Woyome remains a freeman as court dismisses AG’s appeal

oo v
-
0
Alfred Agbesi Woyome.An Accra Court of Appeal has dismissed a case brought before it by the Attorney General’s Department over last year’s ruling on businessman Alfred Agbesi Woyome.
Mr Woyome was cleared of charges of defrauding by false pretences and willfully causing financial loss to the state by an Accra High Court presided over by then judge, Justice John Ajet Nasam, who accused prosecution of doing a shoddy job by not inviting the likes of former AG Betty Mould Iddrisu during the hearing of the case The AG subsequently headed to the Appeals Court to challenge that decision. On Thursday, March 10, the Court presided over by three judges found the evidence put before it by the AG not strong enough. Therefore, Justice Ajet Nasam’s ruling, which acquitted and discharged Mr Woyome, is upheld. Mr Woyome, a known financier of the National Democratic Congress (NDC), had been arrested for receiving GH¢51.2 million from the state as payment over an abrogation of a contract to reconstruct stadia for the 2008 Africa Cup of Nations. Though he was cleared of wrongdoing, he was ordered by the High Court to pay back the money. Source: tv3network.com|Ghana

Prosecutors file charges against Brazil ex-leader Lula

oo v
-
0
Prosecutors file charges against Brazil ex-leader Lula
President Rousseff (centre) joined Lula and his wife, Marisa, a day after his detention in Sao PauloBrazilian prosecutors are filing charges against ex-President Luis Inacio Lula da Silva in a money laundering probe, officials say.
The charges, which are related to a major corruption scandal at state oil company Petrobras, still have to be formally accepted by a judge. Lula denies any wrongdoing and says the accusations are politically motivated. He is among 16 people who are formally being accused of money laundering by Sao Paulo prosecutors. Lula’s son is also reported to be on the list. Lula and his wife, Marisa Leticia, face questions over the alleged ownership of a seafront penthouse in the exclusive resort of Guaruja. Prosecutors have announced a news conference for later on Thursday. Lula’s lawyer, Cristiano Zanin Martins, said he was not given official access to the accusations against the former leader. “This action confirms the bias [against Lula] in this whole process,” he said. Prosecutors say one of the country’s biggest construction firms, OAS, carried out extensive refurbishment on the penthouse. Officially the apartment belongs to OAS, which is under investigation. It has been accused of paying bribes to politicians and senior officials at Petrobras to secure lucrative contracts. Lula, 70, denies all accusations and says he never owned the apartment. He also accuses the prosecutor in the case of being arbitrary, says the BBC’s Daniel Gallas in Sao Paulo. The former president was detained last Friday for questioning over the three-storey penthouse. His high-profile detention led to criticism not only from his supporters but also from judges and politicians, who said the measure was unnecessary. Lula’s supporters say the attacks on him are aimed at tarnishing his reputation, amid rumours that he may run for office again in 2018. He was Brazil’s president from 2003 to 2011 and was succeeded in office by his political protege, Dilma Rousseff, who has record-low approval rates amid a serious economic crisis. She joined hundreds of people showing support for the former president last Saturday. Lula, a former factory worker and union leader, remains a very popular figure in Brazil despite the accusations against senior member of his left-leaning Workers’ Party. Source: BBC

Metro Mass sued over Kintampo crash

oo v
-
0
Metro Mass sued over Kintampo crash
Metro massMr Osman Alhassan, owner of the truck that collided with a Metro Mass bus on February 17 at Kintampo in the Brong Ahafo Region, has filed a suit at an Accra High Court against the Metro Mass Transit Company Limited for causing damages to its truck.
The suit signed on March 2, stated that the truck with registration number AS 1544-16 was torn to pieces of scraps destroying all 144 cartons of tomatoes and other goods on board. It said the defendant is vicariously liable for the negligence conduct of its driver, who died along with about 61 other persons. It said the plaintiff bought the truck and redesigned it at a total cost of GH₵313,177.00 and was left with a balance of Gh¢50,000.00 to be paid to the owner one Kwabena Owusu Ansah, hence the truck was still in his name. The plaintiff has also indicated that the day of the incident was the fourth week of operation of the truck which earned him a weekly income of GH¢9, 500.00. It said “the defendant’s driver now deceased was travelling on excessive speed and beyond the speed limit imposed by law and failed to slow down while negotiating a sharp curve”. “The defendant’s vehicle without due care and attention entered into the lane of the plaintiff’s vehicle in an attempt to overtake a vehicle ahead of it. Whiles still on top speed it collided head-on into the plaintiff’s truck resulting in the damage of the plaintiff’s truck, the loss of the cargo it carried and the loss of lives and very serious injury to one of the driver-mates,” it said. According to the suit the conduct of the defendant’s driver has caused the plaintiff a monumental loss which the defendant was liable for and as such was claiming general damages for the negligence driving of the defendant’s employee resulting in the plaintiff incurring losses. The damages include recovery of an amount of GH¢313,177.00 representing the total cost of the truck, interest on the said amount from February 17 to date of final payment and recovery of the cedi equivalent of the amount of CFA 15,000.00 and GH¢2,500.00 which were cash sums lost as a result of the accident. The plaintiff was also claiming damages of weekly income on GH¢9,500.00 representing lost income from February 17 to date of final payment, interest on the said amount from February 17 to date of final payment, cost involving legal fees, and any other reliefs. Source: GNA

