Front Page: Daily Graphic, June 6, 2009.
Story: Albert K. Salia
THE National Security Council Secretariat has taken over the investigations of the allegations of financial malfeasance levelled against the Youth and Sports Minister, Alhaji Mohammed Muntaka Muburak. It is to determine whether or not the said allegations were a frame-up.
The Principal Accountant of the ministry, Mr Adim Odoom, is said to have made serious allegations of financial and administrative indiscretion against the minister, Alhaji Muntaka Muburak, who has, this far, insisted on his innocence and claimed that the whole game is a design by his detractors to get him out.
Following this development, the National Security Secretariat has asked Mr Odoom to provide all documents covering the purported payments he alleged the minister received.
Sources close to the secretariat told the Daily Graphic that President Mills had taken the allegations seriously and, therefore, directed officials of the secretariat to handle the investigations.
The sources explained that in all public service financial transactions, memos, invoices, payment receipts were attached.
They said substantiating the allegations would be easy for the person making the allegations.
“So far, no such evidence appears to be forthcoming or exist,” they added.
They said Mr Odoom had been asked to provide the registration numbers of the five vehicles he alleged the minister had allocated to himself, provide memos and payment vouchers covering the GH¢12,000 to enable the minister to buy gifts for his constituents, the collection of $25,000 for the payment of protocol to the Ghana Football Association and the request for a refund of GH¢15,200 with a receipt in the name of Zinabu Mubarak in respect of meat and other food items purchased from the market.
The sources said Mr Odoom was also to provide evidence of the $10,000 the minister allegedly collected to pay for landing charges, as well as the $2,000 he (Muburak) took as imprest to cater for hotel bills and other expenses in Abidjan.
“These are all public service transactions and you and I know that no one can pay or collect money from the bank or receive it without documents covering the transactions,” they said.
The sources were hopeful that Mr Odoom would provide the documents as soon as possible to enable the investigation team to resolve the mystery, as “President Mills wants it to be dealt with in the shortest possible time”.
Monday, June 8, 2009
Man, 59, arrested for fraud
Page 21: Daily Graphic, June 6, 2009.
Story: Albert K. Salia
A 59-year-old man who described himself as the Dzaasetse (king maker) of Ga Mashie has been arrested by the police for allegedly defrauding one Stephen Appiah of GH¢20,000.
Nii Amui Degraft Quaye, who is currently on prison remand and is due for court on June 10, 2009, however claims his surveyor, whom he identified as George Aidoo, alias Abeiku, only gave him GH¢9,000 for 10 plots of land which he (Degraft) sold to the complainant in 2007.
A source at the Accra Regional Police Command told the Daily Graphic yesterday that unknown to Mr Appiah, the land sold to him by Degraft of the Abola Clan was under litigation.
It said an estate developer, Mr Kofi Anokye, was contesting the ownership of the land with Degraft in court but the suspect sold the land to Mr Appiah.
It said when Mr Appiah demanded the documents covering the land, Degraft allegedly informed him that the land was under litigation and advised him (Appiah) to be patient.
The source said Mr Appiah then demanded a refund of his money, since he could not part with that amount of money without anything to show for it.
It said Degraft, however, failed to refund the money after several promises to do so.
It said Degraft later insisted that Mr Appiah should wait till the end of the litigation so that the documents would be handed over to him.
According to the source, Degraft allegedly admitted in his caution statement that he had collected only GH¢9,000 from Abeiku as the money paid to him by Mr Appiah.
It said the suspect was charged with defrauding by false pretences, resulting in the court remanding him into prison custody.
Story: Albert K. Salia
A 59-year-old man who described himself as the Dzaasetse (king maker) of Ga Mashie has been arrested by the police for allegedly defrauding one Stephen Appiah of GH¢20,000.
Nii Amui Degraft Quaye, who is currently on prison remand and is due for court on June 10, 2009, however claims his surveyor, whom he identified as George Aidoo, alias Abeiku, only gave him GH¢9,000 for 10 plots of land which he (Degraft) sold to the complainant in 2007.
