br />
scene after crashing the stolen<br />
beer lorry and was arrested<br />
several hours later on the<br />
edge of Stockholm. He confessed<br />
during police interrogation<br />
Under Swedish laws on terrorism,<br />
prosecutors must<br />
prove that he intended to<br />
harm the state. IS did not say<br />
it was behind the attack.<br />
Jihadists had used vehicles<br />
in previous attacks - in the<br />
French city of Nice and in<br />
Berlin in 2016 and on Westminster<br />
Bridge in London in<br />
2017. BBC<br />
willing to stand down in the next<br />
three to six months, the official<br />
added.<br />
Mr Zuma, who has been in<br />
power since 2009, has been dogged<br />
by corruption allegations.<br />
But he has so far resisted increasing<br />
pressure to quit since December,<br />
when Cyril<br />
Ramaphosa replaced him as<br />
leader of the ANC.<br />
Ace Magashule, the ANC's<br />
secretary-general, told reporters<br />
the party's National<br />
Executive Committee (NEC)<br />
decided the removal should be<br />
"treated with urgency".<br />
"The NEC has noted South<br />
Africa is going through a period<br />
of uncertainty and anxiety<br />
as a result of unresolved matter<br />
of transition," he said.<br />
Mr Magashule said the<br />
country needed to build on the<br />
feeling of "renewed hope" felt<br />
after the election of Mr<br />
Ramaphosa as ANC leader.<br />
"It is obvious we want<br />
Comrade Ramaphosa to come<br />
in as the president of South<br />
Africa," he added.<br />
He said the president was<br />
expected to respond to the<br />
NEC's decision on Wednesday,<br />
although they had given him<br />
no deadline. BBC<br />
• Police took this photo of Rakhmat Akilov when he was arrested<br />
•Swedish investigations revealed that some of the<br />
children were homeless<br />
Unicef 'admits it failed<br />
children raped in CAR’<br />
THE UNITED Nations children's<br />
agency, Unicef, has admitted<br />
it failed to support<br />
children who alleged they<br />
were raped by French peacekeepers<br />
in the Central<br />
African Republic, the<br />
Guardian reports.<br />
The United Kingdom<br />
newspaper points out that the<br />
statement, which was issued<br />
by Unicef Netherlands, is the<br />
first public acknowledgement<br />
of Unicef's shortcomings.<br />
Unicef was put in charge<br />
of looking after the children<br />
who alleged they'd been sexually<br />
abused.<br />
But, the Guardian says, in<br />
March 2017, a Swedish investigative<br />
revealed that some of<br />
the children were homeless,<br />
and not being cared for by<br />
Unicef.<br />
The newspaper goes on to<br />
say that at the time, the<br />
agency said it didn't realise<br />
the children were on the<br />
streets, but later said it was<br />
trying to find them and offer<br />
support. BBC
WWW.DAILYHERITAGE.COM.GH<br />
DAILY HERITAGE. WEDNESDAY, FEBRUARY <strong>14</strong>, 2018.<br />
05<br />
Editorial<br />
Accra floods again!<br />
IN SPITE of all the efforts<br />
by successive governments<br />
aimed at avoiding floods in<br />
the nation’s capital, Accra<br />
particularly at a major market<br />
centre like the Kwame<br />
Nkrumah Circle, the city witnessed<br />
flooding again after a<br />
few hours of downpour yesterday<br />
morning.<br />
The rains yet again exposed<br />
the poor drainage system in<br />
parts of the city, mostly the<br />
business centres.<br />
A drive through some parts<br />
of the capital revealed disappointing<br />
spectacle of garbage<br />
scattered on various roads.<br />
The uncultured behaviour<br />
of people dumping garbage<br />
into gutters led to scattering<br />
of refuse on roads due to the<br />
overflow of many gutters.<br />
Reports indicate that the<br />
over two-hour downpour created<br />
great discomfort for motorists<br />
and commuters.<br />
A visit by the DAILY<br />
HERITAGE to some parts<br />
of the capital revealed that<br />
there was a halt in business<br />
activities since most traders<br />
and workers struggled to find<br />
their way around the city.<br />
At the Kaneshie market,<br />
the paper observed that people<br />
had taken advantage of<br />
the floods in the area to make<br />
some money for themselves.<br />
“When we woke up this<br />
morning, we saw that the<br />
place had flooded and people<br />
were finding it difficult to go<br />
to their workplaces.<br />
“As citizens we thought of<br />
helping so we decided to<br />
carry them at our backs and<br />
help them cross, but we take<br />
GH¢ 2.00 from them for our<br />
efforts,” one of the human<br />
carriers told the paper.<br />
We think that minimising<br />
the impact of floods is a<br />
shared responsibility. The<br />
DAILY HERITAGE<br />
therefore urges all to play a<br />
role in this quest by desilting<br />
our choked gutters, avoiding<br />
discharge of garbage into<br />
drains and above all, being<br />
each other’s keeper by reproaching<br />
nation wreckers<br />
who litter indiscriminately.<br />
Accra floods again!<br />
BY JULIET OPPONG<br />
THE POOR drainage system<br />
in some parts of Accra was<br />
again exposed after a heavy<br />
downpour yesterday causing<br />
floods in some parts of the<br />
city, mostly the business centres.<br />
The over two-hour downpour, which<br />
started in the early hours of Tuesday, <strong>February</strong><br />
13, created a lot of discomfort for<br />
motorists and commuters who tried to go<br />
about their normal activities.<br />
A visit by the DAILY HERITAGE<br />
to some parts of the capital revealed that<br />
there was a halt in business activities since<br />
most traders and workers were finding<br />
their way to their places of work, while<br />
others tried to reorganise their property.<br />
At the Kaneshie market, the paper observed<br />
that people had taken advantage of<br />
the floods in the area to make some<br />
money for themselves.<br />
While some provided structures to help<br />
people cross over the floods, others, who<br />
were referred to as ‘human carriers’, took<br />
the risk of carrying people at their back<br />
for GH¢ 2.00.<br />
Explaining the situation to the DAILY<br />
HERITAGE, Kwame Frimpong, a<br />
human carrier, said they were disturbed by<br />
the development, hence their decision to<br />
help them cross over.<br />
“When we woke up this morning, we<br />
saw that the place had flooded and people<br />
were finding it difficult to go to their<br />
workplaces.<br />
“As citizens we thought of helping so<br />
we decided to carry them at our backs and<br />
help them cross, but we take GH¢ 2.00<br />
from them for our efforts,” he told the<br />
paper.<br />
On their safety, Mr Frimpong<br />
said, “we are young men and most<br />
of us live around, so we know<br />
where there’s a gutter, hole, or a<br />
ditch. We are not totally safe but<br />
we have decided to take the risk.<br />
“This is not the first time.<br />
Every time it rains, this place gets<br />
flooded so when we see people<br />
struggling, we come in to help<br />
them at a fee and they are willing<br />
to pay any amount because the<br />
water is very dirty and as such,<br />
they don’t want to step in it,” he<br />
added.<br />
As at the time of leaving the<br />
scene, there was no member of<br />
the National Disaster Management<br />
Organisation, or personnel from<br />
any of the security service to provide<br />
assistance.<br />
At the Obetsebi Lamptey<br />
roundabout, the paper observed<br />
• Commuters struggle<br />
to find their way around<br />
that there was heavy traffic which was as a<br />
result of some portions of the street<br />
which were flooded.<br />
Vehicles were limited to one lane while<br />
the rain flood took over the other lane,<br />
thereby making it impossible for vehicles<br />
to move freely.<br />
A driver, who expressed his frustration<br />
to the paper, pleaded with the government<br />
to put measures in place as the<br />
rains set in.<br />
“If care is not taken we might lose<br />
lives anytime it rains. We go through this<br />
thing anytime it rains, it is bad for a country<br />
like Ghana,” he told the paper.
