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02<br />
CONTENT<br />
DAILY HERITAGE<br />
FRIDAY, JUNE <strong>16</strong>, 2017<br />
DAILY QUOTE<br />
Trust because you are willing to accept the risk,<br />
not because it's safe or certain<br />
- Anonymous<br />
ANNIVERSARIES<br />
18 Jun, Father’s Day<br />
25 Jun, Eid al-Fitr<br />
3 Jul, Republic Day Holiday<br />
1 Sep, Eid al-Adha<br />
WWW.DAILYHERITAGE.COM.GH<br />
Email: info@dailyheritage.com.gh<br />
Facebook: facebook.com/dailyheritagegh<br />
z<br />
WORLD<br />
London fire: Prime<br />
minister orders full<br />
public inquiry<br />
James Town, Elmina<br />
to get fishing harbours<br />
BUSINESS<br />
POLITICS<br />
SPORTS<br />
CITY Updates<br />
P.04<br />
P.10<br />
About <strong>16</strong>0, 624 units of blood collected<br />
nationwide in 20<strong>16</strong><br />
Seek God before<br />
marriage<br />
• Philanthropist to<br />
Ghanaians<br />
P.15<br />
THE CHIEF Executive Officer of the National Blood Service, Ghana, Dr Justina<br />
Kordai Ansah, said in 20<strong>16</strong>, a total of <strong>16</strong>0, 624 units of blood was collected nationwide.<br />
Abraham Attah, Hero Film crew<br />
donate to Tamale schoolchildren<br />
Vodafone’s Instant<br />
Schools to provide<br />
free education<br />
P.11<br />
I have not<br />
retired from<br />
football yet<br />
— John Mensah<br />
MULTIPLE AWARD-WINNING teen actor Abraham Attah and the Hero Film<br />
crew have donated a number of Toms shoes to underprivileged schoolchildren in the<br />
Northern Region.<br />
BY MUNTALLA INUSAH<br />
muntalla.inusah@dailyheritage.com.gh<br />
THE MINISTRY of Fisheries<br />
and Aquaculture Development<br />
has revealed plans to construct<br />
two fishing harbours and 15<br />
landing beaches across the<br />
country.<br />
The sector Minister, Mrs Elizabeth Afoley<br />
Quaye, made this known when she paid a<br />
working visit to the Central Region to assess<br />
the level of damages caused to the fishermen<br />
who were affected by Sunday’s tidal waves.<br />
"If you listened to our budget, it was<br />
mentioned in it. We are going to construct 15<br />
landing beaches but four will be constructed<br />
this year. James Town is going to be a fishing<br />
harbour, Elmina is going to be a fishing harbour,<br />
but the others are going to be landing<br />
beaches within the fishing landing sites.<br />
There is going to be sea defence and breakwaters<br />
to control the speed of the tide to<br />
prevent some of these destructions,” she<br />
said.<br />
Govt’s support<br />
While commiserating with the fishermen<br />
Published by: EIB Network<br />
/ <strong>Heritage</strong> Communications<br />
Ltd.<br />
Managing Editor:<br />
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0208156974<br />
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Location: Kasapa FM<br />
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FRIDAY<br />
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who had lost their boats and other property<br />
as a result of the sea surge, the minister said<br />
the fishermen would be supported.<br />
“We have assessed the situation and we<br />
realised that they had lost so much. They<br />
have lost their fishing vessels, they have lost<br />
their fishing gear and nets, they have lost<br />
their outboard motors and worse of it all, is<br />
what has happened in Cape Coast, where a<br />
life was lost.<br />
“The Fisheries Ministry and the Fisheries<br />
Commission have assessed the situation and<br />
we are going back to take a decision on how<br />
to support the fishermen with some fishing<br />
boats.<br />
“We are getting into the fishing season<br />
and these fishermen will need their fishing<br />
boats, their fishing gear and nets to go fishing<br />
so we have to find a way to support those<br />
who have lost their vessels," the minister said.<br />
One dead, property destroyed<br />
It emerged during the visit to the Central<br />
Region's fishing communities that in Cape<br />
Coast one fisherman died as a result of the<br />
waves; over 20 boats and related equipment<br />
at Ankaful, Kwamantse, Abandzie, Anomabo<br />
• CONTINUE ON PAGE 3<br />
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ACCRA<br />
www.accuweather.com
WWW.DAILYHERITAGE.COM.GH<br />
DAILY HERITAGE FRIDAY, JUNE <strong>16</strong>, 2017<br />
A successful man is one who can<br />
lay a firm foundation with the<br />
bricks others have thrown at him<br />
James Town, Elmina to get fishing harbours<br />
- David Brinkley<br />
• READ FROM PAGE 2<br />
and Cape Coast were all destroyed.<br />
While some of the boats could<br />
be repaired, many of the equipment<br />
were destroyed beyond repairs.<br />
Unapproved nets<br />
The minister observed that<br />
many fishermen in the region were<br />
using mono-filament nets (rubber<br />
nets) which are inappropriate for<br />
fishing.<br />
She bemoaned the practice, especially<br />
in Cape Coast, and called<br />
on the fishermen to, as a matter of<br />
urgency, desist from using these unapproved<br />
nets.<br />
The fishermen later assured the<br />
minister that they would adhere to<br />
her advice and also appealed to the<br />
government to respond quickly to<br />
their plight.<br />
They commended the minister<br />
for taking time off her busy schedule<br />
to call on them and to assure<br />
them of the government’s support.<br />
Insurance scheme<br />
The Paramount Queen of<br />
Anomabo Traditional Area, Nana<br />
Broba Darbo I, called on the government<br />
to educate and sensitise<br />
the fishermen to the need to insure<br />
their vessels.<br />
She also appealed to the government<br />
to support the fishermen by<br />
helping them remove the old vessels<br />
at the various beaches, which are<br />
creating congestions at the beaches.<br />
The queen also called for the<br />
Fisheries College to be revived to<br />
provide education to the fisherfolks,<br />
as well as revive an old cold store in<br />
the area for them.<br />
The minister, in her response to<br />
the insurance package, said, "last<br />
year, the fishermen were put on an<br />
insurance scheme, but we are going<br />
to look into the insurance scheme<br />
to see what it is. What we know is<br />
that it was state money used in paying<br />
the premium, but we think that<br />
any insurance scheme should be<br />
made sustainable so we think that<br />
we have to sit and strategise so that<br />
these fishermen will take their destiny<br />
into their own hands and pay<br />
the premium themselves.”<br />
The victims also appealed to the<br />
minister to ensure that they make<br />
available to them wood that could<br />
be used to repair their boats.<br />
Who was there?<br />
The Minister was accompanied<br />
on her visit by the Municipal Chief<br />
Executive of Mfantseman, Kelly<br />
Kenneth Essuman, the Member of<br />
Parliament for Mfantseman, Ekow<br />
Quansah Hayford, Deputy Minister<br />
of Fisheries and Aquaculture, Mr<br />
Francis Ato Cudjoe, Lawyer Ata<br />
Dadzie, Director of Fisheries, officials<br />
of National Disaster Management<br />
Organisation and many<br />
others.<br />
id<br />
Ghana Gas in<br />
deep trouble<br />
BY ROSEMOND<br />
BOATENG ADDAI<br />
rosemond.adjetey@yahoo.com<br />
THE PUBLIC Interest<br />
and Accountability<br />
Committee (PIAC) has<br />
disclosed that the indebtedness<br />
of the Volta<br />
River Authority (VRA)<br />
to Ghana National Gas Company<br />
(GNGC) has grown to approximately<br />
91% under the period of its review.<br />
PIAC, at the launch of its annual<br />
report on management of petroleum<br />
revenues in Accra yesterday, explained<br />
that the debt rose from US$<br />
227.78 million in 2015 to US$ 434.70<br />
million in 20<strong>16</strong>.<br />
The report revealed that not only<br />
is the failure of VRA to pay for lean<br />
gas supplied threatening the financial<br />
viability of GNGC, but it also prevents<br />
GNGC from paying for the raw<br />
gas supplies exported by Ghana National<br />
Petroleum Company(GNPC),<br />
thereby denying the Petroleum Holding<br />
Fund of the much-needed revenues<br />
for spending and saving.<br />
The report also showed that there<br />
was a 13.7% year-on-year decline in<br />
crude oil production in Ghana during<br />
the period under review with annual<br />
production dropping from<br />
37.41mmbbls (102,498bbls) in 2015<br />
to 32.30mmbbls (73,955bopd).<br />
PIAC explained that the decline in<br />
production occurred in spite of the<br />
fact that Ghana’s second major production<br />
field, the TEN field, came on<br />
stream in August, 20<strong>16</strong> and actually<br />