A source at the Accra Regional Police Command told the Daily Graphic yesterday that unknown to Mr Appiah, the land sold to him by Degraft of the Abola Clan was under litigation.
It said an estate developer, Mr Kofi Anokye, was contesting the ownership of the land with Degraft in court but the suspect sold the land to Mr Appiah.
It said when Mr Appiah demanded the documents covering the land, Degraft allegedly informed him that the land was under litigation and advised him (Appiah) to be patient.
The source said Mr Appiah then demanded a refund of his money, since he could not part with that amount of money without anything to show for it.
It said Degraft, however, failed to refund the money after several promises to do so.
It said Degraft later insisted that Mr Appiah should wait till the end of the litigation so that the documents would be handed over to him.
According to the source, Degraft allegedly admitted in his caution statement that he had collected only GH¢9,000 from Abeiku as the money paid to him by Mr Appiah.
It said the suspect was charged with defrauding by false pretences, resulting in the court remanding him into prison custody.
2 cops jailed 20 years* For conspiracy, robbery
Page 3: Daily Graphic, June 5, 2009.
Story: Albert K. Salia
AN ACCRA Circuit Court yesterday sentenced two policemen to a total of 20 years imprisonment after convicting them on charges of conspiracy and robbery.
The convicts, Constables Joseph Frimpong and Frank Boakye, formerly of the Airport Police Motor Traffic and Transport Unit (MTTU), joined the Ghana Police Service in 2003 and 2006, respectively.
The Presiding Judge, Mr Mahamadu Iddrisu, sentenced them to 10 years each on each count, both of which are to run concurrently.
The facts of the case, as presented by the prosecutor, ASP George Abavelim, were that on August 14, 2008, Frimpong and Boakye, together with four civilians who are yet to be identified, went to the Dzorwulu traffic light intersection purporting to be performing traffic duties.
He said on seeing a Mali-bound cargo truck loaded with bicycles, motorcycles and spare parts, the convicts stopped the truck.
He said the two policemen pulled out the driver of the truck and his two mates and put them into two waiting taxis.
According to the prosecutor, the driver and his mates were driven to the Achimota Forest and abandoned there, adding that the policemen and their civilian accomplices then drove the truck to an uncompleted building at a place known as Alafia at Darkuman in Accra where they discharged the goods.
ASP Abavelim said the convicts and their accomplices later abandoned the empty truck on the Kasoa-Winneba highway.
He said after a complaint had been lodged with the police, investigations led to the arrest of Boakye and Frimpong on September 16 and 17, 2008, respectively.
Story: Albert K. Salia
AN ACCRA Circuit Court yesterday sentenced two policemen to a total of 20 years imprisonment after convicting them on charges of conspiracy and robbery.
The convicts, Constables Joseph Frimpong and Frank Boakye, formerly of the Airport Police Motor Traffic and Transport Unit (MTTU), joined the Ghana Police Service in 2003 and 2006, respectively.
The Presiding Judge, Mr Mahamadu Iddrisu, sentenced them to 10 years each on each count, both of which are to run concurrently.
The facts of the case, as presented by the prosecutor, ASP George Abavelim, were that on August 14, 2008, Frimpong and Boakye, together with four civilians who are yet to be identified, went to the Dzorwulu traffic light intersection purporting to be performing traffic duties.
He said on seeing a Mali-bound cargo truck loaded with bicycles, motorcycles and spare parts, the convicts stopped the truck.
He said the two policemen pulled out the driver of the truck and his two mates and put them into two waiting taxis.
According to the prosecutor, the driver and his mates were driven to the Achimota Forest and abandoned there, adding that the policemen and their civilian accomplices then drove the truck to an uncompleted building at a place known as Alafia at Darkuman in Accra where they discharged the goods.
ASP Abavelim said the convicts and their accomplices later abandoned the empty truck on the Kasoa-Winneba highway.
He said after a complaint had been lodged with the police, investigations led to the arrest of Boakye and Frimpong on September 16 and 17, 2008, respectively.
