Cops, Firemen Throw Blows

The articulated trucks

DRAMA UNFOLDED at Elmina on the Elmina-Takoradi highway in the Komenda-Edina-Eguafo-Abrem (KEEA) Municipality of the Central Region on Saturday when police officers and Fire Service personnel put aside the ethics of their profession and exchanged blows after two articulated trucks crashed at Elmina junction.

The fight ensued when the officers were arguing over who was responsible for directing traffic, after the accident occurred.

This was because when the accident occurred, the KEEA Municipal Police did not respond to the urgent call to direct the heavy traffic so the firemen had to quench the fire while some residents helped in the traffic direction.

When DAILY GUIDE got to the accident scene at about 7.50 pm, one policeman by name Simon, dressed in a smock (fugu) with police reflectors, said he was ready to face the Fire personnel since he alleged one of the firemen had beaten up a superintendent.

An angry Simon, who could not control his temper, started raining insults on the firemen for almost an hour, compelling observers around to ask whether the police officer had really gone through the ethics of the profession.

Residents of the area who were not expecting the awful behaviour from the policemen started pleading with them to stop but they did not.

One of the firemen from the Regional Fire Service Command in a Tundra with registration number FS 306 was head-butted on the mouth by one of the police officers, compelling him to bleed profusely on the mouth.

DAILY GUIDE observed that the Fire Service personnel who could not stand the heavy blows from the police had no option but to leave peacefully for the police and other civilians to direct the traffic.

The civilians however hooted at the policemen for their incompetence and unprofessional conduct shown in the discharge of their duties.

The Elmina Police Command has been accused by residents of not responding early to calls on accidents and other cases.

The accident, according to an eyewitness, happened at about 7. 30 pm when two articulated trucks with registration numbers GN 2768-09 and 1579CV01 from Ivory Coast, heading towards Accra and Takoradi respectively, crashed.

The eyewitness hinted that the truck with registration number GN 2768-09, travelling from Takoradi, tried to swerve a taxi that was coming from Elmina town and heading towards Cape Coast, but unfortunately, it ran into another container truck heading to Takoradi.

It took the intervention of the University of Cape Coast (UCC) and the Regional Fire Service personnel, who assisted the Elmina branch of the Fire Service, to quench the fire.

DAILY GUIDE gathered at the scene that when the fire begun, the KEEA fire tender had no water to quench the fire.

No death was recorded but both drivers sustained various degrees of injury and were taken to the hospital for treatment.

From Desmond K. Dapaah, Elmina

Sack Allotey Jacobs

The Educated Fisherman- Allotey Jacobs

A NATIONAL Democratic Congress (NDC) branch Chairman at Ebubonku, a suburb of Cape Coast, Seth Berikorang, has sent a strong warning to President Atta Mills to sack the Central Regional Director of Communication of the party, Bernard Allotey Jacobs.

According to the Chairman, Allotey was the biggest enemy of President Mills and so the President should not work with such a person who was tarnishing the image of the party.

He alleged that it was people like Allotey who made the founder of the party, Jerry John Rawlings, call some party members in the Mills administration “greedy bastards.”

“Allotey has been able to put up a multibillion cedi mansion, a hotel, and wedded his wife within two years of the Mills administration,” they claimed.

He described the seat of government as a “Holy Seat” and should not be surrounded by unrighteous people like Allotey Jacobs, the Metropolitan Chief Executive (MCE) of Cape Coast, Anthony Egyir Aikins, as well as the Member of Parliament for Cape Coast, Ebow Barton Odro, who did not have the party’s interest at heart.

Speaking at a press conference in Cape Coast yesterday, the Public Relations Officer (PRO) of the Concerned NDC Youth, Baba Yusif, alleged that Allotey Jacobs, in 2007, used letter heads of then candidate Mills to solicit funds from contractors to support the 2008 elections but allegedly failed to render accounts.

Yusif further alleged that Allotey had been flirting with the opposition New Patriotic Party (NPP) and was divulging secrets of the party.

Yusif alleged that Allotey was serving on three boards and was being paid dollars to defend government on radio but was still picking quarrels with the Central Regional Minister, Comfort Ama Benyiwa Doe, for not giving him a particular contract.