contributed <strong>16</strong>% (5.32mmbbls) to annual<br />
production.<br />
The report also stated that the decline<br />
in petroleum production in 20<strong>16</strong><br />
•As VRA fails to pay US$434m debt<br />
• Financial viability of<br />
Ghana Gas threatened<br />
•Dr Ben K. D. Asante, Chief<br />
Executive Officer,<br />
Ghana Gas<br />
was caused by a 34-day shutdown of<br />
the Jubilee Field for maintenance<br />
from March 31, 20<strong>16</strong><br />
Mr Kwame Jantuah, Vice Chairman<br />
of PIAC, explained that PIAC,<br />
after reviews, has recommended that<br />
given that the GNGC may well have<br />
been caught up in the vicious cycle of<br />
the indebtedness of the energy sector<br />
utilities, which stood at US$ 2.4 billion<br />
at the end of 20<strong>16</strong> “urgent and<br />
drastic measures would have to be<br />
devised by all key stakeholders to ensure<br />
immediate payment of the outstanding<br />
receivable owed the Ghana<br />
Petroleum Fund in respect of gas<br />
sales,” he said.<br />
He added that one potential<br />
source of funds that could have been<br />
used to defray VRA’s indebtedness to<br />
GNGC is the Power Generation<br />
and Infrastructure Support Sub-Account<br />
(PGISSA) established under<br />
the Energy Sector Levy Act, 2015<br />
(Act 899).<br />
PIAC recommended that the proceeds<br />
going into the PGISSA have<br />
been earmarked for the repayment of<br />
the debt owned by VRA to 11 domestic<br />
banks as part of the strategy<br />
introduced by the government to deal<br />
with legacy debt problem facing the<br />
state-owned energy sector utilities.<br />
“Since termination of supply to<br />
VRA is not an option as yet, due to<br />
lack of alternative market for lean<br />
gas, PIAC is calling for an immediate<br />
meeting between the government,<br />
Ghana National Petroleum Corporation<br />
and GNGC to agree on a clear<br />
roadmap for the clearing of VRA’s<br />
indebtedness to GNGC,” PIAC said.<br />
PIAC also recommended that<br />
GNPC should desist from spending<br />
part of its dwindling allocations on<br />
non-core business such as financing<br />
of the Western corridor roads.<br />
PIAC’s report aims at keeping<br />
Ghanaians and other interested stakeholders<br />
constantly informed on how<br />
the country’s petroleum revenues are<br />
being managed as well as providing<br />
platforms for citizens’ feedback to be<br />
collated and shared with policymakers.<br />
uniBank supports<br />
Muslim community<br />
BY MUNTALLA INUSAH<br />
muntalla.inusah<br />
@dailyheritage.com.gh<br />
UNIBANK (GHANA) Limited,<br />
the country’s most enterprising<br />
financial institution, has, as part<br />
of its Corporate Social Responsibility,<br />
donated mouth-watering<br />
items estimated at a cost of<br />
GH¢ 275,000.00 to the Muslim<br />
community at the Hajj Village in<br />
Accra.<br />
The gesture was the bank’s<br />
contribution towards providing<br />
pivotal social interventions<br />
through its agile Corporate Social<br />
Responsibility commitments.<br />
The substantial support includes<br />
a health post, a marketplace,<br />
a cow, 50 bags of rice, 25<br />
bags of sugar, cartons of drinks<br />
and bottled water and many<br />
other items.<br />
Presenting the items on behalf<br />
of the newly appointed<br />
Chief Executive Officer of uni-<br />
Bank, Dr Kwabena Duffuor II,<br />
Mr Clifford Duke Mettle, Director,<br />
Marketing and Alternate<br />
Channels, thanked the Muslim<br />
community for the opportunity<br />
to partner the bank.<br />
According to him, it offers its<br />
products and services on a much<br />
larger scale.<br />
He said the bank’s product<br />
offering of Bridge Financing, a<br />
Trade Finance Loan amount of<br />
GH¢24,000,000.00, is “to facilitate<br />
the transfer of funds to the<br />
Saudi Arabian Authorities to ensure<br />
that prospective Ghanaian<br />
pilgrims will be secured in<br />
Mecca.”<br />
The Director of Marketing<br />
and Alternate Channels touched<br />
on a variety of support packages<br />
for the Muslim community, including<br />
the bank’s preparedness<br />
to sponsor the organisation of<br />
this year’s Ghana Hajj Agents<br />
Association Seminars.<br />
He added that they will provide<br />
support towards the celebration<br />
of the Eid-ul-Fitr and<br />
media announcements/adverts<br />
to ensure full participation of<br />
the Muslim Community in the<br />
2017 Pilgrimage to Mecca.<br />
He stated that the gesture is<br />
uniBank’s way of showing its<br />
gratitude and celebrating the<br />
spirit of togetherness.<br />
The National Chief Imam,<br />
Sheikh Dr Osmanu Nuhu<br />
Sharubutu, through his<br />
spokesperson, Alhaji Marzuq,<br />
thanked Management of uni-<br />
Bank for the support and prayed<br />
for the success of the bank.<br />
Sheikh I.C. Quaye, Chairman<br />
of the National Hajj Board, also<br />
expressed gratitude to management<br />
of the bank for their conspicuous<br />
care for the Muslim<br />
community.<br />
He said the Hajj Board had<br />
instituted measures to ensure<br />
that pilgrims are taken good care<br />
of both at home and abroad.<br />
The short ceremony in Accra<br />
was graced by Samira Bawumia,<br />
the Second Lady of the Republic<br />
of Ghana.<br />
She applauded uniBank’s efforts<br />
and urged pilgrims to accept<br />
and cooperate with the new<br />
Hajj Board to ensure their safety.<br />
Continue on page 6 for more<br />
pictures.
Quake Edition FEB 92.qxp_Layout 1 6/15/17 9:38 PM Page 3<br />
• Community centres were inundated with donations<br />
from across London and the UK<br />
US conducts 'precision airstrikes' in Somalia under expanded authority<br />
THE PENTAGON said it conducted<br />
an air strike against the Al-<br />
Shabaab group in Somalia early<br />
Sunday morning.<br />
"The US conducted this operation<br />
in coordination with its regional<br />
partners as a direct response<br />
to Al-Shabaab actions, including<br />
recent attacks on Somali forces,"<br />
Pentagon spokeswoman Dana<br />
White said in a statement. "This<br />
strike was conducted with the authorities<br />
approved by (President<br />
Donald Trump) in March 2017,<br />
which allows the US Department<br />
of Defense to conduct legal action<br />
against Al-Shabaab within a geographically<br />
defined area of active<br />
hostilities in support of partner<br />
force in Somalia."<br />
The new authority approved<br />
Trump, gave more power to the<br />
United States Africa Command<br />
(AFRICOM) to carry out "precision<br />
airstrikes" in support of<br />
African Union and Somali troops<br />
fighting Al-Shabaab in Somalia. It<br />
is legally based in the 2001 authorization<br />
for use of military force<br />
against al Qaeda. Al-Shabaab is<br />
considered to be an affiliate of al<br />
Qaeda.<br />
Somali President Mohamed<br />
Abdullahi Farmajo hailed the mission<br />
as a success. CNN<br />
DAILY HERITAGE FRIDAY, JUNE <strong>16</strong>, 2017<br />
WWW.DAILYHERITAGE.COM.GH<br />
World news in 4 stories<br />
•• An Ismail emotional Abedi was Adele detained was seen in Chorlton, hugging some Southof those<br />
Manchester; his father, caught Ramadan, up in the was fireheld in Tripoli<br />
London fire: Prime minister<br />
orders full public inquiry<br />
PRIME MINISTER<br />
Theresa May has ordered<br />
a full public inquiry<br />
into the fire that<br />
engulfed a west London<br />
block of flats,<br />
killing at least 17 people.<br />
That figure is expected to rise,<br />
as fire chiefs have said they do<br />
not expect to find any more survivors<br />
in the burnt-out Grenfell<br />
Tower, in north Kensington.<br />
More than 30 people remain<br />
in hospital - 17 of whom are in a<br />
critical condition.<br />
Prime Minister Theresa May<br />
made a brief private visit to the<br />
scene on Thursday, as questions<br />
were being asked about the speed<br />
at which the fire spread.<br />
Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn,<br />
also visited the site, telling community<br />
leaders "the truth has to<br />
come out".<br />
Firefighters were called to the<br />
24-storey residential tower in the<br />
early hours of Wednesday, at a<br />
time when hundreds of people<br />
were inside, most of them sleeping.<br />
Many were woken by neighbours,<br />
or shouts from below, and<br />
fled the building.<br />
Fire crews rescued 65 adults<br />
and children, but some stayed in<br />
their homes, trapped by smoke<br />
and flames.<br />
On Thursday morning, London<br />
Fire Commissioner Dany<br />
Cotton said her crews had identified<br />
a "number of people, but we<br />
know there will be more".<br />