British High Commission donates to Visa Fraud Unit
Page 23: Daily Graphic, June 5, 2009.
Story: Albert K. Salia
THE British High Commission has presented office equipment worth GH¢25,308 and Toyota pick-up valued at $22,000 to the Documentation and Visa Fraud Unit of the Criminal Investigations Department (CID) of the Ghana Police Service.
The Immigration Liaison Manager of the High Commission, Mr Paul Stafford, who presented the items on behalf of the United Kingdom Border Agency International Group at a ceremony in Accra, said since the establishment of the unit, the number of people arrested for submitting forged documents at the Commission had decreased dramatically from more than 1,000 in 2005 to 330 last year.
“It clearly shows that our joint efforts have got the message across but obviously there is still work to be done and hope that our donation can assist the CID in their work,” he said.
Mr Stafford said it was in recognition of the good work of the CID to counteract document fraud and illegal migration that the UK Border Agency decided to support the CID since the two shared similar goals.
He noted that the prevalence of forged documents could affect the genuine traveller who are forced to undergo further scrutiny because of the actions of unscrupulous persons.
For his part, the Director-General of the CID, DCOP Frank Adu-Poku noted that crime in the contemporary society had become very sophisticated and networked and as such, fighting crime required modern equipment and a lot of intelligence gathering.
He said it was in that vein that the Ghana Police Service was grateful to the British High Commission for their co-operative partnership with the police to get rid of miscreants in the society.
He said since the establishment of the unit, the British High Commission had supported the unit in its investigations and intelligence gathering, and training among others.
Story: Albert K. Salia
THE British High Commission has presented office equipment worth GH¢25,308 and Toyota pick-up valued at $22,000 to the Documentation and Visa Fraud Unit of the Criminal Investigations Department (CID) of the Ghana Police Service.
The Immigration Liaison Manager of the High Commission, Mr Paul Stafford, who presented the items on behalf of the United Kingdom Border Agency International Group at a ceremony in Accra, said since the establishment of the unit, the number of people arrested for submitting forged documents at the Commission had decreased dramatically from more than 1,000 in 2005 to 330 last year.
“It clearly shows that our joint efforts have got the message across but obviously there is still work to be done and hope that our donation can assist the CID in their work,” he said.
Mr Stafford said it was in recognition of the good work of the CID to counteract document fraud and illegal migration that the UK Border Agency decided to support the CID since the two shared similar goals.
He noted that the prevalence of forged documents could affect the genuine traveller who are forced to undergo further scrutiny because of the actions of unscrupulous persons.
For his part, the Director-General of the CID, DCOP Frank Adu-Poku noted that crime in the contemporary society had become very sophisticated and networked and as such, fighting crime required modern equipment and a lot of intelligence gathering.
He said it was in that vein that the Ghana Police Service was grateful to the British High Commission for their co-operative partnership with the police to get rid of miscreants in the society.
He said since the establishment of the unit, the British High Commission had supported the unit in its investigations and intelligence gathering, and training among others.
More training for cops
Page 20/45: Daily Graphic, June 4, 2009.
Story: Albert K. Salia
THE Inspector-General of Police (IGP), Mr Paul Quaye, yesterday announced plans for the continuous training of personnel of the Ghana Police Service.
Currently, there is no continuous training programme in place to sharpen the skills of personnel after they have passed out of the National Police Training Schools or the Police Staff College.
Key on the agenda of a meeting of the Headquarters Management and Advisory Board (HEMAB) meeting on June 3, 2009, is the drawing up of strategies and establishment of structures for the continuous training programme.
Speaking at the opening of Cadet Course 42 for 125 personnel at the Police College in Accra yesterday, Mr Quaye said the training and retraining of personnel in any organisation was important and central to its success and development since the process equipped individuals with the requisite knowledge base and technical capacity-building skills to enable them play their roles effectively.
He said it was against that background that the Police Administration found it imperative to make training and retraining one of the priorities to enhance the professionalism of the personnel.