Inside <strong>February</strong> <strong>14</strong>, 2018 .qxp_Layout 1 2/13/18 8:41 PM Page 5<br />
06<br />
View DAILY<br />
HERITAGE WEDNESDAY, FEBRUARY <strong>14</strong>, 2018<br />
WWW.DAILYHERITAGE.COM.GH<br />
My letter of condolence<br />
to father of Ebony Reigns<br />
•Late Ebony and father<br />
Dear Sir,<br />
Please accept my<br />
deepest condolence<br />
to you on<br />
this collective<br />
loss of ours that<br />
is very personal<br />
to you. I have taken time to<br />
write to you for the following<br />
four reasons.<br />
Firstly, a bosom friend<br />
once advised me, as a man, to<br />
pray against some experiences<br />
in my life. One of<br />
them, he said, was never to<br />
have the experience of burying<br />
my own child. It is a truly<br />
painful experience and I cannot<br />
even begin to imagine the<br />
pain that this has caused you.<br />
It is for this reason that I<br />
write to console you.<br />
Also, another friend of<br />
mine (and I have many such<br />
wise friends) said to me that a<br />
father’s love for the son<br />
comes from the mind; but his<br />
love for a daughter proceeds<br />
from the heart.<br />
I have heard about the<br />
close relationship you kept<br />
with your daughter, and how<br />
much you loved and defended<br />
her. I can only imagine<br />
how much your heart is<br />
aching. This is the reason why<br />
I sympathize with you.<br />
The other reason you have<br />
my sympathies is the nature<br />
of the death. While it may be<br />
true that every death is a<br />
death, some are more distressing<br />
than others. When I<br />
saw an image of the vehicle<br />
your daughter was travelling<br />
in after the accident, I was<br />
trembling. A lot of questions<br />
ran through my mind.<br />
I do not have the courage<br />
and the strength to repeat<br />
those questions here. No one<br />
wishes a painful death for another<br />
person. How much<br />
more his own child who is<br />
also a daughter that he loves?<br />
Finally, there is no question<br />
about how talented your<br />
Ebony was. Even in this very<br />
short career, she still<br />
remains one of the best<br />
Ghana music has seen and<br />
will be remembered for a<br />
long time. It was one hit song<br />
after the other and I can say<br />
•Ebony<br />
without<br />
any fear of contradiction<br />
that she died at<br />
a time when she was<br />
reigning over Ghana<br />
music.<br />
Every father feels<br />
proud about their children<br />
who have such<br />
great talents and much<br />
more when it is a female<br />
child. I feel that<br />
we had not seen her<br />
best yet, because she<br />
was still largely a raw<br />
talent. That is why I say<br />
your loss is our collective<br />
loss and we all<br />
mourn with you.<br />
Sir, I pray that God<br />
gives you the strength<br />
to pull through this<br />
tragedy together with<br />
her mother and siblings.<br />
Yours in Mourning,<br />
A. A. JONGTEY<br />
jongtey@yahoo.com
Inside <strong>February</strong> <strong>14</strong>, 2018 .qxp_Layout 1 2/13/18 8:41 PM Page 6<br />
Diseases smoking cause<br />
Lung cancer<br />
More people die from lung cancer<br />
than any other type of cancer. Cigarette<br />
smoking is the number one risk<br />
factor for lung cancer; it's responsible<br />
for 87% of lung cancer deaths. Your<br />
chance of still being alive five years<br />
after being diagnosed is less than one<br />
in five.<br />
Heart disease<br />
Smoking harms nearly every organ<br />
in your body, including your heart.<br />
Smoking can cause blockages and narrowing<br />
in your arteries, which means<br />
less blood and oxygen flow to your<br />
heart.<br />
Asthma<br />
Asthma is a chronic lung disease<br />
that makes it harder to move air in<br />
and out of your lungs otherwise<br />
known as ‘breathing.’ Because cigarette<br />
smoke irritates air passages, it<br />
can trigger sudden and severe asthma<br />
attacks. Smoking only makes it worse.<br />
Premature, low birth-weight<br />
babies<br />
The effects of smoking not only<br />
impact on mom's health but also that<br />
of her baby. Smoking while pregnant<br />
can cause babies to be born prematurely<br />
or with a low birth-weight. Babies<br />
born too early or too small have<br />
increased risk of health complications<br />
and even death.<br />
WWW.DAILYHERITAGE.COM.GH<br />
DAILY HERITAGE WEDNESDAY, FEBRUARY <strong>14</strong>, 2018<br />
&Env.<br />
GHS dispels Lassa Fever outbreak scare<br />
BY CHRISTABEL ADDO<br />
THE GHANA<br />
Health Service<br />
(GHS) has allayed<br />
fears of the public<br />
on the outbreak of<br />
Lassa fever, saying<br />
its alert was to create the needed<br />
awareness so that precautionary<br />
measures would be strictly adhered<br />
to.<br />
The GHS Head of the Disease<br />
Surveillance Unit, Dr Franklin<br />
Asiedu Bekoe, in a media interview<br />
on Monday, said the alertness<br />
issued earlier, followed<br />
reports of the outbreak of Lassa<br />
fever in some neighbouring countries,<br />
including Nigeria, Guinea<br />
and Sierra Leone.<br />
Lassa fever, he explained is an<br />
Acute Viral Haemorrhagic Fever<br />
(VHF) illness, which was endemic<br />
in West Africa, with an incubation<br />
period of between six to 21 days.<br />
Dr Bekoe said although the<br />
onset of the disease has non-specific<br />
signs and symptoms, it was<br />
characterised by fever, general<br />
weakness and malaise at its early<br />
stages.<br />
This, he said, is followed by<br />
headaches, sore throat, muscle,<br />
chest and abdominal pains, vomiting<br />
and diarrhoea, adding that, severe<br />
cases may progress to show<br />
facial swelling, and bleeding, while<br />
shock, seizures, disorientation, as<br />
well as coma may be seen in the<br />
late stages.<br />
“About 80% of Lassa Fever infections<br />
are mild or asymptomatic,”<br />
he said and that rodents<br />
such as rats served as reservoirs<br />
of the virus.<br />
He advised the public to maintain<br />
good home, and community<br />
hygiene to prevent the breeding of<br />
rodents that may infect their food<br />
and water with the virus, stay free<br />
from rats and block all their hideouts.<br />
“We must ensure proper<br />
storage of grains and foodstuffs,<br />
dispose proper disposal<br />
of garbage, cook<br />
all foods thoroughly,<br />
keep cats to deter<br />
rats and avoid contacts<br />
with blood<br />
and body fluids<br />
whilst caring for<br />
sick persons,” he<br />
said.<br />
Dr Bekoe also<br />
called for regular<br />
hand washing with<br />
soap under running<br />
water, report all forms of<br />
fevers immediately to the closest<br />
•Rodents such as rats are<br />
served as reservoirs of the<br />
virus<br />
health<br />
facilities<br />
for diagnoses,<br />
and<br />
undergo<br />
treatment<br />
with the<br />
appropriate<br />
medication.<br />
He said<br />
although<br />
Ghana has<br />
not yet<br />
recorded<br />
any case, it<br />
was important<br />
to<br />
ensure<br />
alertness<br />
of the disease<br />
and<br />
all Acute<br />
Haemorrhagic<br />
Fevers in general, enhance<br />
surveillance at all ports of entry,<br />
and encourage all Regional, District<br />
and Teaching Hospitals, including<br />
the Mission and Private<br />
Facilities, to alert their staff, and<br />
further initiate processes to create<br />
public awareness.<br />
Presently the Ministry of<br />
Health of Nigeria, has confirmed<br />
and subsequently declared Lassa<br />
fever outbreak which, has affected<br />
about 18 States with over 300<br />
recorded cases and 31 deaths.<br />
•Dr Franklin Asiedu Bekoe<br />
The outbreak, he explained,<br />
has been on-going for the past six<br />
weeks and has necessitated urgent<br />
spontaneous national response actions<br />
among all neighbouring<br />
countries, adding that, Lassa fever<br />
outbreak has been recurrent in<br />
Nigeria and the current outbreak<br />
has affected health workers in<br />
some states, he said.<br />
Among other recommendations<br />
by the GHS, he said, suspected<br />
cases must be treated in<br />
isolation, and advised health<br />
workers to strictly adhere to regular<br />
Infection Prevention and Control<br />
measures to prevent and<br />
protect persons against possible<br />
nosocomial transmission.<br />
He urged all health workers to<br />
enhance surveillance, manage suspected<br />
cases in specific isolation<br />
conditions, and send safely packaged<br />
blood samples from suspected<br />
cases to the Noguchi<br />
Memorial Institute for Medical<br />
Research for further laboratory<br />
investigations.<br />
He urged all national, regional<br />
and district facilities to update<br />
their preparedness and response<br />
plans for Lassa fever and VHF in<br />
general, sensitize the respective<br />
staff and create the necessary<br />
public awareness.<br />
Ghana, Cuba join forces to fight malaria, other diseases<br />
THE VICE President Dr Mahamudu<br />
Bawumia has reiterated government’s<br />
desire to eradicate malaria and other<br />