“Benyiwa Doe is our Regional Minister so if Allotey has any problem with her, he shouldn’t have gone on air to insult her but rather sit down to thrash out issues,” he said.

The PRO however expressed concern about the way some gurus in the party including Barton Odro, Mr. Aikins, and one Col. Otoo, co-ordinator in charge of the MP’s office, had been maltreating members of the party whenever they went to seek assistance from them.

Yusif expressed disappointment about the way President Mills chose the MCE, adding that since his assumption of office, he had done nothing to uplift the image of the metropolis.

“Aikins sometimes gathers courage to tell party members who go to his office for assistance that he was not appointed to serve NDC foot-soldiers who have toiled for the success of the party.”

The PRO described the utterances of the MCE as distasteful, disgraceful and, therefore, he was unqualified to lead the party.

“All the executives are busily seeking contracts and appointment while the foot-soldiers are hungry,” they stated.

“This menace exhibited by the MP and MCE, if not checked, will undermine the performance of the party which will totally contribute to our defeat in the next general election,” they said.

The angry PRO noted that due to the poor performance of the MCE, the NDC had only 20 seats in the recent district assembly elections while NPP had 24 seats, a situation they claimed posed a threat to the party in the next election.

He said some members of the party had defected to other parties because of the attitude of the leaders.

He alleged that the defectors had been going round telling people that even if the party gave them billions of cedis and other material things, they would never vote for the party.
 

From Sarah Afful & Desmond K. Dapaah, Cape Coast

Cholera kills 16 in Central Region

Dr. Joseph Nuertey demonstrating how to wash  the hands properly

THE CAPE Coast Metropolitan Health Director (MHD), Dr. Joseph Nuertey has disclosed that his outfit has recorded 16 deaths in relation to the recent Cholera outbreak in the country.

He said 495 cases have already been detected and currently the people are receiving treatment at the various hospitals throughout the region.

He stated that five districts in the region including Gomoa East, Agona East and West, Awutu Senya and Effutu districts have so far been indentified to have been affected by the epidemic.

He therefore added that his outfit together with other health agencies in the region has put in place measures to prevent the disease from spreading to other districts and municipalities in the region that has resulted in organizing educational programmes to raise awareness in the various communities.

Dr. Nuertey made this known on Tuesday when Better Ghana Management Services Limited (BGMSL), a non profiting company in the country organized a one day sensitization programme to educate local food operators in the Cape Coast Metropolis (CCM) of the Central Region on how to control and curb the increasing Cholera outbreak in the region.

He however advised people to ensure personal hygiene through the washing of hands with soap under clean and safe running water before taking meals, adding that, that was the only way to prevent more people from being infected.

He also recommended the old method of boiling water before drinking since the disease spreads quickly through tainted water.

The occasion attracted hundreds of women who prepare local dishes for sale through the use of various ingredients and measures.

Participants were taken through the importance of hand washing practices which is said to be the most effective way to curb various diseases in the communities and nation as a whole.

The programme which was in collaboration with the Ministry of Health was to help individuals increase control over their health system.

Addressing the participants, the Central Regional Programmes Coordinator of BGMSL, Ms. Ivy Naa Deedei Thompson disclosed that BGMSL aims at supporting disease prevention and control through the organization of national health promotion and education programmes in the various communities.

According to her, the initiative forms part of government’s public-private sector support to attract communities to involve themselves in the implementation of health promotion interventions which include the process of enabling people to increase control over their health.

She added that BGMSL has taken the initiative to make available ‘Veronica Buckets’ at public lavatories, market places, bus terminals and for food vendors to encourage hand washing with soap under clean running water.

In order to curb the situation, she said the Central Regional office of BGMSL has trained about one hundred health promotion officers at the various district and sub district levels who are actively involved in health promotion activities at churches, market places, schools and social gatherings to educate the masses on preventive health.

She therefore assured participants that BGMSL will continue to participate in such collaborative ventures to ensure Ghanaians become healthier as a result of the drastic reduction in the incidences of preventable diseases.

Ms.Thompson later presented 50 hand washing containers (Veronica Buckets) on behalf of BGMSL to the Central Regional Branch of the Association of Local Food Operator’s (ALFO) to help them educate their customers, workers and families on how to curb cholera by washing their hands with soap before taking any meal.