He said the exigencies of constitutional democracy also underscored the need to constantly keep personnel well-informed about the approaches and techniques of modern policing in accordance with the appropriate principles of democratic policing.
Mr Quaye reminded the personnel that the positive use of modern technology was sometimes misapplied for purposes which were harmful to society.
He said the Police could not remain static in their various approaches to preventing and solving crime, which was aimed at ensuring safer communities and neighbourhoods.
Mr Quaye said the police could only face the challenges of the times “through regular training in contemporary policing methods to help us update our knowledge and keep abreast with current developments”.
He said the Police Administration had also decided that cadet officers pay GH¢5 of their daily feeding cost as part of measures to reduce the cost the Police incurred in running the programme and also help to run regular cadet officers courses for the increasing number of qualified personnel.
The Commandant of the college, Osabarima Oware Asare Pinkro III, in a welcoming address, noted that police personnel could not continue to rely on what they were taught years back.
“We should not create a false impression that we can do better without retraining initiatives and programmes. We should learn new things. The complex issues and debates in the field of crime control and the new global politics of safety and security are with us. We cannot run away from these bare facts,” he noted.
Osabarima Pinkro urged police personnel to move beyond the narrow and technical boundaries of traditional policing which had always been reactive and not proactive.
Story: Albert K. Salia
THE Inspector-General of Police (IGP), Mr Paul Quaye, yesterday announced plans for the continuous training of personnel of the Ghana Police Service.
Currently, there is no continuous training programme in place to sharpen the skills of personnel after they have passed out of the National Police Training Schools or the Police Staff College.
Key on the agenda of a meeting of the Headquarters Management and Advisory Board (HEMAB) meeting on June 3, 2009, is the drawing up of strategies and establishment of structures for the continuous training programme.
Speaking at the opening of Cadet Course 42 for 125 personnel at the Police College in Accra yesterday, Mr Quaye said the training and retraining of personnel in any organisation was important and central to its success and development since the process equipped individuals with the requisite knowledge base and technical capacity-building skills to enable them play their roles effectively.
He said it was against that background that the Police Administration found it imperative to make training and retraining one of the priorities to enhance the professionalism of the personnel.
He said the exigencies of constitutional democracy also underscored the need to constantly keep personnel well-informed about the approaches and techniques of modern policing in accordance with the appropriate principles of democratic policing.
Mr Quaye reminded the personnel that the positive use of modern technology was sometimes misapplied for purposes which were harmful to society.
He said the Police could not remain static in their various approaches to preventing and solving crime, which was aimed at ensuring safer communities and neighbourhoods.
Mr Quaye said the police could only face the challenges of the times “through regular training in contemporary policing methods to help us update our knowledge and keep abreast with current developments”.
He said the Police Administration had also decided that cadet officers pay GH¢5 of their daily feeding cost as part of measures to reduce the cost the Police incurred in running the programme and also help to run regular cadet officers courses for the increasing number of qualified personnel.
The Commandant of the college, Osabarima Oware Asare Pinkro III, in a welcoming address, noted that police personnel could not continue to rely on what they were taught years back.
“We should not create a false impression that we can do better without retraining initiatives and programmes. We should learn new things. The complex issues and debates in the field of crime control and the new global politics of safety and security are with us. We cannot run away from these bare facts,” he noted.
Osabarima Pinkro urged police personnel to move beyond the narrow and technical boundaries of traditional policing which had always been reactive and not proactive.
‘Embrace wind of change or be blown off’
Page 53: Daily Graphic, June 4, 2009.
Story: Albert K. Salia
THE Inspector General of Police (IGP), Mr Paul Tawiah Quaye, has urged personnel of the Ghana Police Service to embrace the wind of change blowing in the service or be blown off.
He said the change was necessary and personnel must conform to it as his administration “is committed to purging the service of undesirable elements”.
Addressing personnel of the Accra Regional Police Command in Accra last Tuesday, Mr Quaye said the overall responsibility for achieving positive results for such a crusade would lie on senior police officers who supervised the work of their subordinates.
