Government has revealed that the money saved from renegotiating the contract for the purchase of some cars for use by the Presidency under the previous administration, was used to procure a hundred cars for the Police Service.

[contextly_sidebar id=”hI7KTb7tkoZ69ri2QPzSLOUFS5fsfwpT”]The Information Minister, Mustapha Hamid, stated that with the risk of a judgement debt hanging over its head, government renegotiated with Amalgamated Securities Limited, purchasing.

Mr. Hamid stated that the remainder was used to purchase 100 Toyota Corollas for the Police Service.

“Government has however made sure to obtain maximum gain for the public purse and also for ensuring the security of the state.We have reduced the number of vehicles ordered from 43 to 34, which is nine short of the original number. In place of the nine, we have acquired 100 Toyota Corolla cars for use by the Police Service in line with our commitment to retool the Police Service to enable them play effectively, their role of protecting the Ghanaian people.We have done all this with a total amount of US$ 8.8 million,” the Information Minister said at a press conference on Tuesday.

Mr. Anning on Eyewitness News however indicated that, this will not resolve the challenges the Police Service face in carrying out their duties.

“Criminals don’t use the asphalted roads, they use the bad roads and will be able to escape from the Toyota Corollas procured for the police. Anyone on bicycle fit to run will be able to outrun this Toyota Corolla and I wonder if there was a conversation between those who matter on the government side and the Ghana Police Service as to what types of vehicle or vehicles they will need.

“100 Toyota Corollas are not fit for purpose. We need the vehicles, but they ought to have been better operationally fitted vehicles. These vehicles are not fit for purpose in terms of operations or the types of operations that the Police Service use vehicles for.”

Ghc800m for police; helicopters, drones in the offing- Nana Addo

His comments comes on the back of President Nana Addo’s announcement of government’s plans to allocate some GH¢ 800million to the Ghana Police Service to ensure improvement in its operations.

He said the amount will be used for the procurement of modern policing equipment and gadgets including helicopters and drones to enhance the capacity of the service in dealing with crime in the country.

In his 2018 State of the Nation Address, President Akufo-Addo said the government is committed to resourcing the police with the necessary equipment to ensure that it carries out its mandate of enforcing law and order in the country.

“The police, the prosecution services and the judiciary owe it to all of us to make us feel and be safe. I do not need to repeat that crime wears no political colours, and I am certain that message has gone down to all…The law enforcement agencies will crack down very hard on all those who would disturb the peace of our nation…We will give the Police the resources they need to do their job,” Akufo-Addo said.

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By: Marian Ansah/citifmonline.com/Ghana

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According to him, the work done by government so far to clamp down on the illegality, is far from being described as successful.

[contextly_sidebar id=”iLGqV2exJgkHIFBVAypuWjBaH0JdbI53″]“Over a high point of 10, I will give about 5.5. In this galamsey fight, we have not arrested the people who are creating the networks, who are allowing the foreigners to do this. You cannot just come in without complicity and collusion from very important Ghanaians.”

“My suggestion is that, lets get the corruption underpinning galamsey right. Arrest those people, try them so that when we launch the mega nationwide corruption campaign, at least we know the political economy, the nationalities, the networks, the way the monies are hidden. So there is a long way to go before we can say the fight against galamsey is a success, we are far from it. We haven’t scratched the surface yet,” he said in an interview with Richard Sky on Eyewitness News.

He further said he was surprised the Commander of the government’s anti-galamsey taskforce, Operation Vanguard, seemed shocked over the discovery of sophisticated firearms being used by the illegal miners.

Col. Agyapong in an earlier interview with Citi News said, “One striking thing is the number of arms, weapons we came across. We came across as many of 58 different types of weapons. Pistols, single and double barrels, pump action guns both locally made and foreign ones. As a military personnel, it is worry that plying a simple trade like mining will have people come on board with weapons. It is a very worrying situation that we need to look at it because we don’t know the number of weapons that are still in the hands of people”.

But according to Kwesi Anning, that should have been anticipated.

“If they are surprised they found these guns in civilian hands, what were their threat perception analysis before they went out into the bush. That is very disturbing, not so much that the guns are in the hands of civilians, because that is known, but that head of such a sensitive operation did not know that these guns were in civilian hands,” Kwesi Anning said.

“We ought to have had a certain level of intelligence. So if we didn’t know that these things are out there, I am truly flabbergasted….,” he added.

Meanwhile, the Operation Vanguard is calling for more support from government to enable it to become more efficient in its operation. It said getting more vehicles will enhance its work.

The deployment of the joint police and military task-force came as a major boost to government’s fight against illegal mining in the country, following news of its devastating effects on the country’s land and water resources.

