DAILY HERITAGE JULY 9, 2020

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News
DAILY
We’ll isolate your
children during
exams if you come
for them
.GES to parents
THE GHANA Education Service (GES)
has served notice to all final-year and
Gold Track Senior High School (SHS)
students whose parents have picked them
from campuses over Covid-19 fears they
would be isolated during examinations.
According to the Chairman of the
Ghana Education Service(GES) Council,
Mr Michael Nsowah, the intention of the
planned action is to ensure that the
students coming from home do not put
their mates who stayed on campus at risk.
The comments come after scores of
parents trooped to several schools to pick
their children after reports of
coronavirus outbreak in some schools in
the country.
Speaking to Francis Abban on the
Morning Starr yesterday, Mr Nsowah said
the GES had its hand on the situation
and students who stay on campus would
be protected against the virus.
“If we are unable to contain the
pandemic in schools and send the
students home, are we not endangering
the general community? Parents are free
to take their children home but when the
time comes for exams, they [students]
will be isolated,” he said.
He stressed cases of Covid-19 in
secondary schools are not widespread.
“So far, from all the schools that I
have visited, there’s no case of Covid-19.
So far, I hope it doesn’t spread but we
have 700 schools, does it mean every
school must shut down? As we speak,
I’m in the Northern Region to inspect
that all logistics that students were
supposed to receive have been provided”.
Some SHSs, including the Accra Girls,
have confirmed cases of the virus with a
teacher and the spouse being affected
too.
“If we are unable to
contain the pandemic
in schools and send
the students home,
are we not
endangering the
general community?
Parents are free to
take their children
home but when the
time comes for
exams, they
[students] will be
isolated,” he said.
Ofankor murder case
THE MAGISTRATE
handling the case in
which Victor Nana
Kankam, a landlord,
killed his tenant,
Benjamin Okyere, has
praised the family of the murdered
for co-operating with and being calm
at court.
The premises of the Abeka
District Court become a subject of
noise and disturbances from family
and friends and other sympathisers of
the late Okyere when the court last
sat on the case.
There was drumming and shouting
by these people, which caused the
court to warn them that they would
be arrested and prosecuted should
they disturb the court again.
However, the atmosphere was the
opposite today as the few family
members and friends of the late
Okyere who appeared in court
showed comportment.
A member of the family, Madam
Cecilia Osei, explained that they had
AMNESTY INTERNATIONAL
Ghana has praised President Nana
Akufo-Addo for decongesting
Ghana’s prisons by granting
amnesty to 794 more prisoners on
June 30, 2020.
A release signed by Country
Director of Amnesty
International, Mr Robert Akoto
Amoafo, said “this is the second
amnesty President has granted this
year since he granted amnesty to
808 prisoners earlier in the year.”
According to him, statistics
obtained by Amnesty International
Ghana show that Ghana’s prisons
were overcrowded by 55.5% in
2019.
The carceral (prison) population
was 15,463 instead of 9,945
standard capacity.
respect for the court and so urged her
family members to remain calm.
She also said the late Okyere was
buried at his hometown last Saturday.
AG’s advice
Meanwhile, the Prosecution in the
case says it is waiting for the advice of
the Attorney General's (AG)
Department on the case docket.
In court on Monday, the
prosecutor, Inspector Stephen
Ahialey, told the court that, the
autopsy result was ready but they
were waiting for the AG’s advice on
docket.
The prosecutor told the court they
had forwarded the autopsy report and
the docket to AG for advice.
Background
The Abeka District Court in Accra
on June 22, 2020 issued a stern
warning to the aggrieved relatives of
the late Benjamin Okyere, who was
murdered by his landlord over their
continuous disturbances at the court.
Before the court even heard the
case, the aggrieved relatives had
started chanting and drumming in a
manner that was disturbing activities
HERITAGE, THURSDAY, JULY 9, 2020 WWW.DAILYHERITAGE.COM.GH
Magistrate salutes family for good behaviour
• As prosecution awaits AG’s advice on case docket
BY MUNTALLA INUSAH
muntalla.inusah@dailyheritage.com.gh
BY PHILIP ANTOH
philip.antoh@dailyheritage.com.gh
of the court.
Her Worship Mrs Achamaa Ofosu,
prior to adjourning the case, schooled
the leaders of the aggrieved relatives
on the procedure of the case.
The court warned them to speak
to their followers not to exhibit such
conduct in the court's subsequent
hearing of the case, else they would
be arrested and prosecuted.
The court said it is a criminal
matter and that there is a procedure
that it must follow.
The court said that even though it
was clear that the accused person,
Nana Kankam was seen committing
the crime, the procedure ought to be
followed.
“Having the President
grant amnesty to
prisoners at this time of
a pandemic is not only a
good thing but [also] a
critical step to ensuring
limited spread of Covid-
19 in the prisons,” Mr
Amoafo stated.
“It also shows
Ghana’s commitment to
work towards
decongesting our already
overcrowded prisons.”
“It is, therefore,
important that the
government desist from
putting in place laws that
promotes custodial
sentencing like the EI
164 which prescribes as
one of its sanctions a
custodial sentence of 4-
10 years for a person
found without a
The magistrate said due to the
Covid-19 pandemic, the accused
person had been remanded in prison
custody and would not be brought to
court until further notice.
Adjournment
The case was adjourned to July 20,
2020.
Amnesty Intl praises Prez over decongestion of prisons
•Mr Robert Akoto Amoafo
•File Photo
facemask.”
He said as a petty offence, we
do not believe it will help the
already dire situation of
overcrowding in our prisons. We
would also like to call on the
government to provide a dedicated
health facility to the Ghana
Prisons Service to attend to
prisoners who may be infected
with Covid-19 to ensure they are
able to control the security
situation of the prisoners,” she
stated.
Mr Amoafo said as a human
rights organisation, “we will
continue to work with government
and our various stakeholders to
promote the human rights of all
persons.”
“We encourage government to
put human rights at the centre of
measures to address the Covid-19
pandemic in Ghana.
Covid-19
‘pandemic
could push
49M Africans
into poverty’
THE AFRICAN
Development Bank (AfDB)
has said that 49 million
Africans could be pushed
into extreme poverty by the
coronavirus pandemic.
The AfDB said on
Tuesday that West and
Central Africa stood to be
most hit by the economic
slump.
The bank projects that
the economy will rebound
from the pandemic slump in
2021.
The AfBD forecasts a
3.4% contraction in gross
domestic product in 2020.
The figures were included
in a revision of the AfDB’s
African Economic Outlook,
which was originally
published before the
pandemic.
Africa’s big economies
like South Africa and oil
exporters like Nigeria,
Angola and Algeria have
been badly hit by the virus.
Lockdowns enforced in
different countries have
crippled economies and left
many jobless.
The global economy has
•File Photo
generally been affected by
the pandemic with the
International Monetary
Fund last month projecting
that the world’s economies
will shrink by 4.9%,
compared with a 3.0%
contraction predicted in
April.Source: BBC
The global
economy has
generally been
affected by the
pandemic with
the International
Monetary Fund
last month
projecting that
the world’s
economies will
shrink by 4.9%,
compared with a
3.0% contraction
predicted in April.
•Some students in a dining hall