mosquito-transmitted diseases.<br />
According to him, the<br />
government will, therefore, renew discussions<br />
with the Cuba government<br />
for the establishment of a Biolarvicide<br />
factory at Savelugu in the Northern<br />
Region.<br />
This is for the control of pests<br />
and mosquito-transmitted diseases to<br />
serve the country and the West<br />
African sub-region.<br />
Dr Bawumia made the pledge<br />
when he met a high powered Cuban<br />
delegation, led Mercedes Lopez Acea,<br />
Vice President of the Council of<br />
State of Cuba and Ana Teresita Gonzalez,<br />
Deputy Foreign Affairs Minister<br />
of Cuba at the Flagstaff House,<br />
Monday.<br />
In Africa, malaria kills more people<br />
on the continent with a child<br />
dying every 30 seconds from the<br />
scourge. Furthermore, the disease accounts<br />
for around 40% of public<br />
health expenditure in endemic countries.<br />
It accounts for a significant number<br />
of deaths in Ghana and costs<br />
Africa billions of dollars in lost productivity.<br />
“The malaria programme in Savelugu<br />
in Northern Ghana is an area that<br />
Ghana wants to see the proposals<br />
come to fruition for the malaria control<br />
programme.<br />
"Deaths from malaria are avoidable,<br />
and we want this facility to help<br />
eradicate it not just in Ghana but the<br />
whole of West Africa, if not the entire<br />
continent,” Dr Bawumia stated.<br />
Recalling the longstanding relations<br />
between the two countries,<br />
which began in 1959, the Vice President<br />
underscored Ghana’s appreciation<br />
of Cuba’s support for various<br />
sectors of Ghanaian society.<br />
This includes the efforts of the<br />
Cuban Medical Brigade Assistance<br />
Programme, which has doctors and<br />
other health personnel working in<br />
very remote areas in Ghana.<br />
Over 3,000 Ghanaian students<br />
have also benefitted from training in<br />
Cuba, many of whom have since<br />
been contributing their quota to national<br />
development.<br />
The Dr Bawumia who is also<br />
Head of Ghana’s Economic Management<br />
team welcomed interest expressed<br />
by the Cuban business<br />
community in adding value to<br />
Ghana’s cocoa.<br />
“We know that the Cuban business<br />
community has expressed an interest<br />
in Ghana’s cocoa beans. We<br />
believe that if Ghana and Cuba cooperate,<br />
we can add value to Ghana’s<br />
cocoa sector.”<br />
Mrs Mercedes Lopez Acea commended<br />
Ghana’s leading role in ensuring<br />
peace and stability in the West<br />
Africa subregion and called on officials<br />
of the two countries to expand<br />
and deepen areas of cooperation for<br />
mutual benefit.<br />
“We are proud that we have<br />
trained over 3000 Ghanaian students,<br />
who are now playing key roles in<br />
Ghana’s development.<br />
"We are also very proud of the<br />
achievements of the Cuban Medical<br />
Brigade, some of who have been in<br />
Ghana for over 15 years. I believe we<br />
can explore other areas of mutual<br />
benefit,” Mrs Lopez Acea indicated.<br />
The delegation was accompanied<br />
by the Deputy Foreign Affairs Minister,<br />
Mohammad Habibu Tijani and<br />
Ambassador to Cuba, Napoleon Abdulai.
spread_Feb <strong>14</strong> 2018.qxp_SHOWBIZ TEMP 2/13/18 8:42 PM Page 1<br />
News<br />
DAILY HERITAGE, WEDNESDAY, FEBRUARY <strong>14</strong>, 2018<br />
WWW.DAILYHERITAGE.COM.GH<br />
I’ll be sensible, but<br />
will deal with looters<br />
– Amidu<br />
177 teachers posted to<br />
Asuogyaman undergo orientation<br />
BY KENT MENSAH<br />
THE SPECIAL Prosecutor nominee<br />
Mr Martin Amidu has served notice<br />
he will discharge his responsibilities<br />
“reasonably” devoid of witchhunting.<br />
Appearing before the<br />
Appointments Committee of<br />
Parliament on Tuesday, <strong>February</strong> 13,<br />
2018, Mr Amidu emphasised he will<br />
pursue cases in the nation’s interest<br />
and will create room for those who<br />
are willing to return looted funds if<br />
they satisfy certain conditions.<br />
“The office will be reasonable and<br />
act in the nation’s interests. If a<br />
person agrees to get the money back,<br />
ensuring they do that is better than<br />
imprisoning them and feeding them<br />
with state funds until they grow old<br />
and are pardoned,” the former<br />
Deputy Attorney general said.<br />
He repeated: “If a person agrees<br />
to pay back the money they have<br />
misappropriated, ensuring they do<br />
that is better than imprisoning them<br />
and feeding them with state funds<br />
until they grow old and are pardoned.<br />
“Those who think they’ve hidden<br />
some [funds] abroad shouldn’t<br />
approve me because if they do, I will<br />
find it. I have done it before and<br />
under my office, it will be done<br />
again.”<br />
•Martin Amidu<br />
Mr Amidu promised to be<br />
apolitical in executing his duties.<br />
“Prosecutors would not allow<br />
others to play politics with them. The<br />
duty of the prosecutor is to serve the<br />
people by making sure crime is<br />
reduced.<br />
“I can assure everybody that<br />
politics will not influence my job,<br />
people who fall foul will be dealt with<br />
no matter where they come from,”<br />
the Citizen Vigilante served notice.<br />
About Martin Amidu<br />
Martin A. B. K. Amidu was the<br />
Attorney-General and Minister for<br />
Justice from January 2011 till January<br />
2012 under the late President John<br />
Evans Atta-Mills.<br />
Amidu, a member of the NDC,<br />
served as the Deputy Attorney-<br />
General for about the last four years<br />
of the Provisional National Defence<br />
Council military government.<br />
After civilian rule was established<br />
in the Fourth Republic in January<br />
1993, he continued to serve in the<br />
government of Jerry Rawlings as<br />
Deputy Attorney-General. This he<br />
did for both terms lasting eight years<br />
until January 2001.<br />
In the December 2000 presidential<br />
elections, he stood as the running<br />
mate of John Atta Mills. They both,<br />
however, lost to President John<br />
Kufuor that year.<br />
BY BARBARA AKUFFO ASANTE, GNA<br />
THE GHANA Education<br />
Service has organised a<br />
day’s orientation session<br />
for 177 fresh teachers<br />
posted to the<br />
Asuogyaman District at<br />
Akrade, with a call to them to work<br />
hard and to show total commitment to<br />
the job.<br />
Ms. Mavis Yirenkyi, the District<br />
Education Director, reminded them to<br />
make effective use of the contact<br />
hours and warned against absenteeism<br />
and laziness.<br />
She underlined the need to make<br />
their teaching lively - classroom<br />
become less intimidating to the school<br />
children.<br />
They were taken through teaching<br />
methods, the use of teaching<br />
materials, code of conduct of the<br />
BECE candidates to be served a hot meal daily<br />
BY KOJO ANSAH<br />
THE BASIC Education Certificate<br />
Examination (BECE) candidates in<br />
the Asuogyaman constituency of the<br />
Eastern Region will be served one<br />
hot meal daily throughout the<br />
examination period.<br />
A total of 1,765 candidates are<br />
expected to write this year.<br />
It is reported that many<br />
candidates often write the<br />
examination on empty stomachs due<br />
to the inability of parents to provide<br />
money for food.<br />
Performances of BECE<br />
candidates in the Asuogyaman<br />
District over the years have not been<br />
encouraging.<br />
For instance, in the 2015/2016<br />
academic year, out of the 1,583<br />
candidates who sat for the<br />
examination, 863 passed<br />
mathematics while 123 passed<br />
English. Also, 994 out of the total<br />
candidates passed science.<br />
The assist the candidates,<br />
the Member of Parliament for<br />
Asuogyaman, Mr Thomas Ampem<br />
Nyarko, as part of several initiatives<br />
to improve performance of BECE<br />
candidates in the District, announced<br />
that he would provide free lunch for<br />
all 1,765 BECE candidates this year<br />
during the exams aside the provision<br />
of supportive educational materials<br />
such as mathematical sets donated to<br />
the candidates annually.<br />
“We want the BECE candidates<br />
to prepare very well so we are going<br />
•Cross-section of the teachers at the orientation<br />
to organise one mock exams dubbed<br />
‘MP's Mock Exams’ for all our<br />
BECE candidates, I want the BECE<br />
this year to have best record in<br />
Asuogyaman. Additionally, I have<br />
also committed that every BECE<br />
candidate be provided with one hot<br />
meal each of the five days that they<br />
would be writing their exams.”<br />
The MP said this when he<br />
commissioned a four-unit<br />
kindergarten classroom block with<br />
office, storeroom and a toilet facility<br />
for the EP kindergarten school at<br />
South Senchi in the Asuogyaman<br />
District.<br />
teaching profession and the qualities<br />
of a teacher.<br />
Ms. Yirenkyi advised that they<br />
carried themselves with dignity to<br />