Government placed a six-month ban on all forms of mining until further notice, but later extended the ban to January 2018, because the needed result has not been achieved.

Punishment for ‘galamseyers’ too weak – Operation Vanguard commander

Colonel William Agyapong, the outgoing Commander of Operation Vanguard, also expressed worry about the weight of punishment meted out to illegal miners after they have been arrested by the anti-galamsey task-force.

According to him, the sentences given by the judiciary to the suspects were not deterrent enough, and was a major disincentive to the fight against illegal mining in the country.

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By: Jonas Nyabor/citifmonline.com/Ghana

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Mr. Anning believes the Military’s involvement will bring an end to the incessant attacks being staged by these groups often in the name of politics.

Making his case on Eyewitness News, Dr. Anning said: “The President of the republic of this country does not represent anymore parochial; party interest. He has a broader interest of Ghana at stake, and it is only a matter of time before he will ask the Military to intervene because if the authority of the President is flouted consistently overtime, this begins to have implications for the stability of the country.”

[contextly_sidebar id=”uHts2pKnQNG8Ddg7ORWWUNwgnkDJbpHM”]“It is imperative that something is done and done in a manner that sends a clear signal to the people of this country that indiscipline cannot be tolerated, challenging the authority of the President is a no go area, undermining the authority of the state will be punished drastically.”

There have been a series of attacks by various vigilante groups believed to be affiliated with the New Patriotic Party (NPP) since the party came to power in January 2017.

The recent incident saw some irate youth in Karaga in the Northern Region invading a Police station and freeing some NPP members who were in Police custody.

Dr. Anning believes these attacks call for concern, especially when Ghana is surrounded by politically unstable countries that have become breeding grounds for indiscipline and violence.

He believes the violence in these neighbouring countries might eventually infiltrate the country if government fails to act swiftly.

“Let us not forget that we live in a particularly bad neighbourhood. The violence that we see in Burkina Faso, Mali and now neighbouring Togo makes us a small island of stability in a very turbulent and dangerous neighbourhood. It is only a matter of time before these acts of indiscipline and violence, and challenging the authority of the state will be infiltrated, hijacked and this country is going to be threatened.”

Reasons for violence

Mr. Anning also outlined a number of reasons which in his view have contributed to these attacks.

His reasons are listed below :

Violence as political currency: Dr. Anning believes these groups carry out these attacks for “the incentives and payoffs that might arrive thereof.”

Disconnect between the written and publicly stated principles: Dr. Anning also explained that “there is a lacuna in the understanding and expression of party values, so we see that although no party has said they believe in the use of violence, the party activists will use violence and they are hardly ever punished.”

Confusing signals by party officials : According to Dr. Anning “signals that have been sent by party leaders have been confusing, and therefore we see a direct challenge to the authority of the President.”

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By: Marian Ansah/citifmonline.com/Ghana
Follow @EfeAnsah

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According to him, persons behind the booming galamsey business are usually powerful people in society, hence fighting them is not an easy task.

[contextly_sidebar id=”ZY4vRp7aV2daTyYoxDSZ3AS3LBADcLyM”]“When as a government you begin to tackle criminal enterprises who have had a new way to abuse and misuse their authority and to exploit the state; they fight back and create even more violence. Fighting galamsey alone is enough to give them kudos because the galamsey fight that the president is leading through his ministers is not just about small boys and girls running around polluting our waters,” Dr. Anning said on the Citi Breakfast Show on Wednesday.

Government has recently waged a massive war on galamsey following a huge advocacy spearheaded by the media especially Citi FM.

Government has subsequently banned small scale mining for six months in a bid to curb the galamsey menace,which has polluted a number of water bodies and destroyed farm lands.

Who buys the galamsey gold?

A military officer, Captain Maxwell Adam Mahama, was killed at Denkyira-Obausi in the Central Region on Monday after he and his colleagues were deployed tot the town to fight illegal miners.

The security analyst further enquired about persons who purchase the gold extracted by the galamseyers, adding that some of the violence being recorded in the mining areas might have been masterminded by the buyers of the gold.

“Let’s ask the tough questions – who buys the gold? Is it Islamic state, is it Al-Qaeda, is it used to support some of the violence in the Middle East?  When you test their interest, of course they will try to discredit the government. So we should not be bamboozled by a little setback…we’ve got to look at the bigger picture,” he added.

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By: Godwin Akweiteh Allotey/citifmonline.com/Ghana
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According to Mr. Aning, the number of vigilante groups affiliated with the two main political parties will lead to an increase in violence ahead of the general elections in December.

[contextly_sidebar id=”8CkFYTHmCDq6QMjPMAhp6WjI6vMIUHsL”]”I think we will see considerably more and of increasing intensity, violence as we head towards the elections,” Mr. Aning said.