Asked how many were still<br />
missing, Met Police Commander<br />
Stuart Cundy said it would be<br />
"wrong and incredibly distressing"<br />
to give a number.<br />
"I know one person was reported<br />
46 times to the casualty<br />
bureau," he said.<br />
A brief search of all floors in<br />
the tower had been carried out,<br />
but the severity of the fire and<br />
amount of debris meant a thorough<br />
search would be "difficult<br />
and painstaking", Commander<br />
Cotton said. BBC<br />
Protests in northern<br />
Morocco swell with calls<br />
for royal intervention<br />
UNDER THE banner of the<br />
People's Movement, Moroccans<br />
have just staged the country's<br />
biggest political protest since the<br />
"Arab Spring" and some now say<br />
that only intervention by their<br />
king can defuse a deepening crisis.<br />
For months, demonstrators<br />
have taken to the streets in Rif region<br />
around the northern city of<br />
Al-Hoceima to vent their frustrations<br />
over the economic, social<br />
and political problems of a kingdom<br />
that presents itself as a beacon<br />
of stability in a turbulent<br />
region.<br />
Authorities have responded by<br />
arresting as many as 100 leaders<br />
and members of the movement,<br />
called Hirak al Chaabi in Arabic,<br />
since the end of May.<br />
Undaunted, tens of thousands<br />
marched through Rabat on Sunday,<br />
the greatest number to join a<br />
demonstration since a wave of<br />
rallies in 2011 forced King Mohamed<br />
VI to allow some democratic<br />
reforms.<br />
In a country where political<br />
protests are rare and the royal<br />
palace remains the ultimate<br />
power, the demonstrators have directed<br />
their anger at the government<br />
and the king's entourage<br />
rather than the monarch himself.<br />
Some, however, believe he must<br />
act rapidly.<br />
"With one phone call, all of<br />
this can be resolved," Zefzafi told<br />
Reuters at his family home, just<br />
days after a police raid broke<br />
down their front door. Reuters<br />
• Morocco's King Mohammed VI (R) welcomes French President Emmanuel Macron (L)<br />
and his wife Brigitte Macron before attending an Iftar meal, the evening meal when<br />
Muslims end their daily Ramadan fast at sunset<br />
Trump-Russia inquiry: President 'probed for obstruction of justice’<br />
PRESIDENT DONALD Trump is<br />
being investigated by special counsel<br />
Robert Mueller for possible obstruction<br />
of justice, US media reports say.<br />
They say senior intelligence officials<br />
will be interviewed on whether<br />
Mr Trump tried to end an inquiry<br />
into his sacked national security adviser,<br />
and about the firing of FBI<br />
chief James Comey.<br />
Mr Trump tweeted that the move<br />
was the latest action in a "phony<br />
story".<br />
Mr Mueller is leading an FBI inquiry<br />
into Russian meddling in the<br />
election.<br />
• Robert Mueller is overseeing the investigation into Russia's alleged<br />
meddling and any Trump links<br />
President Trump has repeatedly<br />
denied any collusion with Russia, describing<br />
the ongoing inquiry as a<br />
"witch hunt".<br />
The latest development was first<br />
carried in the Washington Post. Later<br />
the New York Times and Wall St<br />
Journal reported the story, citing their<br />
own sources.<br />
The Washington Post says the decision<br />
by Mr Mueller to investigate<br />
President Trump's own conduct is a<br />
major turning point in the investigation,<br />
which until recently focused on<br />
the Russian angle.Russian President<br />
Vladimir Putin has joked about Mr<br />
Comey's testimony, saying the fact<br />
that he had admitted leaking details of<br />
his conversations with President<br />
Trump to the media put him in the<br />
same category as US whistleblower<br />
Edward Snowden, who was granted<br />
asylum in Russia.<br />
"What's the difference between<br />
the FBI head and Mr Snowden then?"<br />
Mr Putin asked during a live phone-in<br />
with the Russian public in Moscow,<br />
adding, "By the way, if he is persecuted<br />
in this respect, we will be ready<br />
to give him political asylum in Russia<br />
too." BBC
WWW.DAILYHERITAGE.COM.GH<br />
DAILY HERITAGE FRIDAY, JUNE <strong>16</strong>, 2017<br />
All witch camps should be demolished<br />
THE BRUTAL murder of a 78-<br />
year-old woman at the Pelungu<br />
Market in the Upper East Region<br />
on Monday, May 29, 2017 by some<br />
residents who accused her of<br />
being a witch has reignited the call<br />
on the government to shut down<br />
all witch camps in the country.<br />
The 78-year-old woman was<br />
lynched dastardly because she was<br />
believed to be responsible for the<br />
economic woes of the residents.<br />
The police have so far apprehended<br />
63 suspects alleged to have<br />
taken part in the lynching of the<br />
woman.<br />
The recent attack on the woman<br />
is one of many such senseless attacks<br />
on innocent women who<br />
have been tagged witches without<br />
any shred of evidence.<br />
The supposed witches, in some<br />
cases, are ex-communicated in<br />
their communities, camped and vilified<br />
until they are eventually killed.<br />
Due to lack of common sense,<br />
some residents in communities<br />
where such witch camps abound<br />
regard old women as witches and<br />
blame them for their laziness and<br />
meaningless future.<br />
This uneducated mentality has<br />
led to the deaths of many innocent<br />
helpless grannies who should be<br />
reaping the fruits of their labour in<br />
old age. This should not be allowed<br />
to continue. The government<br />
has to intervene and sanitise<br />
the system.<br />
Closure of all witch camps, in<br />
the view of the DAILY HER-<br />
ITAGE, will go a long way to<br />
erase that baseless tag on innocent<br />
women.<br />
We think the government<br />
should draft a resettlement plan<br />
and create a peaceful home for our<br />
revered grannies.<br />
All who have been arrested in<br />
connection with the lynching of<br />
people suspected to be witches<br />
should be made to face the full<br />
rigours of the law to deter others<br />
from repeating the same uninformed<br />
act.<br />
Bouygues Construction<br />
marks World Safety Day<br />
NEWS DESK REPORT<br />
BOUYGUES<br />
CONSTRUC-<br />
TION Ghana<br />
Limited, as part of<br />
its World Safety<br />
Day celebrations,<br />
has held a safety day demonstration<br />
workshop at the company’s<br />
main office in Labone,<br />
Accra.<br />
Speaking to Bouygues staff,<br />
sub-contractors, suppliers, partners<br />
and clients present at the<br />
opening of the workshop, the<br />
Managing Director of<br />
Bouygues Ghana, Jerome<br />
Mulot, stated that as a world<br />
leading construction company,<br />
Bouygues is determined to remain a<br />
leader in safety at construction sites and<br />
reach the target of “zero” accidents.<br />
He indicated that Bouygues had over<br />
55,000 employees, based in more than<br />
80 countries across five continents but<br />
for the significance of marking the day<br />
of safety at construction sites and especially<br />
what it means to Bouygues, all the<br />
workers stopped construction activities<br />
to focus on safety as the day connotes.<br />
“What a strong signal, it is just phenomenal:<br />
55,000 people who are dropping<br />
their tools to focus on what must<br />
be our priority, safety,” Mr Mulot stated.<br />
•Workers of Bouygues<br />
Construction Ghana<br />
Limited<br />
He indicated further that the only way<br />
they measure the success of a project<br />
done by Bouygues is to ensure the client<br />
was satisfied, that it met the deadline for<br />
handover and achieved expected profit,<br />
but above all Bouygues is particular and<br />
concerned about safety “and it’s key because<br />
there’s no pride to<br />
be found in delivering a<br />
project ahead of schedule<br />
if there has been accidents<br />
when, in fact, it’s<br />
better to be late than<br />
sorry.”<br />
Again, Mr Jerome admonished<br />
that it was the<br />
duty and obligation of<br />
all to put safety as number<br />
one priority…“the<br />
first consideration of<br />
any decision we take<br />
must be the safety and<br />
well-being of our people<br />
and our partners such<br />
that everybody is able to<br />
go home safely everyday<br />
to their families and<br />
loved ones.<br />
“Safety must not be considered as a<br />
burden. It should rather be considered<br />
as a way to protect life in a collective<br />
meaningful way so that in the end your<br />
life and your colleague’s life is protected,”<br />
he added.