From Sarah Afful & Desmond K. Dapaah, Cape Coast

Essien out of Ghana-England match come Tuesday

Essien sitting on a pitch Add caption

Michael Essien will have 20,000 reasons for ending his exile from the Ghana side as he watches his country face England on Tuesday night.

The World Cup quarter-finalists, who tugged at the neutrals’ heart strings in South Africa last summer, have risen to 16th in the Fifa rankings-and much of the recent amazing journey has been completed without the Chelsea midfielder.

Essien has not represented his country since being injured in the African Cup of Nations in Angola almost 14 months ago.

Despite playing for Chelsea he has turned his back on the international stage.

But 20,000 fervent Ghanaians at a sell-out Wembley for the friendly will remind Essien of what he is missing and assist Ghana FA president Kwesi Nyantakyi in his task of restoring the 28-year-old African icon to the side.

Essien has taken time out on his international career -a decision criticised in Ghana -to help save his body from more wear and tear.

He explained: “I had two bad knee injuries playing for Ghana and they were part of the reason for taking a mini break. I had to give my body a chance to recover and so far, so good.

“I will be there at Wembley to support the team. I am a Black Stars supporter like any other player or Ghanaian. I also expect Ghana to win.”

Teachers Reject 15% Pay Rise

Chairman of the group (M) reading his statement

THE STRIKE action embarked on by the Coalition of Concerned Teachers (CCT) across the country continues unabated, as the aggrieved teachers have rejected the 15 percent rise in their salary announced by the government last Friday.

In an attempt to lure the striking teachers back to the classroom, the Mills administration, after a crunch meeting with the leadership of the Ghana National Association of Teachers (GNAT) and National Association of Graduate Teachers (NAGRAT), declared a 15 percent pay rise for teachers as retention premium.

The teachers have been on strike for over a week now, as they keep on registering their displeasure over the discrepancies in their migration onto the new pay policy, the Single Spine Salary Structure (SSSS).

A fresh graduate teacher takes less than GH¢400 as salary, as against his counterpart in the Police Service who joins the security organisation as chief inspector on a salary of GH¢1,400, and upon promotion to ASP after two years in the service, goes home with GH¢1,700.

Whereas some of the teachers had a meager rise in their salary, others unfortunately had their salaries slashed, contrary to President Mills’ promise that teachers would be smiling to the bank after they have been migrated onto the new pay policy.

At a press conference in Kumasi yesterday, the embittered teachers flatly rejected the 15 percent retention premium offered them, contending that it was not enough to assuage the sufferings of teachers.

The press conference, which was held at the GNAT Hall in Kumasi and dubbed ‘Better Conditions Of Service For Teachers Now Or Never’, was attended by public teachers at both the primary, Junior High School (JHS) and Senior High School levels from across the country.

They tasked the government to review teachers’ salary in totality to ensure that the basic salary of teachers received a major boost to better their lives, rather than the introduction of retention premium which they noted was a cosmetic approach.

The teachers charged the government to come up with a roadmap that would see to the accelerated development of teachers and also accept the payment of allowances, which is 10 percent of their basic salary.
Some of the allowances the disillusioned teachers are demanding include rent, research, transportation, marking, supervision among others.

Noting that they would continue to stay away from the classroom and agitate for better conditions of service for teachers, the infuriated teachers emphatically stated that no amount of political intimidation and victimization could deter them.

“We want to emphatically state that some of us are better in academics and other social life than the politicians we have in this country, therefore we would not allow ourselves to be intimidated by any politician but would continue to fight for our rights,” the chairman of the group noted.

They announced that they had lost confidence in the leadership of GNAT and NAGRAT and therefore declared that they resolved to give the leaders 72 hours to vacate their positions and hand over all assets of the two bodies to the Trades Union Congress (TUC) until such a time that the constitution of both GNAT and NAGRAT were reviewed and competent leaders put in place to man the affairs of teachers.

Though the disappointed teachers noted that they would not the take the law into their own hands to cause any sort of mayhem, they said they would resort to every legal means to oust the executives of the two bodies, should they refuse to comply with the ultimatum given.

According to them, their leadership had amply demonstrated that they did not have the welfare of their members at heart, hence their inability to negotiate for a better deal during their consultation with the Fair Wages and Salaries Commission (FWSC), the body implementing the new pay policy.