He said the service had for far too long paid lip-service to discipline, noting that the rules of discipline must be made to bite.
He urged officers to be firm in ensuring that incorrigible personnel were dealt with in accordance with the due process of the law and weeded out of the service.
“We cannot afford to continue keeping in our fold personnel who have, by their various nefarious activities, become more of liabilities than assets to the service,” Mr Quaye stated.
According to the IGP, some personnel of the profession had turned the service into a conduit pipe for mercenary activities “with an uncontrolled lust to make money at all costs from any duty they carry out”.
Mr Quaye said in some cases some personnel engaged themselves in unauthorised duties, which gave the impression that they joined the service with hidden agenda and motives.
He said such attitude of the police personnel had combined to dent the image of the service.
“It is a matter of shame to say that some policemen and women, especially those who find themselves deployed for motor traffic duties are seen literally begging for alms on a daily basis, he noted.
"Those of you who see the Police Service as a gold mine or a conceptualised ‘El Dorado’ should advise themselves before they are caught in the web of the rigid enforcement of discipline which the current administration intends to pursue,” he warned.
The IGP, therefore, directed that all motor checks on the highways and other busy roads should only be authorised by regional commanders as inspection teams would be sent out from the Police Headquarters to major routes to deal with wayward personnel.
Touching on policing in Accra, Mr Quaye said the work of the police in the nation's capital was demanding and daunting and urged the personnel to take up the challenges in their stride and work assiduously towards ensuring that Accra was safe for all residents.
Mr Quaye advised personnel to avoid ‘trial and error’ style of conducting investigations because it resulted in waste of time and resources and ended up with many unresolved crimes.
He said human rights violations had also become the hallmark of some officers who flagrantly disregarded the basic principles of human rights protection, the rule of law and the tenets of democratic policing.
“Besides human rights abuses which manifest in unlawful arrests, detentions, interrogations, many of our officers and men, by their conduct, embarrass their colleagues by engaging in activities which discredit the service and bring its corporate image into ruins,” he noted.
Story: Albert K. Salia
THE Inspector General of Police (IGP), Mr Paul Tawiah Quaye, has urged personnel of the Ghana Police Service to embrace the wind of change blowing in the service or be blown off.
He said the change was necessary and personnel must conform to it as his administration “is committed to purging the service of undesirable elements”.
Addressing personnel of the Accra Regional Police Command in Accra last Tuesday, Mr Quaye said the overall responsibility for achieving positive results for such a crusade would lie on senior police officers who supervised the work of their subordinates.
He said the service had for far too long paid lip-service to discipline, noting that the rules of discipline must be made to bite.
He urged officers to be firm in ensuring that incorrigible personnel were dealt with in accordance with the due process of the law and weeded out of the service.
“We cannot afford to continue keeping in our fold personnel who have, by their various nefarious activities, become more of liabilities than assets to the service,” Mr Quaye stated.
According to the IGP, some personnel of the profession had turned the service into a conduit pipe for mercenary activities “with an uncontrolled lust to make money at all costs from any duty they carry out”.
Mr Quaye said in some cases some personnel engaged themselves in unauthorised duties, which gave the impression that they joined the service with hidden agenda and motives.
He said such attitude of the police personnel had combined to dent the image of the service.
“It is a matter of shame to say that some policemen and women, especially those who find themselves deployed for motor traffic duties are seen literally begging for alms on a daily basis, he noted.
"Those of you who see the Police Service as a gold mine or a conceptualised ‘El Dorado’ should advise themselves before they are caught in the web of the rigid enforcement of discipline which the current administration intends to pursue,” he warned.
The IGP, therefore, directed that all motor checks on the highways and other busy roads should only be authorised by regional commanders as inspection teams would be sent out from the Police Headquarters to major routes to deal with wayward personnel.
Touching on policing in Accra, Mr Quaye said the work of the police in the nation's capital was demanding and daunting and urged the personnel to take up the challenges in their stride and work assiduously towards ensuring that Accra was safe for all residents.