Peru presidential candidates Guzman and Acuna banned from election

oo v
-
0
Peru presidential candidates Guzman and Acuna banned from election

Julio Guzman (left) and Cesar Acuna (right) appeared second and fourth in opinion pollsPeru’s electoral court has banned two leading contenders from taking part in next month’s presidential election.

Julio Guzman was rejected due to his party’s allegedly failure to follow procedure in nominating its candidate. The board also rejected wealthy businessman Cesar Acuna for handing out cash to voters during the campaign. Mr Guzman was running second to front-runner Keiko Fujimori – daughter of jailed ex-President Alberto Fujimori – in recent opinion polls. Polls put Mr Acuna in fourth place. Together the two candidates had nearly a quarter of vote preferences. Mr Guzman had vowed to call mass protests if the court disqualified him from the 10 April vote, which will elect a new Congress and replacement for President Ollanta Humala.

‘Stunned’

A recent opinion poll suggested conservative candidate Keiko Fujimori would secure around 35%, with Mr Guzman taking some 16% and Mr Acuna with more than 3%. If no candidate gets at least 50% of votes in the first round, a run-off will be held on 5 June. Keiko Fujimori of the Popular Force had 35% of the vote in recent polls The electoral court ruled on Wednesday that Mr Guzman’s All for Peru party “seriously and irreparably violated its own rules”, by failing to comply with electoral procedure when nominating its candidate. “We are really stunned by this decision. We consider it totally unjust,” said party spokesman Daniel Mora after the ruling. Mr Acuna’s candidacy came under scrutiny a month ago after a television programme revealed that he had handed out cash to stall holders and to a disabled young man during a visit to a street market. Mr Acuna, who was running for the Alliance for Progress, described his gesture as “humanitarian aid”, but the court ruled he had “engaged in prohibited conduct”. The two candidates can make an extraordinary appeal to the court, but analysts say they have little chance of overturning the ruling, AFP news agency reports.   Source: BBC