The teachers indicated that they were shocked when the Finance Minister, Dr Kwabena Duffour sought to imply in an interview on television that because of the supposedly huge number of teachers, any salary increase would disturb the economy.

“The remark by no mean a person than the Finance Minister is a clear indication that education is not a priority of the Mills government,” the teachers observed, stressing that they had come to believe that the government had a grand agenda to further impoverish teachers.

Sales Of St. Valentine Day Items Go Down

The sale of St Valentine Day items are on a low side as compared to last year's sales, some traders said.

"People often ask for the price of chocolate but when you tell them they say the price is too high and leave or buy other things," Mrs. Venda Yeboah, a trade, said.

She however expressed the hope that people would patronize the items before Valentines Day.

A civil servant, Mr. Kwadwo Debrah, said the youth had changed the meaning of St Valentine Day, which is supposed to be a period to exchange gifts, to engage in promiscuity. "

The youth of today have made the celebration to look immoral and will not even allow the elders to teach them what the real meaning of the occasion is", he said.

He said the celebration had given rise to sexual promiscuity by some of the youth. Mr. Ofori Francis, a student, said he had no intention of celebrating the Day "because the true meaning of St Valentine Day has been changed from good to bad by most people, especially the youth".

He said the level of moral decadence had become evident with the announcement that condom was in short supply in most parts of the country because of the excessive demand for it.

The interviewees said it was good chocolate was made the number one gift item for St Valentine Day and appealed to the government to make chocolate affordable.

‘Nana Is Peaceful Man’- all die be die

Nana Addo

THE NATIONAL Youth Organiser of the New Patriotic Party (NPP), Anthony Karbo, has taken a swipe at the ruling National Democratic Congress (NDC) about the way they described the flagbearer of the party, Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo as violent over his “all die be die” comment.

According to him, Ivory Coast and Liberia had peace in their respective countries during Nana Addo’s tenure of office as Foreign Minister under the Kufuor administration.

He explained that Nana Addo’s comment meant the NPP would be vigilant and resist any attempt by the NDC to rig the elections in 2012 contrary to the claim that he was inciting supporters of his party to engage in violent acts during the elections.

Mr. Karbo made this known at Abura Dunkwa in the Abura-Aseibu-Kwamankese (AAK) District of the Central Region during the inauguration of AAK’s youth wing of the party.

“NPP will resist all oppressors’ rule by the NDC to recapture power come 2012. This is stated in the national anthem and we will use when need be” he added.

According to Karbo, the NDC had turned the country into a lawless one where its members, especially the executives trampled on the laws governing the nation.

“No one is above the law, irrespective of the party you belong to, the laws of the land are supreme. We in NPP respect the laws and will never disrespect it as the NDC is doing,” he stated.

Mr. Karbo cited instances where NPP polling station members were seriously beaten in the Volta Region by NDC youths who took ballot boxes away while Anita Desoso, NDC Women’s Organiser ran over a group of NPP supporters at Atiwa with her vehicle.

He said the youth of the party would on Monday hold a press conference in Accra to clear the air on the comment made by Nana Addo.

On his part, the Member of Parliament for Assin North Constituency, Kennedy Agyapong, expressed worry over how President John Evans Atta Mills could not govern the nation as he promised Ghanaians in his 2008 campaign.

He claimed President Mills had lost focus and did not know how to strategise for the development of the country.

He added that due to the gross disrespect for the laws of the land, security agencies who were supposed to ensure peace and stability in the country had all turned a blind eye to what the president and his administration were doing to Ghanaians.

Mr. Agyapong assured and promised Ghanaians that if the NPP came to power again, it would prosecute Anita Desoso and other members of the NDC who had taken the laws into their own hands.

“Anita will surely pay for all that she has done to the NPP and other Ghanaians on this earth before she dies. When we come to power, we will prosecute her and I will lead the crusade. NDC think they are in power and can do what they like. We shall see,” he said.

The NPP Chairman for Gomoa West Constituency, Joe Donkoh, urged all aspirants to put away all their differences and work towards the victory of the party in 2012.
 Source-Desmond K. Dapaah & Sarah Afful, Abura Dunkwaw