Wednesday, 22nd June, 2022

Page 4
DAILY ANALYST Wednesday, 22nd June, 2022
Afram Plains
Area hit by
Premix Fuel
Shortage
9-member OSP
Board sworn in
Story: Freeman Koryekpor Awlesu
Boat operators in various fishing communities along
the Afram River who usually ply the Kwahu -Kotoso
market in the Kwahu East District of the Eastern
Region have bemoaned the shortage of premix fuel
in their communities which has resulted in untold
economic hardship for the people.
Speaking in an interview with DAILY Analyst yesterday on
behalf of the boat operators in Kwahu Kotoso, the members of
the Afram Boats Union of the Kwahu East District of the Eastern
Region stressed that they were even at the Kwahu Kotoso
market on the morning of Tuesday, June 21, 2022, and that after
combing all the landing sites of the premix fuel in Kotoso,
they never got fuel to buy to power their outboard motors.
The Chairman of the Afram Boats Union, Mr. Doh Tsegah,
noted that Kwaku Kotoso and its surrounding fishing communities
have been hit by premix fuel shortage.
For some days now, he disclosed that the fisherfolks and
boat operators in Kwahu Kotoso and its environs have not
received premix fuel for their operations.
This is affecting their operations as traveling on the Afram
River is the major means of transportation in the area, he
added. The Kwahu Kotoso is a major market hub in the Eastern
Region.
“We have a shortage of premix fuel here and it is really
affecting business and movement here, Boat owners are not
getting it as well as fishermen and the situation has become
unbearable," Mr. Doh stressed.
According to him, fishermen were unable to go about their
daily business activities due to the shortage of fuel.
Other residents were also unable to move within the
towns for various purposes due to the unavailability of the
fuel to power the canoes.
Mr. Doh told this reporter that they have held a meeting
with the District Chief Executive of Kwahu East Assembly, Mr.
Isaac Agyapong, to intervene in solving the issues that have
resulted in the shortage of fuel.
The DCE, he said, had assured the fisherfolks that all those
bottlenecks that led to the shortage would be dealt with immediately
to bring relief to the people.
“In the communities, almost everywhere we go we have to
cross a river, and, so, if there is no fuel to power the boats just
imagine what will happen.
“Already, the situation is creating serious economic hardships
for the people; they cannot sell and buy, and businesses
are collapsing,” he said.
He added: “Patients over the bank of Afram River are unable
to go to pharmacies to purchase drugs to treat their conditions,
and, so, the shortage has resulted in serious economic
hardships for the people.”
Writer's email is koryekporfreeman@yahoo.com
A
nine-member Board
for the Office of the
Special Prosecutor
(OSP) has been sworn
in by the Attorney
General, Godfred Odame.
The new members sworn
in include; Special Prosecutor,
Kissi Agyebeng, Deputy Special
Prosecutor, Cynthia Jane
Lamptey, Rep from Audit Service,
Lawrence Ayagba, Rep of Ghana
Police, DCOP, Wilfred Boahen
Frimpong and Rep of EOCO, Aba
Mr. Kojo Oppong
Nkrumah,
Minister of
Information, has
asked judges to
‘punish’ people who attack journalists
severely irrespective of
their social status and political
affiliations.
He also urged them to increase
the pace at which they
delivered justice to journalists in
such circumstances.
The Minister, who is also
the Member of Parliament (MP)
for Ofoase Ayirebi Constituency
in the Eastern Region, said
that those actions were needed
urgently to curb the attacks on
journalists in the country.
He said: “The wheels of
justice may grind slowly, but My
Lord Chief Justice, the feedback
I have from my media colleagues
is that we believe some quick
punitive action targeted at the
perpetrators of infringements
against media practitioners will
be appreciated.”
Mr. Oppong Nkrumah was
speaking at the opening ceremony
of a training programme
for judges on the need to protect
freedom of expression and safety
of journalists at Ho, on Monday.
He said that such a move:
“Will be the strongest message
Jacqueline Opoku.
The rest are; Rep of CHRAJ
Stephen Azantilow, Rep of
Ministry of National Security,
COP George Tuffuor (Rtd), Rep
of Anti-Corruption Civil Society
Linda Ofori-Kwafo and Rep of Financial
Intelligence Centre (FIC)
Kofi Boadi A. Boakye.
Sections 5 and 6 of the Office
of Special Prosecutor Act 2017,
Act 959, say a Board is required to
formulate policies for the objective
of the Office, ensure proper
to the next batch of state and
non-state actors that it is not acceptable
to attack journalists no
matter how much you disagree
with what they say.”
Mr Abdourahmane Diallo,
UNESCO Country Representative,
also called on all duty-bearers,
arbitration authorities, and
the security services to give the
needed attention to the safety
and freedom of expression of
journalists.
He noted that those were
fundamental indices in deter-
and effective performance of the
functions of the Office, advise
the Special Prosecutor on the
recruitment and selection of various
staff among other duties.
The previous board members
included the then CID Boss,
DCOP Maame Yaa Tiwaa Addo-Danquah;
EOCO rep, Charles
Nana Antwi; representatives
from civil society, Linda Ofori
Kwafo and Addai Wereko Tawiah;
Kofi Wiredu Boakye, Charles
Ayamadu and Kwaku Domfeh.
Let’s punish people who
attack journalists severely
mining how compliant or negligent
a country was relative to
its constitutional provisions on
those freedoms.
Prof Professor Dominic Dennis
Adjei, who represented the
Chief Justice, called for collaboration
between stakeholders
within the media space to build
a more robust ecosystem that
ensured that infringements on
the safety of journalists were
reduced to the barest minimum
if not eliminated completely.
Source: GNA