June 22

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THE MINISTER for Regional
Reorganisation and Development, Mr Dan
Kwaku Botwe, has urged the media to
minimise bad press which he says has the
potential of affecting investor confidence
and rather project positive issues and
support government's development
agenda.
According to the Minister, who is also
Member of Parliament (MP) for Okere
constituency, though the media could not
be forced to suppress negative press, it was
important for the media to be cognisant of
the effects of such publications on the
development of the country.
He said though many journalists find it
difficult to associate with government’s
development agenda for fear of being
tagged as doing the bidding of a political
party, it was important that journalists
defuse that notion and support
government’s development agenda.
"If government has a programme on
One-District-One Factory, it should not be
seen as a partisan programme,” he noted.
Mr Botwe said this when speaking at
the maiden Eastern Regional Ghana
Journalists Association (GJA) Awards
which was on the theme, ‘Repositioning
the Eastern Region for Investment and job
creation: role of the media.’
He lauded the agenda set by the GJA
aimed at helping in the creation of jobs.
He pledged to organise Eastern Region
MPs’ caucus to have a retreat with the
media to find ways of achieving the set
goal.
On her part, the Vice Chancellor of the
Koforidua Technical University (KTU),
Professor Mrs Smile Afua Gavua Dzisi,
called for a paradigm shift in reporting by
News
DAILY
Minimise bad press and
support govt’s agenda
• Dan Botwe to media
BY KOJO ANSAH
focusing on issues that would
engineer economic development, promote
local industries, support Small and Media
Enterprises and ultimately make the region
attractive for investors, instead of the usual
sensationalism, fanning political
altercations and negative publicity from the
region.
The regional chairman of the GJA,
Maxwell Kudekor called on journalists in
the region to focus on development
journalism why keeping an eye on their
gate-keeping role.
A total of eight journalists and two
media houses, Eastern FM and FAWE FM,
in the region were awarded at the
ceremony.
Ama Takyiwa Ampadu Nyarko and
David Kodjo, both of Ghanaian Times
received the Best Health and Rural
reporter respectively while Gilbert
Frimpong of the Daily Statesman was
adjudged the Best Environmental Reporter
of the year.
Sylvanus Gatorwu of Healthylifegh.com
and Kwadwo Amoako Gyampa of Good
Life FM were also recognised for emerging
the best in HIV Response Reporting.
For business reporting category,
Candida Dery of GBC Sunrise FM was
adjudged winner while Ebenezer Ayeh of
UTV emerged best Road Safety Reporter.
Kwadwo Amoako Gyampah again received
the best Indigenous Newscaster prize.
All the award winners received a plaque
and a certificate each as their prizes but the
best business reporter was given an HP
laptop donated by Association of Ghana
Industries (AGI).
The event was sponsored by Newmont
Golden Ridge Limited (Akyem Mines), the
Ghana Free Zones Authority, the Ghana
Aids Commission and the AGI.
•Affail Monney, GJA President presenting an award to one of the winners
THE 14TH
Congregation of
Koforidua Technical
University (KTU),
scheduled to take
place on June 23,
2018, may not take place due to
agitation by hundreds of students
who have been excluded from the
final graduation list released on
Monday June 18, 2018.
The affected students, who have
not been provided tangible reasons
why they cannot graduate on
Saturday, are threatening to secure
court injunction to halt the entire
ceremony.
"It has come to our notice (KTU
2014 -2017 batch) that the
management of Koforidua
Technical University has decided
not to graduate all mature students
and conditional students after
fulfilling their part of agreement as
stated in the admission forms.
"We don't understand this
decision by the management of
Koforidua Technical University and
THE PRINCIPAL suspect in the
trial for the murder of the Member
of Parliament (MP) for Abuakwa
North, J. B. Danquah-Adu, is
mentally unstable, a defense lawyer
claims.
Daniel Asiedu on Wednesday
told an Accra District Court that he
and the other suspect were
contracted by some members of
the New Patriotic Party (NPP) to
kill the lawmaker.
Nicknamed ‘Sexy Dondon,’
Asiedu told the court, presided over
by Her Worship, Arit Nsemoh that
his “contractors” told him to indict
certain persons in the National
Democratic Congress (NDC)
instead of the NPP.
Asiedu in a 20-minute
confession told the court that his
contractors who are members of
the ruling party told him to accuse
the NDC of the crime after he had
carried it out.
we need immediate response from
them to clarify this matter. Failure
to have a better response from the
management will lead to further
actions."
According to the students, failure
He also indicated to the court
that after he committed the crime,
his arrest by the Police was staged
just to cover up for his actual
privies. Another twist to the
confession was that, the first
accused person told the court that
at the appropriate time, he would
mention the names of the persons
who contracted him to commit the
crime of murder.
The second accused person,
Vincent Bosso, after the confession
of the first accused person took his
turn. He told the court that now
that the first accused person had
confessed, he ought to be released
from custody because he knew
nothing about the entire case. His
involvement in the ongoing
committal proceedings was a breach
of his fundamental human rights,
the second accused told the court.
However, the lawyer defending
the duo Yaw Obuor has said his
lead client has mental illness, hence
such startling revelations.