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06<br />
DAILY<br />
WWW.DAILYHERITAGE.COM.GH<br />
News<br />
HERITAGE FRIDAY, JUNE <strong>16</strong>, 2017<br />
uniBank supports muslim community<br />
Mrs Samira Bawumia, the<br />
Second Lady<br />
• Clifford Duke Mettle, Director, Marketing and Altenate Channels<br />
• A group photograph after the donation<br />
• Some of the items donated<br />
• Clifford Duke Mettle, Director, Marketing and Altenate Channels<br />
'James Barnor Homecoming<br />
Exhibition' slated for <strong>June</strong> 23<br />
THE HERITAGE<br />
and Cultural Society<br />
of Africa (HACSA)<br />
will host a reception<br />
and African heritage-themed<br />
dinner<br />
on Friday <strong>June</strong> 23 to highlight the<br />
imminent closing down of ‘the<br />
James Barnor Homecoming Exhibition'<br />
on <strong>June</strong> 30, 2017.<br />
This pioneering exhibition was<br />
launched as part of HACSA's celebrations<br />
of the 60th Anniversary<br />
of Ghana's Independence. It depicts<br />
the remarkable life of<br />
Ghana's first President, Dr<br />
Kwame Nkrumah and social life<br />
in 1950s and 60s Ghana and London<br />
amongst the African Diaspora.<br />
The photographic exhibition<br />
has been running since March 6,<br />
2017 at the Mövenpick<br />
Emporium where it was jointly<br />
opened by HACSA's Founder and<br />
President, Ambassador<br />
Johanna Odonkor Svanikier<br />
and Lord Paul Boateng of Akyem<br />
and Wembley of the United Kingdom<br />
(UK) House of Lords who is<br />
• L-R: Photographer Mr James Barnor, Ambassador Johanna Odonkor Svanikier<br />
founder and President of HACSA and Lord Paul Boateng of Akyem and Wembley at<br />
the Launch of the 'James Barnor Homecoming Exhibition’<br />
a member of the Ghanaian Diaspora<br />
in the UK, Mr James Barnor.<br />
Nkrumah's official photographer,<br />
who celebrated his 88th<br />
birthday this month, flew down<br />
from the UK where he lives, to attend<br />
the launch of the Exhibition<br />
and the African Diaspora Homecoming<br />
Conference organised by<br />
HACSA, to mark Ghana's 60th<br />
Anniversary.<br />
Also in attendance was the<br />
actor Hugh Quarshie of 'Star<br />
Wars' fame and Mrs Lisa Mensah<br />
former Under Secretary of State<br />
for Rural Development for President<br />
Barack Obama.<br />
HACSA is developing an initiative<br />
entitled - 'Closing the Circle'<br />
aimed at connecting Africans in<br />
the Diaspora with Africa.<br />
Apart from using photography<br />
to retell transition stories of<br />
Ghanaians and Africans in the diaspora,<br />
Ambassador Svanikier has<br />
indicated that the exhibition's further<br />
purpose is to bring attention<br />
to the critical need for funding the<br />
preservation and archiving of national<br />
heritage and cultural materials.<br />
HACSA seeks to raise funds<br />
from both the public and private<br />
sector and individuals to assist in<br />
digitising, archiving and exhibiting<br />
the work of photographers and<br />
filmmakers in Ghana and the diaspora.<br />
The African heritage-themed<br />
fund-raising event at the Mövenpick<br />
Emporium made possible<br />
with sponsorship from Fidelity<br />
Bank Ghana Limited, will feature<br />
a talk by the award-winning writer<br />
lvor Agyeman-Duah on the prepublication<br />
of 'Death of an Empire<br />
- Kwame Nkrumah in Ghana<br />
and Africa' a 250-page book published<br />
by the Africa World Press in<br />
the United States and locally by<br />
Digibooks in Ghana.<br />
The book, edited with an introduction<br />
by Agyeman-Duah and<br />
written by his uncle, the last of<br />
Nkrumah's cabinet ministers, KSP<br />
Jantuah is slated to be launched on<br />
Nkrumah's birthday on September<br />
21 by HACSA and other partner<br />
organisations.<br />
Musical entertainment for this<br />
special evening of African <strong>Heritage</strong><br />
and Culture will be provided<br />
by M.anifest, the internationally<br />
acclaimed, award-winning musician.<br />
Earlier in the day there will be<br />
an interactive exhibition and sale<br />
of heritage and cultural products<br />
at the same venue open to the<br />
public to help fund the exhibition.<br />
Tickets for the African heritage-themed,<br />
charity fundraising<br />
event are GH¢ 100.00<br />
or $25 and can be purchased<br />
from Unit 1, HACSA Exhibition<br />
Office, Mövenpick Emporium.<br />
The HACSA 'James Barnor<br />
Homecoming Exhibition' runs<br />
every day until the 30th of<br />
<strong>June</strong> at the Mövenpick Emporium<br />
from 9am to 6pm. It is free<br />
to the public.
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Facts<br />
about the<br />
effect of<br />
drugs<br />
Undermines democratic governance<br />
The power and influence of drug<br />
cartels severely weakens states. The culture<br />
of fear and corruption can make it<br />
almost impossible for citizens to exercise<br />
democratic influence, access their rights,<br />
and hold officials to account for essential<br />
public services such as health and education.<br />
Diverts attention and resources<br />
from essential services<br />
Many governments in poor countries<br />
are engaged in constant civil war with the<br />
drug cartels. It is a war they are illequipped<br />
to win, with the cartels often<br />
having access to far greater financial resources.<br />
The costs of waging this war,<br />
both financial and in terms of dominating<br />
the political agenda, again leave little<br />
for public services such as health care.<br />
Wastes global finance<br />
The worldwide cost of waging the<br />
War on Drugs is estimated at $100 billion<br />
a year. This is approaching the same<br />
amount as the global aid budget (currently<br />
$130 billion).<br />
Blocks access to essential medicines<br />
Five billion people live in countries<br />
with limited or no access to opioid pain<br />
medications like morphine, and in most<br />
of those countries, overly stringent regulations<br />
on legal medications, spurred by<br />
fears that they could find their way to the<br />
illicit market, play a major role in depriving<br />
people of the pain relief they need.<br />
WWW.DAILYHERITAGE.COM.GH<br />
DAILY HERITAGE FRIDAY, JUNE <strong>16</strong>, 2017<br />
&Env.<br />
About <strong>16</strong>0, 624 units of blood<br />
collected nationwide in 20<strong>16</strong><br />
BY ELSIE APPIAH-OSEI &<br />
JONAS DANQUAH<br />
THE CHIEF Executive<br />
Officer of the<br />
National Blood<br />
Service, Ghana, Dr<br />
Justina Kordai<br />
Ansah, has said that in 20<strong>16</strong>, a<br />
total of <strong>16</strong>0, 624 units of blood<br />
was collected nationwide.<br />
However, out of the number,<br />
only 36.2% (3.6 out of 10) of the<br />
donations were from Voluntary<br />
Unpaid Blood Donor source<br />
(VUBDs).<br />
“Of these VUBDs, only a third<br />
were regular donors, whereas regular<br />
voluntary blood donation is the<br />
only foundation for a sustainable<br />
supply of adequate and safe blood<br />
and blood products.<br />
“The rest of the 63.8% (6.4 out<br />
of 10) was from family replacement<br />
donors which is well known<br />
to be often a hidden-paid system<br />
that compromises the adequacy<br />
and safety of the national blood<br />
supplies of any country that depends<br />
mainly on the system,” Mrs<br />
Ansah said on Wednesday when<br />
Ghana joined the rest of the<br />
World to mark this year’s World<br />
Blood Donor Day in Accra.<br />
Bemoaning the the fact that<br />
only 6% out of 1,000 people in<br />
any community donated blood in<br />
20<strong>16</strong>, Mrs Ansah said it was woefully<br />
inadequate for a middle income<br />
country like Ghana.<br />
“This situation severely compromises<br />
safety and adequacy of<br />
blood and blood components for<br />
both medical and surgical care in<br />
our health facilities which will definitely<br />
be worsened during disasters<br />
requiring transfusions,” she<br />
said<br />
She noted that for adequate<br />
supply of blood during emergencies<br />
to be effective in the country,<br />
there was the need for a well-organised<br />
blood service, and a blood<br />
donor population, committed to<br />
voluntary unpaid blood donation<br />
in the country.<br />
“We can move away from this<br />
rather worrying situation, if one<br />
per cent of Ghana’s population<br />
commits to donating blood regularly,”<br />
Mrs Ansah said.<br />
Speaking on the theme ‘Blood<br />
Donation in Emergencies,’ Madam<br />
Tina Mensah, the Deputy Minister<br />
of Health, pledged the ministry’s<br />
commitment to support the National<br />
Blood Service Ghana<br />
(NBSG) by passing necessary legislation<br />
to back the agency’s status.<br />
This, she said, would enable the<br />
• Ghana needs more volunteers to donate blood to save lives<br />
institution to perform its mandate<br />
efficiently and effectively.<br />
“We are aware of the fact that<br />
the legislation gives hands on feet<br />
to policy for full implementation”<br />
she said.<br />
The Deputy Minister said her<br />
outfit would support the NBSG<br />
with the needed technical assistance<br />
required for the development<br />
of a comprehensive disaster<br />
management plan that would enable<br />
it to prepare adequately for all<br />
emergencies.<br />
She called on the media, civil<br />
society groups, non-governmental<br />
“The rest of the 63.8% (6.4 out of 10) was<br />
from family replacement donors which is well<br />
known to be often a hidden-paid system that<br />
compromises the adequacy and safety of the<br />
national blood supplies of any country that depends<br />
mainly on the system,” Mrs Ansah said<br />
on Wednesday when Ghana joined the rest of<br />
the World to mark this year’s World Blood<br />
Donor Day in Accra.<br />
organizations and other partners<br />
to be actively involved in the campaign<br />
for the voluntary blood donation<br />
exercises.<br />
She urged all persons to donate<br />
a unit of blood at least twice in a<br />
year in order to save many lives.<br />
Dr Owen Kaluwa, WHO<br />
Country representative, said the<br />
objective of this year’s World<br />
Donor Day was to encourage people<br />
to strengthen the emergency<br />
preparedness of health services by<br />
donating blood.<br />
He said this year’s programme<br />
also aimed at promoting the inclusion<br />
of blood transfusion services<br />
in national emergency preparedness<br />
and response activeness.<br />
He noted that this year’s programme<br />
was to build public awareness<br />
of the need for committed,<br />
year-round blood donation in<br />
order to maintain adequate supplies.<br />
Dr Kaluwa said the theme for<br />
this year’s World Donor Day was<br />
very significant to Africa as the region<br />
is most affected by crises and<br />
outbreaks.<br />
He said emergencies such as<br />
the Ebola virus outbreak and other<br />
disasters increase the demand for<br />
blood transfusion and make its delivery<br />
challenging.<br />
“The serious humanitarian<br />
crises facing Africa in recent<br />
decades have revealed inadequacies<br />
of national health systems in most<br />
countries to manage health emergencies,<br />
including the timely availability,<br />
security and the accessibility<br />
of blood,” he said.<br />
However, he said significant<br />
progress had been chalked up in<br />
improving the availability and<br />
safety of blood in Africa according<br />
to last year’s status report.<br />
Dr Kaluwa said last year’s status<br />
report showed an increase in<br />
blood donations in Africa from 3.9<br />
million units in 2013 to 4.5 units in<br />
20<strong>16</strong>.<br />
Despite this progress, Dr<br />
Kaluwa noted that there were still<br />
major gaps in some sub-regions<br />
that included policy implementation<br />
rate, coordination of blood<br />
services and legislation.<br />
He said the region was falling<br />
short of meeting its blood needs<br />
and advised that there were a lot to<br />
be done to meet these demands.<br />
He expressed his support to<br />
blood donor associations and<br />
other non-governmental organisations<br />
who were working to make<br />
safe blood available in healthcare<br />
facilities.<br />
As part of activities marking<br />
this year’s World Blood Donor<br />
Day, two new voluntary blood donation<br />
ambassadors were unveiled<br />
with citations given to schools,<br />
churches and other institutions for<br />
their immense contributions in the<br />
sector over the years.<br />
There was a blood donation exercise<br />
to mark the day.<br />
World Blood Donor Day is<br />
held every <strong>June</strong> 14 to acknowledge<br />
and thank anonymous voluntary<br />
unpaid heroes who donate their<br />
blood so that people who are in<br />
danger can survive.<br />
This year’s celebration has the<br />
theme: ‘What can you Do? Give<br />
Blood Now. Give Often.’