serve as good example not only to the<br />
children they were teaching but other<br />
people in the communities.<br />
She spoke of incentive packages<br />
for those, who had accepted to teach<br />
in hard-to-reach rural schools in the<br />
area including study leave with pay<br />
after serving for three years.<br />
Mr. Danial Afadu, the Eastern<br />
Regional Secretary of the Ghana<br />
National Association of Teachers<br />
urged them to plan their lives well and<br />
to take interest in investment and<br />
other supportive programmes of the<br />
association.<br />
He mentioned among these the<br />
habitat loan - meant to help teachers<br />
to have their own residential<br />
accommodation and the teachers’ fund<br />
to assist them to start businesses.<br />
•The MP for Asuogyaman, Mr Thomas Ampem Nyarko has pledged to provide food for 1,765 BECE candidates this year<br />
The project was jointly funded by<br />
the MP for Asuogyaman and Pencils<br />
of Promise, a Non- Governmental<br />
International Organisation. The<br />
project is expected to increase<br />
enrolment at the early childhood<br />
education.<br />
Parl summons<br />
VIP over fatal<br />
accidents<br />
BY KOBINA WELSING<br />
THE PARLIAMENTARY<br />
Select Committee on Roads<br />
and Transport is expected to<br />
meet Management of Private<br />
Transport Operator VIP over<br />
the recent involvement of their<br />
fleet in several road crashes.<br />
Over 10 people died and 30<br />
people were injured after a VIP<br />
bus crashed at Nsawam in the<br />
Eastern Region on Thursday<br />
January 25.<br />
The most recent incident is<br />
the one that claimed the life of<br />
dancehall sensation Ebony<br />
Reigns and two others on the<br />
Sunyani-Kumasi road last<br />
Friday.<br />
Starr News has gathered<br />
that the Committee is<br />
demanding a brief of safety<br />
precautions and measures taken<br />
by the transport company.<br />
VIP is a private transport<br />
operator in the country with<br />
branches across the country.<br />
Over 10 people<br />
died and 30<br />
people were<br />
injured after a<br />
VIP bus crashed<br />
at Nsawam in<br />
the Eastern<br />
Region on<br />
Thursday<br />
January 25.
Inside <strong>February</strong> <strong>14</strong>, 2018 .qxp_Layout 1 2/13/18 8:42 PM Page 7<br />
13TH<br />
FEBRUARY<br />
2018<br />
TUESDAY<br />
CURRENCY PARIS CODE BUYING SELLING<br />
US Dollar USDGHS 4.3600 4.5000<br />
RATES Pound Sterling GBPGHS<br />
6.0500<br />
6.2000<br />
Euro<br />
GBPGHS<br />
5.3800<br />
5.5500<br />
10<br />
DAILY HERITAGE WEDNESDAY, FEBRUARY <strong>14</strong>, 2018<br />
WWW.DAILYHERITAGE.COM.GH<br />
TEGLU threatens demo over influx of pirated textiles<br />
BY MOHAMMED AWAL<br />
THE TEXTILE, Garment and<br />
Leather Employees Union<br />
(TEGLU) is demanding that the<br />
cost of utilities be slashed by 50<br />
percent.<br />
It is also demanding the removal<br />
of VAT on locally produced<br />
textile prints to save local<br />
textile manufacturing companies<br />
from collapse.<br />
According to TEGLU, local<br />
textile manufacturing companies<br />
have sent home about 90 percent<br />
of their workers due to the influx<br />
of pirated wax prints, high taxes<br />
and statutory levies as well as high<br />
cost of raw materials and utilities.<br />
General Secretary of TEGLU,<br />
Abraham Koomson, told Starr<br />
Business that textile workers will<br />
soon hit the streets if government<br />
does not reconstitute a taskforce<br />
to enable it visit point of sales<br />
and make arrests.<br />
“As we speak the taskforce is<br />
only restricting itself to the entry<br />
points. And that is not working.<br />
The pirated wax prints are all over<br />
and the industry is collapsing.<br />
Some of the companies have not<br />
paid their workers for November,<br />
December and January. The situation<br />
is terrible. So we are preparing<br />
to hit the streets in the next<br />
few weeks if nothing changes,” he<br />
said.<br />
Mr Koomson also predicted<br />
that the tax stamps being introduced<br />
by the Ghana Revenue Authority<br />
to check the dumping of<br />
products in the markets will fail<br />
unless the implementation is devoid<br />
of experimentation.<br />
With a workforce of about<br />
27,000 in the 1970s the local textile<br />
industry is now employing<br />
about 3,000 people due to several<br />
debilitating factors.<br />
“As we speak the taskforce is only<br />
restricting itself to the entry points.<br />
And that is not working. The pirated<br />
wax prints are all over and the industry<br />
is collapsing. Some of the<br />
companies have not paid their workers<br />
for November, December and<br />
January. The situation is terrible. So<br />
we are preparing to hit the streets in<br />
the next few weeks if nothing<br />
changes,” he said.<br />
Utility service providers demand<br />
200% increase in tariffs<br />
UTILITY SERV-<br />
ICE providers in<br />
the country are<br />
demanding an upward<br />
adjustment<br />
in their tariff, despite<br />
assurances given by the President<br />
to reduce electricity tariff.<br />
The utility companies, who are<br />
currently meeting the Public Utility<br />
Regulatory Commission (PURC) in<br />
a Joint Consultative forum in<br />
Accra, want tariffs increased by<br />
about 200 percent.<br />
Speaking to Citi Business News,<br />
the Chairman of the Technical<br />
Committee of the PURC, Ishmael<br />
Egyekumhene, said the situation<br />
needs careful assessment as government<br />
has already promised a reduction<br />
in electricity tariff.<br />
“All of them are asking for significant<br />
increases in the tariffs.<br />
That even makes our work more<br />
difficult because already the Executive<br />
[President] has actually gone<br />
ahead to announce some tariff reduction.<br />
I’m sure you just listened<br />
to the NEDCo presentation; the<br />
figure they are asking for translates<br />
to about 200% increases in<br />
what was approved for them in<br />
2015.<br />
“So all of them are pointing<br />
upwards, they are asking for<br />
more money, but it’s our responsibility<br />
to start interrogating all<br />
the cost centres because at the<br />
end of the day, they have what<br />
they call, revenue requirements<br />
which goes into how much<br />
money they need to be able to<br />
run the systems.”<br />
Mr Egyekumhene said cost is<br />
a major factor in considering the<br />
total revenue requirements.<br />
“We are looking critically at<br />
the cost right from generation<br />
to transmission and distribution.<br />
If we are only to base the analysis<br />
on exchange rate and inflation,<br />
there is every justification<br />
for the tariffs to go up,” he<br />
added.<br />
Gov’t reduces electricity tariff<br />
by <strong>14</strong>% for non-residential<br />
users<br />
President Nana Addo<br />
“So all of them are<br />
pointing upwards, they<br />
are asking for more<br />
money, but it’s our responsibility<br />
to start interrogating<br />
all the cost<br />
centres because at the<br />
end of the day, they<br />
have what they call,<br />
revenue requirements<br />
which goes into how<br />
much money they<br />
need to be able to run<br />
the systems.”<br />
Dankwa Akufo-Addo had on<br />
January 15, 2018, announced<br />
an average of <strong>14</strong>% reduction<br />
in electricity tariffs for nonresidential<br />
users in the country<br />
with effect from January<br />
2018.<br />
“From January this year,<br />
the non-residential tariff<br />
rate, which is the rate which<br />
includes all of you here, is<br />
being reduced by an average<br />
of <strong>14</strong>%. For barbers, it is<br />
being reduced by 18%; for<br />
hairdressers and beauticians,<br />
15.7%, and for tailors, 9.8%,”<br />
he added.<br />
Government had earlier<br />
recommended to the Public<br />
Utilities Regulatory Commission<br />
(PURC) to reduce electricity<br />
tariffs in the country.<br />
It promised to reduce<br />
electricity tariffs by between<br />
13 and 21 percent for residential<br />
consumers and industry<br />
respectively.<br />
The PURC’s meeting with<br />
stakeholders in the sector<br />
was to among other things negotiate<br />
and determine a reduction in<br />
tariffs for businesses.<br />
Govt can’t recommend<br />
reduction in power tariffs<br />
-Wereko-Brobby<br />
Former Chief Executive Officer<br />
of the Volta River Authority<br />
(VRA), Dr Charles Wereko-<br />
Brobby, was one of the people<br />
who accused government of trying<br />
to usurp the mandate of the Public<br />
Utilities Regulatory Commission,<br />
by announcing a reduction in electricity<br />
tariffs.<br />
According to him, government<br />
could make proposals to the regulatory<br />
body about a possible reduction<br />
in the tariffs, citing possible<br />
changes in the cost of production.<br />
He added however that, the<br />
final say on any adjustment of the<br />
tariffs should come from the<br />
PURC devoid of any pressure<br />
from the government.