“I’ve said it that he has a mental
problem,” Mr Obuor stressed in an
HERITAGE, FRIDAY, JUNE 22, 2018 WWW.DAILYHERITAGE.COM.GH
Disqualified KTU students threaten
to place injunction on graduation
BY KOJO ANSAH
to graduate them would have
negative impact on plans to upgrade
academically and apply for job
opportunities.
The DAILY HERITAGE has
gathered that the new Council
interview with Accra-based Joy FM.
It would be recalled that in
March 2016 the counsel requested
for a mental examination of his
client after his first conference with
him, but the court declined.
Asiedu was arrested in 2016 after
he was alleged to have stabbed the
late MP with a knife leading to his
death at his residence in Accra. The
Chairman for the University, Prof.
Obeng Apori took the decision over
a reason not yet known to the
media.
Meanwhile, information on the
website of the university on
JB murder: suspect mentally ill – Lawyer
BY KENT MENSAH
•Main entrance of Koforidua Technical University
•The J. B. Danquah-Adu
lawmaker was killed on February 9,
2016 in his room at his Shiashie
residence.
Background
The facts, as presented by the
prosecution, are that on February 8,
2016, Asiedu and Bosso decided to
embark on a robbery operation at
Shiashie, a suburb of East Legon,
where the MP resided.
Asiedu selected the MP’s house,
but Bosso disagreed and decided to
abandon the robbery operation.
About 11:40 p.m., the MP
arrived home and went to bed in a
room located on the first floor of
his house.
About 1 a.m. that same night,
Asiedu, armed with a catapult, a
cutter and a sharp knife went to the
legislator’s house. He entered the
house by scaling the wall on the
blind side of a security man who
was fast asleep.
On entering the house, Asiedu
climbed onto a porch on the top
floor with a ladder and entered the
MP’s bedroom through a window.
Monday has given details about the
upcoming ceremony:"At an
emergency council meeting of the
Koforidua Technical University held
on 30th May, 2018, it was agreed to
hold two congregations as specified
below:
"On Saturday, 23rd June, 2018 a
congregation should be held to
graduate Higher National Diploma
students whose names have been
published on the university’s
website. In addition, all Bachelor of
Technology (B.Tech) students who
completed at the end of 2016/2017
academic year would be
graduated," while " a second
congregation would be held at a
date to be decided by the Council
for HND students, who will not be
graduated on Saturday, 23rd June,
2018.”
The statement added that
graduands who wished to be
presented at the congregation were
to register at the Students’ Services
Department on or before
Wednesday, 20th June, 2018.
While Asiedu was searching the
room, the MP woke up and held
him. There ensued a struggle,
during which Asiedu stabbed the
MP in the right chest above the
breast. Asiedu also sustained various
injuries in his palm and chest.
The legislator fell by his bed,
bleeding profusely, after which
Asiedu stabbed him several times
on the right chest and neck.
On realising that the MP was
dying, Asiedu left the room and
took with him three iPhones.
Meanwhile, the struggle between
the MP and Asiedu drew the
attention of the security man in the
house who alerted others in the
neighbourhood.
Asiedu, however, managed to
descend; he jumped over the
electric fencing on the walls of the
house into an adjoining house and
escaped.
Asiedu then took the phones to
a phone repairer to decode them,
but the repairer saw bloodstains and
the pictures of the MP on the
phones and alerted the police.
Mahama’s handlers
blocked me
• Fibre Optics Inventor
BY KENT MENSAH
A RENOWNED Ghanaian-
American chemical engineer and
inventor, Dr Thomas Mensah says
people around former President
John Mahama blocked an
opportunity for him to share his
vision of development with him,
when he was still President of
Ghana.
According to him, he had
taken a United States astronaut
with him to meet Mr Mahama,
who was on a visit to the United
States, but the handlers of the
then President just allowed a fiveminute
engagement time with the
leader.
Speaking to Bola Ray on Starr
Chat Wednesday, Dr Mensah who
developed fibre optics said the
situation was significantly different
with Nana Akufo-Addo, who was
then opposition leader. He noted
Akufo-Addo, now president, had
a two-hour conversation with him
over his plans for development in
the technology world.
“I had a five-minute
conversation with Mahama but I
had a two-hour conversation with
Nana Akufo-Addo. I brought an
Astronaut with me to meet
Mahama but the people around
him didn’t allow it. They didn’t
allow me to have a lengthy
conversation with him. It was just
a handshake and that was it, about
five minutes,” he told Bola Ray.
The inventor who has 16
patents to his name said he is
committed to developing a Silicon
Valley in Ghana and has
commenced the move with an
outfit at the Kofi Annan Centre in
Accra.
” I have already started the
Silicon Valley in Ghana. I didn’t
want the various universities to
accuse me of bias so I established
it at a neutral ground, the Kofi
Annan Centre. We mean what we
are saying and Ghanaians will
soon see what we want to do.
I want to develop an aircraft
maintenance facility in this
country. When we have it in
Ghana, many airlines will come
here and that will boost tourism
because tourists will come around
in their numbers,” he noted.
According to him,
he had taken a
United States
astronaut with him
to meet Mr Mahama,
who was on a visit to
the United States,
but the handlers of
the then President
just allowed a fiveminute
engagement
time with the leader.
•Dr Thomas Mensah, Fibre Optics Inventor