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15TH<br />
JUNE 2017<br />
THURSDAY<br />
CURRENCY PARIS CODE BUYING SELLING<br />
US Dollar USDGHS 4.3373 4.3417<br />
RATES Pound Sterling GBPGHS<br />
5.5322<br />
5.5391<br />
Euro<br />
GBPGHS<br />
4.8384<br />
4.8432<br />
10<br />
DAILY HERITAGE FRIDAY, JUNE <strong>16</strong>, 2017 WWW.DAILYHERITAGE.COM.GH<br />
GH¢50m fraud: Publish YEA report<br />
• Minority to YEA management<br />
THE MINORITY in<br />
Parliament has challenged<br />
management<br />
of the Youth Employment<br />
Agency<br />
(YEA) to publish the<br />
report alleging fraud in the scheme.<br />
The YEA had earlier confirmed<br />
that it had deleted <strong>16</strong>,839 names<br />
from its payroll.<br />
The Agency said it took the decision<br />
after its internal audit<br />
showed that thousands of beneficiaries<br />
of YEA were being fraudulently<br />
paid.<br />
The agency stated that the rot<br />
amounted to over GH¢50 million.<br />
According to the Acting Chief<br />
Executive of the YEA, Justine<br />
Kodua Frimpong, it initiated investigations<br />
into the payroll of YEA<br />
after it noticed some discrepancies<br />
in the report handed to it by the<br />
managers under the previous administration.<br />
But in a press briefing addressed<br />
on Thursday by the minority<br />
spokesperson on Youth, Sports<br />
and Culture, Kobla Woyome, the<br />
minority accused the government<br />
of witch hunting, vilification and<br />
intimidation.<br />
According to them, the computerized<br />
system put in place by<br />
the previous management cannot<br />
be manipulated for fraudulent activities,<br />
hence the allegation by the<br />
new management that the fraud<br />
occurred under the erstwhile government<br />
is questionable.<br />
The minority added that for the<br />
avoidance of doubt each of the<br />
beneficiaries of YEA is biometrically<br />
registered, which makes it<br />
easy to identify them.<br />
“We are challenging the leadership<br />
to produce the names, E-<br />
zwich numbers, modules, youth<br />
employment numbers, regions and<br />
districts for the said ghost names<br />
for the public to check if beneficiaries<br />
cannot be traced to the four<br />
cycles of the YEA.<br />
The minority are further challenging<br />
management to publish the<br />
said audit report of the internal<br />
audit agency it keeps referring to,<br />
together with the written responses<br />
of staff members who were cited<br />
or implicated in the report.<br />
“We are challenging<br />
the leadership to<br />
produce the names,<br />
E-zwich numbers,<br />
modules, youth employment<br />
numbers,<br />
regions and districts<br />
for the said ghost<br />
names for the public<br />
to check if beneficiaries<br />
cannot be<br />
traced to the four<br />
cycles of the YEA.”<br />
Vodafone’s Instant Schools to provide free education<br />
VODAFONE HAS announced<br />
that estimated five million children<br />
are expected to benefit from<br />
Vodafone’s ‘Instant Schools’ project,<br />
an online educational platform<br />
which addresses the perennial<br />
problem of inadequate teaching<br />
materials, textbooks and other assessment<br />
information in many<br />
schools in Africa.<br />
Vodafone, through its Group<br />
Foundation, announced yesterday<br />
that the project, launched earlier<br />
this year, is currently active in five<br />
countries in the sub-region, including<br />
Ghana, Tanzania, Mozambique<br />
and DR Congo, and is<br />
already making an impact.<br />
Andrew Dunnett, Vodafone<br />
Foundation Director, said: “From<br />
refugee camps to remote parts of<br />
Africa with few schools, connectivity<br />
gives children the opportunity<br />
for a better future. Instant<br />
Schools for Africa has the potential<br />
to transform the lives of millions<br />
of children excluded from<br />
education, giving them free access<br />
to the same materials used by children<br />
in developed markets to help<br />
them achieve their ambitions.”<br />
He added that developed in<br />
conjunction with Learning Equality,<br />
a not-for-profit provider of<br />
open-source education, Instant<br />
Schools offers global and local educational<br />
resources, including subjects<br />
such as Maths and Science,<br />
providing millions of children and<br />
young people with access to education<br />
materials, from primary<br />
through to advance high school<br />
level at no charge to Vodafone<br />
users.<br />
Mr Dunnett explained that sub-<br />
Saharan Africa has the lowest rate<br />
of primary school enrolment globally,<br />
with 34 million of the 57 million<br />
out-of-school primary age<br />
children living in the region.<br />
•Vodafone staff supervising some pupils on the online educational platform<br />
“Cultural norms and remote<br />
communities have resulted in outof-school<br />
rates for primary and<br />
secondary school being significantly<br />
higher for girls in sub-Saharan<br />
Africa. According to UN-<br />
ESCO UIS, 15 million girls of<br />
primary school age will never get<br />
the chance to learn to read or<br />
write in primary school compared<br />
with 10 million boys.<br />
Nine million of these girls live<br />
in sub-Saharan Africa. In this<br />
region, the under-five mortality<br />
rate is nearly twice as high<br />
for mothers with no education<br />
as for those who have<br />
completed secondary school,”<br />
he pointed out.<br />
The announcement comes<br />
as the Vodafone Foundation<br />
has published its Connected<br />
Education report, which<br />
found that the online educational<br />
resources made available<br />
through the Instant<br />
Schools For Africa programme<br />
could benefit more<br />
than 50 million children<br />
across Africa, India and Egypt by<br />
2025, as the Vodafone Foundation<br />
increases its focus on these activities.