Mr Quaye advised personnel to avoid ‘trial and error’ style of conducting investigations because it resulted in waste of time and resources and ended up with many unresolved crimes.
He said human rights violations had also become the hallmark of some officers who flagrantly disregarded the basic principles of human rights protection, the rule of law and the tenets of democratic policing.
“Besides human rights abuses which manifest in unlawful arrests, detentions, interrogations, many of our officers and men, by their conduct, embarrass their colleagues by engaging in activities which discredit the service and bring its corporate image into ruins,” he noted.
Drug courier nabbed at Kotoka Airport
Page 3: Daily Graphic, June 2, 2009.
Story: Albert K. Salia
A 39-year-old man who was arrested at the Kotoka International Airport at the weekend on suspicion of being a drug courier expelled 100 pellets of cocaine weighing 1.6 kilogrammes after he had initially objected to sweat and urine tests.
Aly Diarra, who is a Nigerian by birth but was travelling on a Malian passport, was transiting through Ghana to Abidjan.
He was on board an Emirates flight EK787 on which he had travelled from Sao Paolo, Brazil, through Dubai en route to Abidjan. The flight was delayed for several hours because officials initially declined handing Diarra over to officials of National Security and the Narcotics Control Board (NACOB).
When reason prevailed and a sweat test was conducted on the itemisers, it proved positive for cocaine, which was later confirmed by the urine test and an X-ray examination.
After his arrest, Diarra was said to have commented that it was God’s desire that he be arrested in Ghana, since, according to him, officials at the Dubai Airport had also conducted searches on him but claimed to have found nothing.
He was interrogated by officials of NACOB after he had expelled the 100 pellets, each weighing 16 grammes.
He admitted going to Sao Paolo in 2008 to procure one kilogramme of cocaine, which he sold for $20,000 in Abidjan.
He said the cost of cocaine had gone up due to the scarcity of the commodity, hence the motivation to accept a sponsorship to Sao Paolo and back for a fee of $4,000.
The Executive Secretary of NACOB, Assistant Commissioner of Police (ACP) Robert Ayalingo, told the Daily Graphic that Diarra’s arrest followed a collaboration between NACOB and its international partners.
He said when the information was passed on to NACOB, it decided to seek the support of the National Security Secretariat, since the suspect was a transit passenger.
He said after consultations, it was decided that the suspect be arrested.
Story: Albert K. Salia
A 39-year-old man who was arrested at the Kotoka International Airport at the weekend on suspicion of being a drug courier expelled 100 pellets of cocaine weighing 1.6 kilogrammes after he had initially objected to sweat and urine tests.
Aly Diarra, who is a Nigerian by birth but was travelling on a Malian passport, was transiting through Ghana to Abidjan.
He was on board an Emirates flight EK787 on which he had travelled from Sao Paolo, Brazil, through Dubai en route to Abidjan. The flight was delayed for several hours because officials initially declined handing Diarra over to officials of National Security and the Narcotics Control Board (NACOB).
When reason prevailed and a sweat test was conducted on the itemisers, it proved positive for cocaine, which was later confirmed by the urine test and an X-ray examination.
After his arrest, Diarra was said to have commented that it was God’s desire that he be arrested in Ghana, since, according to him, officials at the Dubai Airport had also conducted searches on him but claimed to have found nothing.
He was interrogated by officials of NACOB after he had expelled the 100 pellets, each weighing 16 grammes.
He admitted going to Sao Paolo in 2008 to procure one kilogramme of cocaine, which he sold for $20,000 in Abidjan.
He said the cost of cocaine had gone up due to the scarcity of the commodity, hence the motivation to accept a sponsorship to Sao Paolo and back for a fee of $4,000.
The Executive Secretary of NACOB, Assistant Commissioner of Police (ACP) Robert Ayalingo, told the Daily Graphic that Diarra’s arrest followed a collaboration between NACOB and its international partners.
He said when the information was passed on to NACOB, it decided to seek the support of the National Security Secretariat, since the suspect was a transit passenger.
He said after consultations, it was decided that the suspect be arrested.
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