Inside <strong>February</strong> <strong>14</strong>, 2018 .qxp_Layout 1 2/13/18 8:42 PM Page 8<br />
WWW.DAILYHERITAGE.COM.GH<br />
DAILY HERITAGE WEDNESDAY, FEBRUARY <strong>14</strong>, 2018 11<br />
Politics<br />
Where justice is denied, where poverty is enforced,<br />
where ignorance prevails, and where any one class is<br />
made to feel that society is an organized conspiracy to<br />
oppress, rob and degrade them, neither persons nor<br />
property will be safe — Frederick Douglass<br />
How to prevent the President's<br />
sanitation wish list from<br />
becoming slogans - IMANI<br />
THE PRESIDENT<br />
made two compelling<br />
statements<br />
on sanitation in<br />
his State of the<br />
Nation Address<br />
last week. These were;<br />
1. “Urgent attention will be<br />
given to clearing of rubbish all<br />
around the country. Apart from<br />
the systematic efforts being<br />
made to resolve the legacy of inherited<br />
debts in the sector, government<br />
will spend an amount of<br />
GH¢ 200 million to address the<br />
issue of sanitation.”<br />
2. “Government is working<br />
with various private sector authorities<br />
to tackle this major challenge<br />
with strategies that are<br />
intended to effect a change in<br />
our attitudes towards waste and<br />
filth as well as improve dramatically<br />
our methods of waste management.<br />
This will be<br />
complemented by the strict enforcement<br />
of sanitation rules<br />
and regulations.”<br />
Clearly, at the core of the sanitation<br />
problem is a drive to understand<br />
the most basic problem,<br />
which is refuse disposal. Domestic<br />
and commercial entities in<br />
Ghana’s main urban enclaves do<br />
not have enough repositories to<br />
dispose refuse, leaving a huge<br />
problem in the hands of the associated<br />
municipal and district<br />
authorities. Tackling the ability to<br />
dispose of rubbish easily is very<br />
key to ensuring at the last mile,<br />
assured proactive sanitation activity,<br />
making it easier to enforce<br />
bye-laws created to ensure clean<br />
cities and towns.<br />
It is interesting to note that an<br />
amendment of the Customs and<br />
Excise Act in 2013 passed by<br />
Parliament determined that an<br />
excise duty of 10% of the exfactory<br />
price on imported plastic<br />
and plastic products should be<br />
levied. The same law indicates<br />
that “not less than 50% of the<br />
revenue accruing under this tariff<br />
should be paid into a fund designated<br />
as the “Plastic Waste Recycling<br />
Fund”. By our records, an<br />
estimated amount of GH¢ 265m<br />
has been realised since the introduction<br />
of the excise duty and<br />
had the potential of providing us<br />
950,000 waste bins, which would<br />
have reached every household<br />
had previous Politicians not entertained<br />
funny ideas with the<br />
money.<br />
The issue that the Ghanaian<br />
public and all stakeholders<br />
should interrogate, as part of<br />
solving the sanitation problem is,<br />
why this ‘Plastic Waste Recycling<br />
Fund (PWRF)’ has not been accounted<br />
for in the 4 years since<br />
the passing of this law, and why<br />
it has not been utilized for activities<br />
such as last mile domestic<br />
and commercial refuse disposal,<br />
while the most glaring problems<br />
have been the inability to control<br />
and regulate effectively that aspect<br />
of activity to any level of<br />
It is interesting to note that an amendment of the Customs<br />
and Excise Act in 2013 passed by Parliament determined that<br />
an excise duty of 10% of the ex-factory price on imported<br />
plastic and plastic products should be levied. The same law<br />
indicates that “not less than 50% of the revenue accruing<br />
under this tariff should be paid into a fund designated as the<br />
“Plastic Waste Recycling Fund”.<br />
satisfaction?<br />
Stakeholders should be able to<br />
identify this last mile problem of<br />
municipal waste disposal to determine<br />
whether the fund can be<br />
used to help resolve this last mile<br />
problem, which the President<br />
clearly identified as one of the<br />
prime sanitation challenges.<br />
The right equipment and solutions<br />
that will justify the utilization<br />
of these funds should be the<br />
focal point of stakeholder discussion<br />
as well as a call to the<br />
government to release funds<br />
from the PWRF to effectively<br />
provide the necessary infrastructure<br />
for refuse collection will go<br />
a long way to create the environment<br />
that shifts people to the<br />
right attitudinal approach to refuse<br />
collection and disposal with<br />
the help of enforceable statutes<br />
and bye-laws.<br />
Several successive initiatives<br />
by previous governments, like<br />
Sanitation Saturdays, have not<br />
had the right level of success due<br />
to these basic limitations and the<br />
fact that they do not proactively<br />
attack the problems.<br />
It is good news that the President<br />
has voted GH¢ 200 million<br />
for sanitation related activity,<br />
possibly partially funded from<br />
the Plastic Waste Recycling<br />
Fund. However, this amount is<br />
not enough as private players will<br />
also need to chip and be allowed<br />
to responsibly manage waste at<br />
the last mile else we are at risk of<br />
not achieving the right objectives<br />
with the President's wish list.<br />
In support of the President's<br />
sanitation resolve, IMANI is<br />
contributing to shaping the discussion<br />
on last mile sanitation in<br />
mid-March. We will be showcasing<br />
the problem and outlining<br />
solutions with open floor for<br />
stakeholders to participate in.<br />
This will be preceded by an inaugural<br />
fellowship lecture by our<br />
new fellow, Mr Ato Coleman, on<br />
the topic ‘Has Ghana’s Sanitation<br />
Policy and Strategy Failed?<br />
Whither forward?’<br />
The discussion will be moderated<br />
by IMANI's Senior Vice-<br />
President, Kofi Bentil.<br />
Mr. Ato Coleman has held<br />
senior leadership roles including<br />
Country Director, Plan International<br />
Sierra Leone; Senior Director<br />
of Operations for World<br />
Vision International for West<br />
and Central Africa where as<br />
deputy to the Regional Vice<br />
President. In 2016, he was<br />
awarded the International Non<br />
Governmental Organisation<br />
leader of the year by the Sierra<br />
Leone Council of Chief Executive<br />
Os for the leadership and excellence<br />
he displayed during the<br />
Ebola crisis in that country.<br />
Source: IMANI Ghana<br />
It is good news that<br />
the President has<br />
voted GH¢ 200 million<br />
for sanitation<br />
related activity,<br />
possibly partially<br />
funded from the<br />
Plastic Waste Recycling<br />
Fund. However,<br />
this amount is<br />
not enough as private<br />
players will<br />
also need to chip<br />
and be allowed to<br />
responsibly manage<br />
waste at the<br />
last mile else we<br />
are at risk of not<br />
achieving the right<br />
objectives with the<br />
President's wish<br />
list.