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WWW.DAILYHERITAGE.COM.GH<br />
DAILY HERITAGE FRIDAY, JUNE <strong>16</strong>, 2017 11<br />
NEWS<br />
Do the difficult things while they are easy<br />
and do the great things while they are small.<br />
A journey of a thousand miles must begin<br />
with a single step — Lao Tzu<br />
Seek God before marriage<br />
• Philanthropist to Ghanaians<br />
BY MAVIS PAINTSIL<br />
MRS PATIENCE<br />
Tenkorang, a<br />
philanthropist in<br />
Takoradi in the<br />
Western Region,<br />
has urged<br />
Ghanaians to ask God for His direction<br />
for their lives before they<br />
enter into marriage.<br />
Speaking in an interview with<br />
the DAILY HERITAGE from<br />
her base in Takoradi through the<br />
telephone, Mrs Tenkorang said if<br />
the Lord leads them into marriage<br />
there is no way there would be divorce<br />
or cracks in the marriage.<br />
According to her, separation in<br />
marriage has led to children turning<br />
out to be vagabonds who become<br />
burden to society.<br />
She said it is society that suffers<br />
most when these children turn out<br />
to be criminals.<br />
Mrs Tenkorang made this statement<br />
when she paid a visit to a<br />
homeless 17-year-old pregnant girl<br />
who also has a one-year-old toddler<br />
and sleeps on the street of<br />
•The one-year-old todler sleeps on the street<br />
Kwame Nkrumah Circle Interchange<br />
in Accra.<br />
Mrs Tenkorang, who has taken<br />
it upon herself to support the<br />
needy in the country as part of<br />
her contribution to the development<br />
of the nation, gives widows<br />
GH¢ 400.00 to GH¢ 500.00 as<br />
start-up capital to start any business<br />
of their choice.<br />
“I feel very sad when I see potential<br />
and prominent children<br />
who have resorted to becoming<br />
street children begging for alms<br />
before they get something to eat,”<br />
she said.<br />
“When women are moved<br />
from extreme poverty to incomegenerating<br />
activities; it will help<br />
decrease population growth,” she<br />
stated.<br />
She advised individuals not to<br />
discriminate against poor people<br />
in society but extend a helping<br />
hand to them.<br />
In an interview with the<br />
DAILY HERITAGE, she said,<br />
she had assisted 300 needy people<br />
comprising widows and orphans<br />
across the country.<br />
She said she had also paid for<br />
the school fees of 20 orphans<br />
with some of them currently in<br />
apprenticeship.<br />
She said it was the responsibility<br />
of Christians to assist people in<br />
distress. According to her, she<br />
started helping vulnerable people<br />
years ago and is yet to open a centre<br />
and start operation in Accra.<br />
“When people are empowered<br />
they are better prepared to take<br />
advantage of opportunities and<br />
become agents of change,” she<br />
said.<br />
In an interview with the<br />
DAILY HERITAGE, Mrs<br />
Tenkorang said when Ghanaians<br />
start to take care of the poor they<br />
would be blessed.<br />
Appeal<br />
Mrs Tenkorang appealed to<br />
public spirited-individuals and organisations<br />
to assist her with<br />
school bags, textbooks, school<br />
uniforms, mattresses, footwear,<br />
pencils, erasers, old chairs and educational<br />
materials, as well as<br />
money to meet their educational<br />
needs.<br />
Savelegu: Gunshots as youth clash with police; three injured<br />
BY KOBINA WELSING<br />
THREE PEOPLE were severely<br />
injured after the youth of Savelegu<br />
in the Northern Region violently<br />
locked up the Assembly Office in<br />
the area.<br />
Starr News’ Northern regional<br />
correspondent, Eliasu Tanko said<br />
several gunshots were fired by the<br />
Police to disperse the irate youth<br />
who were bent on preventing the<br />
Municipal Chief Executive (MCE),<br />
Hajia Aishetu Seidu from starting<br />
work.<br />
A police officer, who refused to<br />
come out from the building, was<br />
locked up inside the Assembly Office<br />
until police and a military reinforcement<br />
arrived.<br />
The angry youth, however, say<br />
they are ready to do everything<br />
possible including dying to ensure<br />
that the MCE is changed by President<br />
Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-<br />
Addo.<br />
The action of the angry youth<br />
comes after soldiers on Wednesday<br />
•The scene after the Assembly office was locked<br />
escorted and inducted the MCE<br />
into office.<br />
It was her first time in office<br />
two months after her overwhelming<br />
endorsement. She was blocked<br />
by the youth from gaining access<br />
after they intensified protest for a<br />
replacement.<br />
Hajia Seidu officially took over<br />
from the municipal coordinating<br />
director on Wednesday, <strong>June</strong> 14 at<br />
a short ceremony under heightened<br />
security.<br />
The Regional Security Council<br />
on Wednesday, in a show of force<br />
sanctioned the deployment of<br />
dozens of anti-gear wearing soldiers<br />
to force the MCE into her<br />
office to fully assume duty as head<br />
of the municipal assembly.<br />
The action of the council followed<br />
a third demonstration staged<br />
by the youth against the MCE after<br />
two initial protests failed to intimidate<br />
assembly members to reject<br />
her.<br />
However, the move enraged the<br />
protesters who resolved to besiege<br />
and lock up the office despite the<br />
presence of the combative military<br />
force.<br />
Speaking to Starr News, leader<br />
of the youth, Zakaria Karim said<br />
after the late night meeting they<br />
agreed to drive out all workers<br />
from the facility at 8 am yesterday<br />
morning and close it down until<br />
the President heeds to their request.<br />
The action by the youth has<br />
raised security concerns in the region.<br />
Political tensions have escalated<br />
in the municipality since the appointment<br />
of Hajia Seidu.<br />
The youth have roundly rejected<br />
her and held series of rampaging<br />
protests despite an<br />
unprecedented approval by the assembly<br />
members.
Quake Edition FEB 92.qxp_Layout 1 6/15/17 9:38 PM Page 9<br />
12<br />
DAILY<br />
News<br />
WWW.DAILYHERITAGE.COM.GH<br />
HERITAGE FRIDAY, JUNE <strong>16</strong>, 2017<br />
Help me retrieve looted state<br />
cash – Auditor-General<br />
BY MOHAMMED AWAL<br />
THE AUDITOR-<br />
GENERAL (AG),<br />
Daniel Domelevo<br />
has called for the<br />
backing of Ghanaians<br />
as he prepares<br />
to recover every penny siphoned<br />
from state coffers.<br />
His appeal came barely 24<br />
hours after a seven-member panel<br />
of the Supreme Court ruled on<br />
Wednesday ordering him to immediately<br />
initiate process of surcharging<br />
any person found to have<br />
misappropriated state funds.<br />
Also, the panel headed by<br />
Ghana’s Chief Justice, Justice<br />
Sophia Akuffo directed that where<br />
applicable, criminal action should<br />
be instituted against the accused<br />
persons by the country’s Attorney<br />
General.<br />
Declaring his readiness to recoup<br />
the monies looted from the<br />
state yesterday on Morning Starr,<br />
which pressure group, Occupy<br />
• Daniel Domelevo, the Auditor-General<br />
Ghana said is well over GH¢ 40<br />
billion, Mr Domelevo appealed to<br />
all and sundry to come on board.<br />
According to him, the task<br />
ahead is an arduous one and that<br />
he is oblivious of the amount of<br />
evidence that will be required “before<br />
we can do the surcharge.”<br />
“So let me say that I am happy<br />
you say Occupy Ghana has a figure<br />
which I know of. It is not just Auditor<br />
General, it a collective responsibility.<br />
I’ll appeal to Occupy<br />
Ghana and all Ghanaians to let us<br />
do this together,” he pleaded.<br />
He continued “if you have any<br />
evidence to support it, because<br />
what is written in the audit report<br />
you may have to go back to the<br />
first document and establish that…<br />
this is the evidence because people<br />
will challenge our disallowance and<br />
surcharge and that will go to court.<br />
“If we go to court we must<br />
provide the evidence. So I’ll appeal<br />
to Occupy Ghana and Ghanaians<br />
that it is a collective responsibility<br />
to protect the public funds which is<br />
in the interest of all of us.”<br />
We’re coming<br />
for our cash<br />
He said with the backing of the<br />
Ghanaian populace nothing will<br />
discourage him from executing the<br />
Supreme Court’s order to the letter<br />
and that “wherever there is outright<br />
embezzlement of state funds,<br />
we will go for it.”<br />
This, he explained extends to<br />
private entities and individuals<br />
found to have siphoned the state’s<br />
coffers.<br />
The ruling, he said is resounding<br />
giving great clarity to the provisions<br />
of the constitution.<br />
Hitherto, there were two<br />
schools of thought; one school<br />
was of the view that as longs the<br />
Auditor General produces the annual<br />
report to Parliament and mentioned<br />
in there infractions and<br />
irregularities in financial management<br />
that was enough…which is<br />
the old school.”<br />
“However, there is another<br />
school of thought which I belong<br />
to which is of the view that the<br />
constitution is very clear that in the<br />
course of the audit, if you come<br />
across any expenditure which is<br />
contrary to law it must be disallowed<br />
and whoever is responsible<br />
to be held accountable.”<br />
The Supreme Court ruling was<br />
necessitated by an action instituted<br />
against the Attorney General and<br />
Auditor General by pressure group<br />
Occupy Ghana for refusing to surcharge<br />
persons who are said to<br />
have misappropriated monies belonging<br />
to the state to the tune of<br />