On Sunday, members of both the governing National Democratic Congress (NDC) and the opposition New Patriotic Party (NPP) clashed during a health walk which was organised by the former.

The Police struggled to control the charged crowd, some of whom reportedly hauled stones into the residence of the opposition leader.

Aside this incident, there have been other clashes between the two parties in some areas in Greater Accra and other regions.

Speaking on the Citi Breakfast Show, Mr. Aning said the recent clashes between both parties might “just be the beginning” of an intensified tension that may arise ahead of the polls.

He therefore emphasized the need for security forces to be on high alert to control the influx of weapons in the country ahead of the elections.

Investigate Nima incident rigorously

He also called for a rigorous interrogation of the incident that occurred yesterday,since in his view, these recent developments had “multiple implications.”

Mr. Aning wondered why it took the emergency response team so long to come to the aid of the police officers who were under attack.

He said a similar situation happened in other areas where the Police had been attacked consistently without any intervention.

“For the past couple of months the Police have been attacked consistently. The recent one being Donkorkrom, Odododiodio constituency. The new Nima incident raises concern about the emergency back ups, the use of intelligence among others.”

The other issue, that he believes should be considered is the “gun availability and whether the weapon  or weapons that were used were seized.”

He also called for the arrest of the culprits who have been involved in various clashes to serve as a deterrent to others.

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By: Marian Ansah/citifmonline.com/Ghana
Follow @EfeAnsah

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The case had been in the court since February 2012 and had travelled through the process until judgement was due yesterday, but the magistrate had to call the two parties to her chambers to find an amicable solution after the registrar had reported that the docket was nowhere to be found.

A source told the Daily Graphic that the magistrate, Ms Grace Gunugu, in the absence of the docket, prevailed on the parties to reach a consensus on three options —  the case starts afresh, the two parties supply their copies of the proceedings for the case to continue or they petition the Chief Justice.

The parties were given two weeks within which to arrive at a decision.

 Facts 

The case in question is about who qualifies to receive rent from the defendant, Mr Thomas Dettoh, who has been sued by the plaintiff, Mr Frank Antwi, for owing Mr Antwi rent in arrears of GH¢2,400.

In a statement of claim dated February 21, 2012, the plaintiff said the defendant had not been paying rent for the rooms he occupied.

Mr Antwi also claimed that he asked his solicitors to write a notice to the defendant to pay but he continuously failed to respond to his demand.

He, therefore, prayed the court to give him reliefs, including an eviction order and also compel the defendant to pay arrears of rent in the sum of GH¢2,400, with interest.

Defendant

However, Mr Dettoh, in his statement of defence, denied all the allegations.

He said he had duly paid rent covering 44 months, with effect from May 1, 2009 to December 2012, to the legitimate owners (landlords) of the premises, the Tagoe Family of Accra, and a valid tenancy agreement signed to that effect.

The defendant maintained that he was not obliged to pay rent to Mr Antwi because Mr Antwi was not known to him (Dettoh) as the landlord of the premises he (Dettoh) rented.

 Lawyers react

Speaking to the Daily Graphic, counsel for the plaintiff, Mr Felix Nana Osei, said the situation was rather unfortunate.

“It is rather strange. We have decided to settle the matter as we agreed to with the court. If it is possible to settle the matter, we’ll do so because as of now there is no docket. It means we didn’t do anything,” he said.

“It is sad. We took the matter to court to seek justice. We were in court on June 9 and today was given for judgement, only for the judge to tell us that the docket is missing,” he added.

Counsel for the defendant, Mr Richard Lappo, said while attempts would be made to settle the matter, he would also petition the Chief Justice to look into the matter.

“We will dispatch the petition to the Chief Justice by Wednesday or Thursday. From there, we’ll decide on the next action,” he added.

 Missing dockets of the past      

Cases of missing dockets in courts are not rare in Ghana.

 September 5, 2007

The docket on a case in which a Kumasi Magistrate Court ordered that the employers of  a journalist, Mark Bunde, pay his severance package, was reported missing when he applied for a writ to attach his employers properties.

 October 22, 2007

The docket of the case in which Charles Quansah was convicted for killing 34 women went missing from the registries of the High Court and the Court of Appeal. His appeal stalled because the docket could not be found. The docket later resurfaced.

 August 16, 2011

The docket on popular hiplife musician Mzbel who was charged with offences including unauthorised parking, resisting arrest and assault on a police officer went missing.

 December 20, 2011

The docket on the controversial cocaine-turned-soda case involving DSP Gifty Tehoda was reported missing.

Source: Graphic Online

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