Inside <strong>February</strong> <strong>14</strong>, 2018 .qxp_Layout 1 2/13/18 8:42 PM Page 9<br />
12<br />
DAILY<br />
Politics<br />
WWW.DAILYHERITAGE.COM.GH<br />
HERITAGE WEDNESDAY, FEBRUARY <strong>14</strong>, 2018<br />
Africa needs dynamic leaders – CPP<br />
BY KENT MENSAH<br />
THE CONVEN-<br />
TION People’s<br />
Party (CPP) has said<br />
Africa needs dynamic<br />
and not<br />
speech-making leaders.<br />
The chairman of the CPP,<br />
Prof. Edmund Delle has, therefore,<br />
called on African governments<br />
to roll their sleeves, get<br />
down to business, for which they<br />
were voted into power.<br />
“Most African governments<br />
have transformed leadership into<br />
speech-making platforms, organising<br />
and attending conferences<br />
while the real work for the socialeconomic<br />
development remains<br />
undone.<br />
“We need a paradigm shift in<br />
the African governance architecture,<br />
where leadership rolls up<br />
their sleeves and descend from<br />
their ivory towers and join the<br />
masses for rapid transformation,”<br />
Prof. Delle told the Ghana News<br />
Agency.<br />
Prof Delle, who is also the<br />
leader of the CPP, noted that<br />
most African governments have<br />
reduced governance into euphoria<br />
and ceremonial mechanism with<br />
show of opulence and political<br />
authority to the disadvantage of<br />
the ordinary citizen.<br />
The CPP Chairman therefore<br />
•Prof Edmund Delle, CPP national chairman<br />
called on civil society actors, traditional<br />
and religious leaders, think<br />
tanks, the media as well as political<br />
parties, especially opposition party<br />
establishment to constantly play<br />
active watchdog roles in the interest<br />
of the people.<br />
He said there was the urgent<br />
need for African leadership to engage<br />
in strategic thinking and<br />
planning to prepare the population<br />
for emerging and future challenges.<br />
The CPP Chairman said in<br />
contemporary complex societies,<br />
institutions that made the population<br />
survive and flourish needed<br />
proper leadership for their effective<br />
maintenance and urged<br />
African leaders to be creative and<br />
visionary as the growth and development<br />
of a nation depended on<br />
the quality of the leaders at any<br />
particular point in time.<br />
“Without the right kind of<br />
leadership, there exist only chaos,<br />
confusion and frustration”.<br />
The CPP Chairman noted that<br />
the current political and economic<br />
problems besetting the African<br />
continent stemmed from the leadership<br />
crisis experienced over the<br />
past decades.<br />
“Signs of leadership crisis are<br />
alarming and pervasive. There is a<br />
widespread loss of faith in our<br />
major institutions such as the judiciary<br />
and law enforcement agencies<br />
generally.<br />
“There is an alarming breakdown<br />
of traditional values and<br />
discipline; corruption is more or<br />
less institutionalised and no serious<br />
attempts are being made to<br />
fight it, we need an urgent paradigm<br />
shift to save the continent,”<br />
Prof Delle noted.<br />
Prof Delle called on current<br />
African Governments to rise up<br />
to the changing trend in global<br />
governance, offer pragmatic solutions<br />
to numerous problems facing<br />
the continent with homegrown<br />
solutions.<br />
On the CPP’s strategy for reorganisation,<br />
Prof Delle said the<br />
party would rollout grass-root reengineering<br />
process through the<br />
constituencies to the regional and<br />
national levels to consolidate,<br />
deepen and project the party as a<br />
force in Ghanaian political sphere.<br />
Prof Delle noted that CPP<br />
would also create a platform to<br />
co-operate with other political<br />
parties and movements, which<br />
commit themselves to similar<br />
ideals, and strengthen Ghana’s<br />
democratic governance through<br />
active participation in governance<br />
as a prudent opposition party.<br />
“There is an alarming<br />
breakdown of<br />
traditional values<br />
and discipline; corruption<br />
is more or<br />
less institutionalised<br />
and no serious attempts<br />
are being<br />
made to fight it, we<br />
need an urgent paradigm<br />
shift to save<br />
the continent,” Prof<br />
Delle noted.<br />
Martin Amidu: I want to stop leakages and corruption<br />
BY KOBINA WELSING<br />
THE SPECIAL Prosecutor nominee,<br />
Mr Martin A. B. K Amidu<br />
has stated that he accepted the<br />
President’s offer because he wants<br />
to stop the leakages and corruption<br />
that had bedeviled the country<br />
since constitutional rule.<br />
Addressing Parliament’s Appointment’s<br />
Committee yesterday,<br />
the anti-corruption campaigner<br />
stated that the country must be<br />
stabilised by protecting the national<br />
purse and ensuring that the<br />
citizens benefit immensely from<br />
the nation’s natural resources.<br />
“It’s important that this country<br />
is stabilised to make sure that<br />
no one gets the excuse to stage a<br />
coup. This can be done when we<br />
protect the national purse,” Mr<br />
Amidu said.<br />
The vetting of Mr Amidu was<br />
in limbo after a former deputy Attorney<br />
General, Dr Ayine filed a<br />
suit at the Supreme Court on<br />
Monday arguing that the nominee<br />
is too old to hold the position.<br />
He wants the apex court of the<br />
land to annul the appointment because<br />
“…by reason of his age, (66<br />
years), Mr Martin Alamisi Burns<br />
Kaiser Amidu is not qualified or<br />
eligible to be approved by Parliament<br />
as the Special Prosecutor<br />
under Section 13(3) of the Office<br />
of the Special Prosecutor Act,<br />
2018 (Act 959).”<br />
Meanwhile, the First Deputy<br />
Speaker of Parliament, Mr Joe<br />
Osei Owusu has stated that the<br />
age of Amidu cannot disqualify<br />
him from becoming the Special<br />
Prosecutor.<br />
About Martin Amidu<br />
Mr Amidu was the Attorney-<br />
General and Minister for Justice<br />
from January 2011 till January<br />
2012 under the late President John<br />
Evans Atta-Mills.<br />
Amidu, a member of the National<br />
Democratic Congress,<br />
•Martin Amidu, Special Prosecutor nominee<br />
served as the Deputy Attorney-<br />
General for about the last four<br />
years of the Provisional National<br />
Defence Council military government.<br />
After civilian rule was established<br />
in the Fourth Republic in<br />
January 1993, he continued to<br />
serve in the government of Jerry<br />
John Rawlings as Deputy Attorney-General.<br />
This he did for both<br />
terms lasting eight years until January<br />
2001.<br />
In the December 2000 presidential<br />
elections, he stood as the<br />
running mate of John Atta Mills.<br />
They both, however, lost to President<br />
John Kufuor that year.