over GH¢ 40 billion.<br />
3 months Jail term for false fire Alarmists<br />
BY EDWARD ADETI<br />
JUST ONE wrong move of deliberately<br />
calling the attention of firemen<br />
to a false fire outbreak anywhere in<br />
Ghana will earn you a minimum of<br />
one-month jail term or a maximum of<br />
three-months if caught, government<br />
has announced.<br />
The notice, contained in the latest<br />
Local Governance Act 936, 20<strong>16</strong>, was<br />
made public this week when the<br />
Upper East Regional Coordinating<br />
Council called stakeholders together<br />
at Bolgatanga, the regional capital, to<br />
sensitise them on some new developments<br />
inside the local governance law<br />
book.<br />
“A person who knowingly or without<br />
lawful authority gives or causes to<br />
be given a false alarm of fire commits<br />
an offence and is liable on summary<br />
conviction to a fine of not less than<br />
one hundred and twenty-five penalty<br />
units and not more than one hundred<br />
fifty penalty units or to a term of imprisonment<br />
of not less than one<br />
month and not more than three<br />
months or to both the fine and term<br />
of imprisonment,” the Act states.<br />
Among the participants were municipal<br />
and district coordinating directors,<br />
presiding members, senior staff<br />
at the coordinating council and representatives<br />
of civil society organisations<br />
in the region.<br />
False fire callers too many in<br />
Upper East<br />
Checks done the Upper East Regional<br />
Headquarters of the Ghana<br />
National Fire Service (GNFS) immediately<br />
after the sensitisation programme<br />
revealed that the<br />
headquarters receives at least three<br />
anonymous false alarm calls every<br />
two-months.<br />
“We have a lot of contact lines to<br />
those false alarm callers. We’ve gone<br />
to the offices of the network service<br />
providers to track them but they<br />
asked us to pass through the police.<br />
The police also say they are also experiencing<br />
those things. They (the false<br />
alarm callers) call them that there is<br />
an armed robbery incident here or<br />
there; you go and there is nothing.<br />
Most of them call at midnight,” the<br />
Deputy Regional Commander, DOI<br />
Ebenezer Mensah, told Starr News.<br />
He stated further: “It has been so<br />
for a long time. It has serious effects<br />
on us. Even fuel alone. We fill the<br />
tank to our fire engine with fuel- and<br />
the tank in the ambulance, because always<br />
we go with ambulance in case of<br />
casualties. The most recent one was<br />
when we received a call that there was<br />
fire around the Timber Market (near<br />
Zuarungu). We combed everywhere<br />
that night for hours and it turned out<br />
that it was a false alarm.”<br />
Meanwhile, development watchers<br />
have remarked that the penalty cited<br />
in the new Act 936 is “not punitive<br />
enough” to discourage such deceitful<br />
calls.<br />
Participants held deliberations on<br />
the new Act<br />
• A cross section of the stakeholders at the programme<br />
New law exempts Private<br />
Cemeteries from Property Rate<br />
The omission of private cemeteries<br />
in the new Act with regard to the<br />
collection of property rate attracted a<br />
sharp attack from the Assistant Dean<br />
of Studies and Research at the Institute<br />
of Local Government Studies,<br />
Abdul-Moomen Salia, who facilitated<br />
the programme alongside the Upper<br />
East Regional Coordinating Director,<br />
Alhaji Abdulai Abubakar.<br />
“The law says schools, hospitals,<br />
cemeteries are exempted. For me, it<br />
raises an issue. Cemeteries in other<br />
areas are big businesses. We now have<br />
people operating private cemeteries.<br />
And the number of years the grave<br />
stays there depends on how much<br />
you are willing to pay.<br />
“These are private people, who<br />
are operating the cemetery business,<br />
making income. I think that we<br />
should look at that law. If we are talking<br />
about public cemetery, it’s agreed.<br />
If somebody is operating a private<br />
cemetery, you shouldn’t exempt that<br />
person whilst he or she is making<br />
profits,” Mr Salia strongly stated.<br />
Upper East Regional Coordinating<br />
Director, Alhaji Abdulai Abubakar,<br />
asked municipal and district coordinating<br />
directors to adopt the new Act<br />
as their ‘Holy Scriptures.’<br />
His position on the property tax<br />
was backed by former Upper East Regional<br />
Economic Planning Officer,<br />
Issaka Sagito, who said “private<br />
schools are now businesses and they<br />
make big money. “And I don’t think<br />
they even pay any income tax. If you<br />
start a private school in a room, in the<br />
next three years you would see a<br />
storey building financed by the Parent<br />
Teacher Association. All the buildings<br />
are all from parents but in the end<br />
they are the property of the owner of<br />
the school.”<br />
Whilst making a presentation on<br />
“Financial Matters of District Assemblies”,<br />
the Chief Internal Auditor at<br />
the coordinating council, Daniel<br />
Atompoya, observed that despite a<br />
significant rise in the number of private<br />
buildings put up in recent times<br />
across the region, the assemblies still<br />
looked bankrupt as they had failed to<br />
stand firm on their demand for the
13<br />
WWW.DAILYHERITAGE.COM.GH DAILY HERITAGE FRIDAY, JUNE <strong>16</strong>, 2017<br />
I’m ‘King’ of the<br />
East – Ennwai<br />
HIPLIFE<br />
ARTISTE and<br />
member of defunct<br />
group ‘Dobble’,<br />
Ennwai, has announced<br />
he has<br />
taken over the Eastern<br />
Region as the<br />
‘King’ of music.<br />
According to the<br />
versatile musician,<br />
who hails from Jejeti<br />
in the Eastern<br />
Region, declaring<br />
himself as the<br />
‘King’ means he is<br />
not going to disappoint<br />
the region.<br />
For him, it is<br />
also a huge challenge<br />
to live up to<br />
expectations.<br />
Ennwai told<br />
Starrfmonline.com<br />
•Ennwai<br />
that “I’m going to<br />
make sure I work<br />
hard to maintain<br />
this title as the<br />
‘King’ of music as<br />
far as the Eastern<br />
Region is concerned<br />
and I<br />
strongly believe<br />
that success is<br />
awaiting me and<br />
very soon Ghanaians<br />
will testify to<br />
that.”<br />
Ennwai’s recently<br />
released<br />
songs, which include<br />
‘Halle Halle’,<br />
‘Give Thanks’, and<br />
‘Jah Over Everything’<br />
are receiving<br />
massive airplay<br />
after his breakaway<br />
from ‘Dobble’.<br />
MULTIPLE<br />
AWARD-<br />
WIN-<br />
NING<br />
teen actor<br />
Abraham<br />
Attah and the Hero Film<br />
crew have donated a number<br />
of Toms shoes to underprivileged<br />
schoolchildren in the<br />
Northern Region.<br />
The donation was done<br />
on <strong>June</strong> 14, 2017.<br />
As part of the youngster's<br />
regional tour of the north,<br />
his foundation (Abraham<br />
Attah Foundation) partnered<br />
with the Hero Film Project<br />
to make such donations<br />
worth thousands of Ghana<br />
Cedis to needy schoolchildren<br />
in Tamale International<br />
School and SOS Children<br />
Village among other schools.<br />
According to Mr Attah,<br />
he received a courtesy call<br />
from a young actress in<br />
Tamale, Vanessa Dokurugu,<br />
who appealed to him<br />
through the Hero Film management<br />
about the conditions<br />
of some<br />
underprivileged schoolchildren<br />
in the north.<br />
Attah quickly responded<br />
to the call of young Vanessa,<br />
who happens to be the lead<br />
character of the much-anticipated<br />
social responsibility<br />
movie ‘The Hero’, to embark<br />
on a tour in the Northern<br />
Region.<br />
The schoolchildren from<br />
the various schools were<br />
very excited and overwhelmed<br />
to see actor Attah<br />
Abraham Attah,<br />
Hero Film crew<br />
donate to Tamale<br />
schoolchildren<br />
and their own Vanessa.<br />
The children and their<br />
patrons expressed their appreciation<br />
to Attah and the<br />
Hero Film crew kind gesture.<br />
Later in the evening,<br />
there was a special dinner<br />
organized by the Hero Film<br />
crew for Attah and Vanessa<br />
at the Modern City Hotel in<br />
Tamale.<br />
Attah took the opportunity<br />
to motivate the young<br />
actress to continue in the direction<br />
she had taken so she<br />
•Abraham Attah<br />
(M) donating the<br />
items to the<br />
schoolchildren<br />
could serve as a motivation<br />
to other young ones.<br />
He added that he would<br />
send more Toms shoes to<br />
other schools in the region<br />
through Vanessa.<br />
‘Feeling’ music video was shot<br />
on $20,000 budget - Bisa Kdei<br />
AWARD-WINNING<br />
high life artiste Bisa<br />
Kdei has finally disclosed<br />
the amount involved<br />
in shooting the<br />
video for his collaboration<br />
with Nigeria's<br />
Reekado Banks in a<br />
statement copied to the<br />
DAILY HER-<br />
ITAGE.<br />
Bisa Kdei said the<br />
total cost for shooting<br />
of the highly rated<br />
music video was $20,000<br />
As to what really<br />
went in for the 100,000<br />
Ghana-cedi budgeted<br />
video, Bisa Kdei says it's<br />
up to the director to disclose<br />
that.<br />
The song, which is titled<br />
‘Feeling’, is expected<br />
to be on Bisa<br />
Kdeis upcoming album;<br />
‘Konnect’.<br />
The video was directed<br />
by Yaw Skyface.<br />
The statement stated<br />
that “After watching the<br />
video and seeing<br />
the expensive cars,<br />
beautiful models<br />
and other casts featured<br />
in, we believe<br />
the video is indeed<br />
an expensive one.<br />
“Also, flying and<br />
hosting a top<br />
Nigerian artiste like<br />
Reekado Banks in<br />
Ghana for the<br />
shoot is another<br />
budget we must<br />
look at.”<br />
•Bisa Kdei<br />