UN requests information on Ghana’s “Spy Bill”, key human rights concerns

oo v
-
0
UN requests information on Ghana’s “Spy Bill”, key human rights concerns
The bill seeks to authorise security agencies the right to listen in to private conversations of individuals without recorse to court orderThe UN Human Rights Committee has asked Ghana to furnish it with information on the legal safeguards  in place to prevent an abuse of what has become known as the “spy bill” that would give government the power to listen into people’s conversations without recourse to a court order
It has asked the country “provide information about the legal safeguards in place against arbitrary interference with the privacy, home and correspondence of individuals, and their observance in practice.” It also among others, want the government to “respond to reports of increased use of practice of secret tape recordings of prominent Ghanaian politicians. These are part of 26 key human rights information the UNHCR is requesting Ghana to provide as part of the country’s obligations under the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR). Ghana signed and ratified the ICCPR in 2000 and thus, committed to adhere to the provisions of the Covenant. Read the full statement issued by the Media Foundation for West Africa on the request The government of Ghana has been asked by the UN Human Rights Committee (UNHRC), to provide information on key human rights concerns in the country. Notable among the list of issues the Ghanaian government is expected to respond to are concerns about  privacy breaches, the status of the Right to Information (RTI) legislation and matters relating to press freedom violations. The UNHRC is a body of experts mandated to oversee compliance with provisions of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR) among states parties.  Ghana signed and ratified the ICCPR in 2000 and thus, committed to adhere to the provisions of the Covenant. The UNHRC published its list of issues on Ghana on December 4, 2015, titled: “List of issues in relation to Ghana’s initial report” after Ghana had submitted its first country report to the Committee in 2014. The UNHRC report requests Ghana to respond to or provide information on a total of 26 human rights concerns, which relate to Ghana’s obligations under the ICCPR. On Ghana’s obligations under Right to Privacy and Family Life, which is provided for under Article 17 of the ICCPR,   the UNHRC has asked Ghana to “provide information about the legal safeguards in place against arbitrary interference with the privacy, home and correspondence of individuals, and their observance in practice.” Still under the issue of privacy, the Committee has asked Ghana to “respond to reports of increased use of practice of secret tape recordings of prominent Ghanaian politicians.” The concerns raised by the UNHRC comes at a time when the Ghanaian government is seeking to pass a new law (Interception of Postal Packets and Telecommunication Bill) that will grant authorities more powers and latitude for mass surveillance and interception of private communications. The Bill, which is currently before parliament, has been widely criticised by civil society groups, journalists, respected lawyers and former government officials. For example, former Attorney General and Minister of Justice, Martin Amidu, has, in a 12-page memorandum to Parliament, argued that sections of the pending Bill do not comply with certain provisions of Ghana’s 1992 Constitution that relate to privacy rights. “The examination and analysis of the memorandum to or accompanying the Interception of Postal Packets and Telecommunication Messages Bill, 2015 shows that it did not comply with Article 106 (2) of the Constitution to warrant its introduction in Parliament,” Mr. Amidu who is also a former Minister of Interior, argued in his memorandum to parliament. “The examination and analysis of selected provisions of the Bill have also demonstrated that some of them suffer from unconstitutionality, inconsistency with existing law, or the need to be harmonized with the existing law to achieve the objects of Article 106(2) of the Constitution in addressing defects in the existing law and providing remedies to those defects in the Bill,” said the respected former Attorney General. Under freedom of opinion and expression, the Human Rights Committee has asked Ghana to “respond to reports that journalists are subjected to physical attacks and threats by security forces and individuals, as well as arrests and detention, and report on measures taken to protect journalists and bring perpetrators of such acts to justice.” The report also seeks answers from the Ghanaian government on right to information. It urges the government to “provide information on the status of the Right to Information Bill and its compliance with the Covenant.” Civil society groups in Ghana have been advocating for passage of RTI legislation for the last 13 years. So far in West Africa, Liberia, Nigeria, Sierra Leone, Cote d’Ivoire, Niger, Guinea, Burkina Faso have all passed RTI laws making it possible for citizens in those countries to legally seek information from public entities. “It is our hope that the government of Ghana will reflect on the issues raised by the UN Committee and allow for broader consultation on the Interception of Postal Packets and Telecommunication Messages Bill before it considers pushing it for passage by parliament,” said Sulemana Braimah, Executive Director of the MFWA. By tv3network.com|Ghana

Firefighters struggling to douse Spintex fire due to lack of water

oo v
-
0
Firefighters struggling to douse Spintex fire due to lack of water
FireOutbreakFire fighters are struggling to completely put out an inferno that has engulfed a warehouse of Kingdom Furniture and other makeshift structures at Kotobabi on the Spintex Road in Accra.
Although they have managed to control the fire which started at about 5:30pm Thursday from spreading to other structures around, access to water has made the personnel helpless in extinguishing the fire. The fire has been on for four hours now and according to the Fire Service, there is no water from the fire hydrants due to lack of water supply from the mains to help in cmpletely extingushing the fire. “We’ve not been able to put it out completely yet because we still have problems with water supply but we have confined the fire,” Mr Timothy Affum of the Ghana National Fire Service Public Relations told TV3.
“In this situation water has been our main challenge and then there is a pile of timber products but because we don’t have adequate continuous supply of water, we are unable to put it out completely,” he added. The cause of the fire is not unknown but eyewitnesses say it started from one of the structures in the area and spread to others. They told TV3 that some people initially attempted to extinguish the fire with gallons of water but to no avail. Firefighters arrived at the scene an hour later and have since been battling to completely douse the fire, which has destroyed properties running into millions of cedis. A car that was parked in an apartment close to the location of the fire was also burnt due to the intensity of the inferno. Some unscrupulous persons took advantage of the situation to loot properties under the guise of salvaging those items from burning but the Police has since deployed personnel to the site to protect properties. By tv3network.com|Ghana

Woman smuggles infant in hand luggage on Paris-bound plane

oo v
-
0
Woman smuggles infant in hand luggage on Paris-bound plane

The woman hid the child in a bag at her feetA woman flew from Istanbul to Paris with an infant girl hidden inside her hand luggage, Air France has said.