13<br />
WWW.DAILYHERITAGE.COM.GH DAILY HERITAGE WEDNESDAY, FEBRUARY <strong>14</strong>, 2018<br />
BY ABIGAIL ASARE<br />
Ebony was never<br />
a lesbian – Bullet<br />
•Vanessa Gyan<br />
Vanessa is only Ghanaian for<br />
Women4Africa Awards 2018<br />
BY ERICA ARTHUR<br />
RADIO AND TV<br />
presenter Vanessa<br />
Gyan is the only<br />
Ghanaian nominated<br />
in this year’s<br />
Women4Africa<br />
Awards in the United Kingdom.<br />
The presenter, who is the<br />
only daughter of the late Kiki<br />
Gyan of Osibisa fame and the<br />
host of Live from the Capital on<br />
Live 91.9FM, was nominated in<br />
the ‘Woman in Media’ category.The<br />
7th edition of the annual<br />
awards themed ‘The Royal<br />
Edition’ is scheduled for Saturday<br />
May 19, 2018 in Kensington,<br />
London.<br />
Speaking to the DAILY<br />
HERITAGE, Ms Gyan said<br />
she was nominated due to her<br />
hard work in the media industry<br />
in both Ghana and the international<br />
scene. She also expressed<br />
her excitement about the nomination<br />
and especially being the<br />
only Ghanaian given the recognition.<br />
“I am really excited because<br />
due to the global recognition,<br />
not just of Vanessa Gyan but<br />
my efforts in the Industry with<br />
‘The Sincerely Vee Show’ and<br />
‘The Sincerely Vee Foundation.’<br />
With each I continue to raise<br />
awareness to greater causes such<br />
as maternal health, while giving<br />
individuals the platform to inspire<br />
through their own journey.”<br />
Ms Gyan also encouraged the<br />
younger generation to always be<br />
themselves, she said “Aspire to<br />
only be you, you can be inspired<br />
by others. Be inspired by<br />
Vanessa Gyan but don’t aspire to<br />
be the next Vanessa. Be confident,<br />
bold and above all be authentic<br />
as you can.Always use<br />
the voice you have and work<br />
hard.”<br />
Sincerely Vee Foundation is<br />
an extension of ‘The Sincerely,<br />
Vee’ show and founded by<br />
Radio and TV Host, Vanessa<br />
Gyan. It aims to raise awareness<br />
and make a difference/impact<br />
by dedicating their time on one<br />
specific need that the organisation<br />
feels lacks attention.<br />
Women4africa is a United<br />
Kingdom registered organisation<br />
focused on celebrating and empowering<br />
Africa and its women<br />
by supporting and celebrating<br />
their role in their communities<br />
via conferences, supporting education<br />
and Awarding prestigious<br />
awards, recognitions and special<br />
honours on such women identified<br />
and nominated by the public.<br />
It was birthed from a 20-year<br />
desire and passion to see women<br />
honoured and appreciated in a<br />
celebratory way. Overtime,<br />
African women have often been<br />
portrayed as victims of poverty,<br />
violence, and conflict, amongst<br />
other disasters.<br />
Beyond advocating and engaging<br />
them to fight against<br />
these negativities, it is equally<br />
important to highlight that<br />
African women are also ‘agents<br />
of positive change’ in their communities.<br />
Africa has over 53 countries<br />
and a large number of women<br />
who are unique and different in<br />
their own individual ways.<br />
Women of all walks of life tend<br />
to face a lot of challenges in<br />
today’s society.<br />
However, many African<br />
women have been great examples<br />
of success worldwide promoting<br />
peace in<br />
conflict-inflicted areas and contributing<br />
to the increased resources<br />
in their nations.<br />
MANAGER OF the late Ebony, Bullet, on Okay<br />
FM disclosed that late dancehall artiste Ebony<br />
Reigns was never a lesbian.<br />
According to Bullet, the controversy surrounding<br />
the death of the late dancehall artiste<br />
Ebony Reigns has taken another twist with attention<br />
now being focused on her alleged Personal<br />
Assistant, Franklina Kuri.<br />
Reacting to the claim that Franklina Kuri’s intimacy<br />
with Ebony suggests they were lesbians,<br />
the manager of the talented artiste strongly debunked<br />
the rumours saying it must be treated<br />
with the contempt that it deserves.<br />
The Chief Executive Officer of Ruff Town<br />
Records told Okay FM that contrary to widely<br />
held view that Ebony Reigns was bad girl the latter<br />
was rather very spiritual and generous person.<br />
“People don’t know how kind-hearted Ebony<br />
was. If you don’t know someone don’t judge the<br />
person. Ebony wasn’t a lesbian. When someone<br />
becomes popular, he or she is labelled with practices<br />
that are fictitious.”<br />
Bullet further cautioned that people should<br />
think about themselves and what will happen to<br />
them and stop talking ill of his artiste and himself.<br />
Priscilla Opoku-Kwarteng known in showbiz<br />
died in a car accident on 8th <strong>February</strong>, 2018<br />
when she was returning from Sunyani in the<br />
Brong Ahafo Region.<br />
According to the police report the Jeep she<br />
was travelling in crashed into a VIP bus on<br />
Thursday evening.<br />
Ebony was travelling with three other people,<br />
and two of them have also been confirmed dead.<br />
The two include a young lady, Ebony’s friend,<br />
and a military man.<br />
She produced hits songs like ‘Dancefloor,’<br />
‘Kupe,’ ‘Hustle,’ ‘Maame Hwe,’ ‘Date Ur Fada’<br />
and ‘Poison’<br />
•O.D.<br />
Super O. D. dead<br />
VETERAN<br />
GHANAIAN actor,<br />
Asonaba Kweku<br />
Darko, known in<br />
showbiz as Super<br />
O.D. is dead.<br />
According to the<br />
source, the actor,<br />
died early Tuesday<br />
morning at his Swedru<br />
residence in the<br />
Central Region.<br />
The actor, who<br />
has been off the<br />
screens for some<br />
years, had a frail<br />
health until his demise.<br />
Super OD, who<br />
had a blissful acting<br />
career spanning from<br />
the 1970s to the 90’s,<br />
was very popular for<br />
his roles in local<br />
Ghanaian series,<br />
Akan Drama on<br />
GTV.<br />
Acting with the<br />
Oppong Drama<br />
Group which later<br />
became known as<br />
Osofo Dadzie Group,<br />
Super O. D. gained<br />
nationwide popularity<br />
for his impeccable<br />
acting and rib cracking<br />
jokes.<br />
He died at age 84.<br />
•Ebony Reigns
WWW.DAILYHERITAGE.COM.GH<br />
DAILY HERITAGE WEDNESDAY, FEBRUARY <strong>14</strong>, 2018<br />
Giovani nominated<br />
for Event MC of<br />
The Year Award<br />
Davido drops ‘Flora my flawa’<br />
MULTIPLE AWARDwinning<br />
Nigerian superstar,<br />
Davido has launched<br />
his personal 2018 account<br />
with this new love<br />
song titled ‘Flora My<br />
Flawa.’<br />
The track was produced<br />
by DMW’s inhouse<br />
hitmaker Fresh,<br />
and it comes short after<br />
DMW shared their first<br />
collaborative single for<br />
the year 2018 titled<br />
‘Mind’ featuring Davido,<br />
Mayorkun, Dremo and<br />
Peruzzi.<br />
CO-HOST<br />
OF Starr<br />
Drive<br />
Giovani<br />
Caleb has<br />
been<br />
nominated for event MC<br />
for 2017 in the Shine<br />
Awards for 2018.<br />
The versatile broadcaster<br />
made the cut for<br />
his dexterity when he emceed<br />
the Praises Reloaded<br />
2016.<br />
The nomination is a<br />
further endorsement for<br />
the father of one who<br />
has brought smiles and<br />
excitement to the city<br />
over the last two years on<br />
the Starr Drive.<br />
Other emcees competing<br />
for the top award are<br />
Kwamena Idann of<br />
Adom FM, Jeremie of<br />
Live and Timothy Bentum.<br />
Giovani and his cohost<br />
Berla Mundi take<br />
over the capital with the<br />
best radio drive between<br />
2pm and 5pm from Monday<br />
to Friday on Starr<br />
103.5FM.<br />
•Davido<br />
I was born<br />
broke —Wizkid<br />
NIGERIAN SINGER, Wizkid has revealed<br />
that he was born broke but will die<br />
very “wealthy”.<br />
The singer, who was listed as 7th Richest<br />
Artiste in Africa, made the statement<br />
via his Twitter account today. He wrote;<br />
“Born Broke, Die wealthy”.<br />
The talented singer, who is the last of<br />
six children, started singing at age 11; he<br />
sang in his church’s choir and released a<br />
seven track album entitled ‘Lil Prinz’.<br />
Wizkid’s first song featured one of<br />
Nigeria’s celebrated musical icon, OJB<br />
Jezreel. In 2006, Wizkid collaborated with<br />
Naeto C and Ikechukwu prior to rising to<br />
stardom.<br />
In 2009, Wizkid became a household<br />
name within Nigeria’s musical landscape;<br />
he was featured on M.I’s ‘Fast Money,<br />
Fast Cars’, and Kel’s “Turn by Turn’.<br />
Wizkid was featured on Banky W’s<br />
album, The W Experience, after getting<br />
signed to Empire Mates Entertainment.<br />
Wizkid began recording songs for his<br />
debut album, Superstar, several months<br />
prior to the June 9, 2011 release.<br />
Wizkid has won seven awards, including<br />
Ghana Music Awards (African Artist<br />
of the Year) in 2013, BET Awards 2012<br />
(Best International Act Africa) in 2012,<br />
Hip Hop World Awards 2012 (The Headies)<br />
in two nominations, Nigerian Entertainment<br />
Awards 2012, in two<br />
nominations, Mobo Awards (Best African<br />