•Reekado Banks,<br />
Nigerian musician
WWW.DAILYHERITAGE.COM.GH<br />
DAILY HERITAGE FRIDAY, JUNE <strong>16</strong>, 2017<br />
Secular music isn’t<br />
evil but … – Rev. Dr<br />
Stephen Wengam<br />
THERE HAVE<br />
been so many<br />
controversies<br />
surrounding<br />
secular music<br />
because a section<br />
of the public tag contents<br />
of such songs and the<br />
artistes who composed them<br />
as ‘evil’.<br />
In view of the contention,<br />
the head pastor of Cedar<br />
Mountain Chapel, Rev. Dr<br />
Stephen Wengam, in an interview<br />
with Bola Ray on ‘Starr<br />
Chat’ on Wednesday, said<br />
non-religious songs are not<br />
evil but it depends on the<br />
lyrics and the spirit behind<br />
the person who composed<br />
the song.<br />
According to him, in differentiating<br />
what ‘worldly<br />
songs’ are, one should look<br />
out for the purpose of music,<br />
the style and the lyrics.<br />
The former Chairman of<br />
the Prison Council said, however,<br />
that there are many secular<br />
songs with no mention of<br />
God that still uphold godly<br />
values such as honesty, purity,<br />
and integrity but said he was<br />
more interested in the character<br />
behind the song.<br />
“I don’t listen to secular<br />
music but if I’m listening to<br />
radio and they’re playing it,<br />
it’s fine. Howevr, I won’t use<br />
my money to buy secular<br />
music. I listen to gospel<br />
more…<br />
When asked about songs<br />
by Sarkodie, Amakye Dede<br />
and others, the radio pastor<br />
said, “Some of those songs<br />
make sense but I think that<br />
the word of God can advise<br />
me better. It’s not any gospel<br />
song that there’s Jesus in it<br />
but I’m more interested in the<br />
character or the person who<br />
is doing the song.”<br />
When asked to choose between<br />
Dr Mensa Otabil and<br />
Arhcbishop Nicholas Duncan<br />
Williams the one who is a<br />
greater preacher, Rev Dr<br />
Stephen Wengam answered,<br />
“It’s like comparing apples to<br />
oranges. Clearly, Dr Otabil<br />
has his ministry, he’s a teacher<br />
and Archbishop Duncan<br />
•Rev. Dr Stephen Wengam<br />
Williams is a prayer Apostle<br />
so it will be difficult to compare<br />
the two but in the kingdom<br />
of God, God doesn’t<br />
judge greatness by ability to<br />
preach but by being a servant<br />
leader… that is the criteria<br />
and faithfulness to your calling.”<br />
Rev Dr Wengam further<br />
explained that when it comes<br />
to preaching and teaching Dr<br />
Otabil is an inspirer and<br />
Archbishop Duncan Williams<br />
is gifted with prayer.<br />
He praised Rev Mary<br />
Ghansah, describing her as<br />
his favourite gospel musician.<br />
He added that Ohemaa<br />
Mercy also treats her music<br />
career as a full time ministry.<br />
Meiway<br />
headlines 2017<br />
EMY award<br />
MUSIC LEGEND Freddy Meiway will<br />
headline the second edition of Exclusive<br />
Men of the Year Award (EMY<br />
Awards), which will come off on Saturday,<br />
<strong>June</strong> 24, at the Kempinski Hotel,<br />
Gold Coast City Ball Room.<br />
Known for songs such as ‘Zoblazo’,<br />
‘Miss Lolo’, and ‘Appolo 95’, Meiway<br />
has never disappointed on stage and<br />
once again Ghanaians will have a feel<br />
of him when he mounts the stage at<br />
the upcoming event.<br />
Other musicians performing include<br />
original Osibisa Band, Efya and Irene<br />
Logan, with support from the Patch<br />
Bay Band and Tema Youth Choir.<br />
The EMY Awards celebrate and tell<br />
the untold stories of great men to inspire<br />
and encourage others to aspire to<br />
be great.<br />
This year’s edition comprises six<br />
competitive and 12 honorary categories.<br />
The 2017 edition has artistes Joe<br />
Mettle, Stonebwoy, Lil Win, Shatta<br />
Wale, DJ Black and Kofi Asamoah in<br />
contention for the Man of the Year<br />
award in the entertainment category.<br />
Last year, Sarkodie beat off stiff<br />
competition from Shatta Wale, EL, Adjetey<br />
Annan (Pusher) and Kalybos to<br />
win the EMY’s Entertainer of the Year<br />
award.<br />
Nominees for Discovery of the<br />
Year are Medikal, Isaac Chwuku Udeh,<br />
Gilbert Ramy Carrey, Sangu Delle, Alex<br />
Adjei Bram and David Osei.<br />
Other categories include Man of the<br />
Year (Communications), Man of the<br />
Year (Sport), Fashion Designer of The<br />
Year and Man of the Year Style.<br />
Land Rover and uniBank are sponsors<br />
of EMY Africa Awards.<br />
‘America’s got talent’ contestant<br />
dies before his performance<br />
DR BRANDON Rogers, a<br />
contestant on the Television<br />
reality show ‘America’s Got<br />
Talent’ (AGT), died on Sunday,<br />
TMZ reports. He was 29.<br />
Sources close to the reality<br />
show told the outlet that<br />
Brandon died in a car accident<br />
over the weekend in<br />
Maryland, just weeks before<br />
his performance was set to<br />
air during a future episode.<br />
Brandon’s brother, Danni<br />
Rogers, a dancer and choreographer,<br />
confirmed the<br />
news with a heartbreaking<br />
video posted on Instagram.<br />
Upon hearing the news of<br />
Brandon’s untimely death,<br />
Boyz II Men shared a video<br />
on Instagram from their performance<br />
with him and expressed<br />
their condolences<br />
with a touching caption.<br />
“Today our hearts are<br />
deeply saddened to learn<br />
about the sudden death of<br />
Dr Brandon Rogers,” they<br />
wrote, adding, “Gone too<br />
young and gone too soon. It<br />
hurts to know that the world<br />
will never have a chance to<br />
witness what his impact on<br />
the world could have been as<br />
a doctor and even on the<br />
music world.” HuffPost<br />
•Freddy Meiway
DAILYHERITAGE.COM.GH<br />
Sports<br />
DAILY HERITAGE<br />
FRIDAY, JUNE <strong>16</strong>, 2017<br />
2018 FIFA U-20 Women's World Cup qualifier<br />
Black Princesses<br />
to play Algeria<br />
Only unity can<br />
qualify Black<br />
Stars to the World<br />
Cup - Amoah<br />
FORMER GHANA forward Matthew<br />
Amoah has called for unity in the Black<br />
Stars in their bid to qualify to the 2018<br />
FIFA World Cup in Russia.<br />
The Black Stars are in danger of missing<br />
out on the global football festival in Russia<br />
next year after collecting just one point<br />
from a possible six in Group E, where the<br />
Pharaohs of Egypt are in cruise control<br />
with six maximum points from two games.<br />
And the former Borussia Dortmund<br />
poacher believes it's not too late for the<br />
four- time Africa champions to overhaul<br />
the North Africans at the top of the standings<br />
and make it to their fourth consecutive<br />
World Cups but only unity among the players<br />
can help achieve that goal.<br />
“Football is all about team work and if<br />
the Black Stars come together as a family as<br />
we did years before, I think they can do<br />
better,” Amoah said.<br />
He added that, “they have to be committed,<br />
fight for each other and be there for<br />
one another.” GSN<br />
THE BLACK<br />
Princesses of<br />
Ghana will<br />
begin their<br />
quest for making<br />
an appearance<br />
at next year's 2018<br />
FIFA U20 Women's World<br />
Cup in July.<br />
The Princesses will take<br />
on Algeria in a two-leg tie in<br />
the preliminary stage of the<br />
qualifiers.<br />
Ghana will be away to<br />
Algeria first on the weekend<br />
of 15-17 September<br />
before the return encounter<br />
in Accra on the weekend of<br />
29-30 September.<br />
The young ladies will be<br />
hoping to make another<br />
World Cup qualification<br />
after playing at the last edition<br />
of the tournament<br />
which was hosted in Papua<br />
New Guinea.<br />
The team failed to<br />
progress from their group<br />
stage in last year’s tournament<br />
as they finished bottom<br />
of the Group and got<br />
ejected alongside New<br />
Zealand.<br />
I have not retired from<br />
football yet — John Mensah<br />
FORMER GHANA captain<br />
John Mensah insists<br />
he is not done with active<br />
football yet.<br />
According to the defender,<br />
he has recovered<br />
from the niggling setbacks<br />
that kept him out of the<br />
game, pointing out that he<br />
still has some football in<br />
him.<br />
“I’ve not quit football,<br />
not now,” John Mensah<br />
stated on the ‘Face To<br />
Face’ segment of Agoo<br />
TV’s ‘Dwidwamu Sports’<br />
yesterday.<br />
“After my time with<br />
Lyon, I went to Sweden<br />
but injuries did not allow<br />
me to play a match for<br />
them. I had to leave after<br />
the contract ended in November<br />
20<strong>16</strong> so I came<br />
back home.<br />
“I have been undergoing<br />
some special training.<br />
I’m okay now but because<br />
I’ve been inactive,<br />
I’m not eager to return<br />
to the national team now.<br />
“I cannot expect to be<br />
called while in this current<br />
state. I’m hoping to<br />
get back to club football<br />
abroad then we see what<br />
happens,” the former<br />
Sunderland centre-back<br />
added.<br />
Asked about relaunching<br />
his career with boyhood<br />
club AshantiGold<br />
or any suitable local side,<br />
Mensah said such a<br />
thought had never<br />
crossed his mind.<br />
“At AshGold, I only<br />
played in the Academy<br />
before travelling out. I<br />
never had the feel of the<br />
Ghana Premier League<br />
so the connection is not<br />
really there. To be honest,<br />
I’ve not really set my<br />
mind on playing in the<br />
local league,” he revealed<br />
in the interview with<br />
Adam Adjei.<br />
Dwidwamu Sports is a<br />
90-minute package of<br />
news and discussion<br />
from the sporting world,<br />
which airs immediately<br />
after the 2-hour breakfast<br />
show, ‘Yensempa’ on the<br />
EIB Network-owned<br />
Agoo TV every weekday.<br />
It is anchored by Adam<br />
Adjei and Michael<br />
Tuffour.<br />
• John Mensah