Act) in 2011.<br />
Photo Of<br />
The Day<br />
DESCRIBED AS the 21st most<br />
influential young Ghanaian in the<br />
year 2016 by Avance Media Ghana<br />
and a leader of the new school by one<br />
of the biggest magazines in Africa,<br />
Berla Mundi, real name, Berlinda<br />
Addardey is a TV/Radio presenter/<br />
actress and event host.<br />
Berla Mundi’s beauty and elegance<br />
when she modeled in some stunning<br />
wedding gowns by celebrity<br />
designer/stylist, Sima Brew won her<br />
the Photo of the Day in our today’s<br />
edition of the DAILY HERITAGE.<br />
She looked overly gorgeous in<br />
different designs of wedding dresses<br />
made by same designer who is wellknown<br />
for styling a plethora of<br />
Ghanaian celebrities on the red<br />
carpet of various events and other<br />
engagements.<br />
•Wizkid
DAILYHERITAGE.COM.GH<br />
Sports<br />
DAILY HERITAGE WEDNESDAY, FEBRUARY <strong>14</strong>, 2018<br />
GFA, Great<br />
Olympics case<br />
adjourned to Feb. 21<br />
BY ANNETTE S. YEBOAH<br />
GHANA FOOT-<br />
BALL is set for<br />
some interesting<br />
times ahead after<br />
an Accra High<br />
Court adjourned<br />
to Wednesday, <strong>February</strong> 21, 2018 a<br />
case in which Accra Great<br />
Olympics have filed a suit against<br />
the Ghana Football Association regarding<br />
their demotion to the<br />
country's second-tier league.<br />
The two parties were represented<br />
by their lawyers yesterday.<br />
Great Olympics are challenging<br />
their relegation from the country's<br />
elite division claiming Bechem<br />
United fielded an unqualified<br />
player during their league match<br />
against Elmina Sharks last season.<br />
The club secured an injunction<br />
on the league originally billed to<br />
start last weekend.<br />
The latest standoff means the<br />
delay start of the league will continue<br />
unabated until a resolution is<br />
reached between the two parties.<br />
•Felix Annan<br />
Supporters should<br />
remain hopeful— Annan<br />
•Some players of Accra<br />
Great Olympics<br />
ASANTE KOTOKO’S<br />
safest pair of hands, Felix<br />
Annan has given the<br />
teeming supporters of the<br />
club some words of hope<br />
that Kotoko will still qualify<br />
to the next stage of<br />
the CAF Confederation<br />
Cup in spite of recording<br />
a slim victory at home<br />
against CARA Brazzaville.<br />
The former West<br />
Africa Football Academy<br />
goalkeeper believed that<br />
all is not lost yet, therefore<br />
supporters of the<br />
club should not give up<br />
but rather rally behind the<br />
team.<br />
The 2017 MTN FA<br />
Cup champions won 1-0<br />
against CARA Brazzaville<br />
in the first leg of the preliminary<br />
stage of CAF<br />
Confederation Cup at the<br />
Baba Yara Sports Stadium.<br />
Commenting on the<br />
possibility of qualifying at<br />
the expense of CARA<br />
Brazzaville in an interview,<br />
Annan said, “The<br />
supporters should not be<br />
discouraged by the results.<br />
We really played our<br />
hearts out but what was<br />
destined to occur happened.<br />
All is not lost yet,<br />
we have the men to battle<br />
for qualifications in the<br />
second leg.”<br />
The Porcupine Warriors<br />
is expected to leave<br />
for Congo on Wednesday<br />
to honour the second leg.<br />
Kotoko resumes training today<br />
ASANTE KOTOKO Sporting<br />
Club will commence their<br />
frantic preparations ahead of<br />
the intriguing second leg encounter<br />
with nine-times Congolese<br />
Champions Club<br />
Athletique Renaissance Aiglon<br />
(CARA) at Brazzaville in the<br />
preliminary round of CAF<br />
Confederation Cup at the<br />
Adako Jachie training complex<br />
this morning.<br />
Kotoko on Sunday pipped<br />
CARA by a lone goal at the<br />
Baba Yara Sports Stadium in<br />
the first leg of the Confederation<br />
Cup.<br />
Former AshantiGold<br />
striker Yakubu Mohammed<br />
came off the bench to convert<br />
a late penalty to hand his<br />
side a much-needed victory<br />
after three penalties have been<br />
unfathomably squandered by<br />
Sadick Adams, Amos Frimpong<br />
and Baba Mahama.<br />
The second leg fixture<br />
which is expected to be played<br />
on Wednesday, <strong>February</strong> 22,<br />
2018 will be a herculean hurdle<br />
for Kotoko to climb.<br />
Last Sunday, put up one of<br />
the breathtaking performance<br />
in recent times but failed to<br />
realise more goals to make the<br />
second leg a mere formality<br />
but English trainer, Steve Polack<br />
believes that, with the<br />
brilliant performance put up<br />
by his lads in the first leg,<br />
there is still hope that they<br />
will secure qualification<br />
against CARA Brazzaville in<br />
their own backyard if they are<br />
able to repeat that and even<br />
more.<br />
Today's recovery training<br />
session is expected to last for<br />
an hour after the players were<br />
given two-days off duty.<br />
•Kotoko line-up
Sports<br />
WWW.DAILYHERITAGE.COM.GH<br />
<strong>14</strong>/02/2018<br />
WEDNESDAY. DAILY HERITAGE<br />
Email: info@dailyheritage.com.gh<br />
Facebook: facebook.com/dailyheritagegh<br />
Twitter:#heritage_daily<br />
Chelsea<br />
can't<br />
stop<br />
Messi<br />
• Alvaro Morata admits<br />
• Phil Jones<br />
Mourinho ready to<br />
sell Jones, Smalling<br />
JOSE MOURINHO is<br />
preparing to overhaul<br />
his Manchester United defence<br />
this summer with Phil Jones<br />
and Chris Smalling facing the<br />
axe at Old Trafford.<br />
The pair have failed to<br />
impress throughout the season<br />
for United, with Smalling<br />
particularly coming in for<br />
criticism following the 1-0<br />
defeat by Newcastle on Sunday.<br />
The 28-year-old was booked<br />
for a dive and the resulting<br />
free-kick led to Matt Ritchie's<br />
goal which consigned United to<br />
defeat.<br />
Jones produced an<br />
underwhelming display in<br />
United's 2-0 loss to Tottenham<br />
at Wembley earlier this month.<br />
He netted an own goal for<br />
Tottenham's second, with<br />
Mourinho's description of the<br />
finish as 'an amazing goal<br />
• Chris Smalling<br />
Harry Kane would love to<br />
score' far from supportive.<br />
Yet while Mourinho has<br />
decided his defence needs<br />
strengthening, United actually<br />
have the best goals-against<br />
record in the Premier League<br />
this season.<br />
Real Madrid defender<br />
Raphael Varane and Leicester<br />
centre-half Harry Maguire are<br />
names that feature on a<br />
shortlist of replacements.<br />
Mourinho worked with<br />
France international Varane for<br />
the final two seasons of his<br />
three-year tenure at Madrid,<br />
from 2011 until 2013.<br />
Maguire has been in<br />
impressive form throughout<br />
the season at Leicester and won<br />
his first England cap, against<br />
Lithuania in World Cup<br />
qualifying last October.b<br />
Dailymail<br />
ALVARO<br />
MORATA ha<br />
s warned his<br />
Chelsea<br />
team-mates<br />
that<br />
Barcelona star Lionel Messi<br />
will be unstoppable when the<br />
two sides meet in<br />
the Champions League.<br />
The giants collide at the<br />
last-16 stage in the latest<br />
instalment of their longrunning<br />
European rivalry.<br />
Messi has faced Chelsea<br />
eight times without scoring a<br />
single goal from 29 shots –<br />
his worst record against any<br />
club during his career.<br />
But Ernesto Valverde's<br />
side head into the tie flying<br />
high and Morata believes it<br />
will take an outstanding<br />
rearguard action for<br />
his side to progress.<br />
'Messi can't be<br />
stopped,' the Spain<br />
striker told Movistar+.<br />
'If we can get a<br />
good result here, we<br />
have to play a<br />
defensive game with<br />
spaces and try to<br />
bother them as<br />
much as possible.'<br />
The first leg of<br />
the last-16 tie<br />
takes place at<br />
Stamford Bridge<br />
on <strong>February</strong> 20,<br />
with the return leg<br />
at the Nou Camp<br />
scheduled for March <strong>14</strong>.<br />
Dailymail<br />
‘We must keep Courtois, Eden Hazard’<br />
•Eden Hazard and<br />
Thibaut Courtois have<br />
won a host of trophies<br />
for Chelsea<br />
HAZARD AND<br />
Courtois have yet to<br />
sign new contracts<br />
with the Blues amid<br />
speculation Real<br />
Madrid could make<br />
a move for the pair.<br />
But Giroud, who<br />
hit it off with<br />
Hazard on his full<br />
debut in Monday<br />
night’s 3-0 win over<br />
West Brom, says<br />
Chelsea must keep<br />
hold of them.<br />
He said: “They<br />
are very special<br />
players. They have<br />
been here a few<br />
• Lionel Messi<br />
years now and done<br />
a great job at the<br />
club.<br />
“They are very<br />
good on the pitch<br />
but they are good<br />
guys as well. It’s<br />
very important to<br />
keep that kind of<br />
player for their<br />
leadership.<br />
“I don’t have to<br />
say too much about<br />
their qualities<br />
because they show<br />
it again in this<br />
game. Obviously we<br />
need to keep them.”<br />
Dailystar<br />
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