The airline said the child, travelling without a ticket, was discovered on board the flight on Monday night. An airport source told AFP news agency that the woman was a resident of France who was in the process of adopting the child, from Haiti. The airline notified the French authorities but prosecutors decided not to press charges. The woman was in the transit zone in Istanbul but was prevented from boarding her flight with the child, the source told AFP. She then bought a new flight ticket and hid the child in a bag. Once on board, she placed the child at her feet under a blanket, but the girl needed to go to the toilet and was noticed by other passengers, the source said. It’s not clear how old the child was – one source said she was four years old, another that it was a one- or two-year-old baby. “The cloth bag belonged to a woman sitting at the back of the plane. At one point she opened the bag and her neighbour on the other row of seats saw something moving inside. He alerted flight attendants, who then discovered a baby,” a passenger named Vincent told French news website Planet.fr (in French). The woman and the girl have been held at Charles de Gaulle airport while authorities investigate the case.   Source: BBC

Ethiopia to pay $150,000 to raped girl

oo v
-
0
Ethiopia to pay $150,000 to raped girl
Prime Minster Hailemariam Desalegn
Prime Minster Hailemariam Desalegn
Africa’s human rights court has ordered Ethiopia to pay $150,000 (£100,000) compensation to a rape victim for failing to protect her rights.
In 2003, Aberew Jemma Negussie was convicted of the abduction and rape of a 13-year-old girl. This was overturned on appeal as the prosecutor said only a virgin could be raped, and the victim could not prove she had been a virgin. Rights groups said this was a violation of local and international law. In 2007, Equality Now took the case to the African Commission on Human and Peoples’ Rights as “local avenues to justice were exhausted”. Rights violated Nine years later the African Union court based in The Gambia has ruled that Ethiopia had violated the girl’s rights to equality, dignity and a fair trial, among others. It said the money would be “compensation for the non-material damage she suffered as a result [of] the violations”. Equality Now described this as an “unprecedented ruling” that should send a message to “all levels of society”. The girl was abducted and raped in 2001, and after the incident was reported to the police she was rescued and the perpetrator was arrested. Abducted twice But, after being released on bail, Aberew abducted her again. She was held for a month before escaping, but while captive was forced to write her name on a piece of paper that would later be used as evidence of marriage. Abducting girls to be forcibly married is a traditional practice in parts of Ethiopia. Ethiopian girls fight child marriages After being caught for a second time, Aberew, and four accomplices were convicted in 2003, and he received a 10-year sentence. They were then released on appeal, but Equality Now argued that the law had not been correctly applied as “virginity is not a legal prerequisite for the offence of rape”. Following the acquittal, rights groups used the case to get a change in the law in Ethiopia to ensure better protection for rape victims. Equality Now says that the victim, now in her late 20s, is living in “relative safety and pursuing her education”. Source: BBC

Bunso Canopy Walkway reopened

oo v
-
0
Bunso Canopy Walkway reopened
Bunso canopyOver 2000 holiday makers trooped to the Bunso Arboretum Ecotourism Centre on 7th of March to celebrate the Independence Day holiday at Bunso.
The youthful holiday makers came from various parts of the Eastern Region and other parts of the country. The holiday makers were entertained with music from a brass band, horse riding and others took the opportunity to experience the newly refurbish canopy walkway. Mr Kenneth Akuffo Asare, Chief Executive Officer of the Bunso Arboretum, in an interview with the Ghana News Agency, said he was amazed at the large crowd that visited the Center. He said management of the Center has put in place measures to ensure the safety of all visitors to the place. He said the measures include the employment of private security officials, the creation of a fire service outpost, deployment of police personnel, a nurse and a stand by ambulance to assist members of the public in times of emergency. He urged all tourists to come to the Bunso Arboretum Ecotourism Centre any time they want to have fun, because the facility has a lot to offer them. Source: GNA

MTN must pay N1.04 trillion fine, reps insist

oo v
-
0
MTNThe House of Representatives Committee on Telecommunications on Wednesday insisted that MTN must pay the N1. 04 trillion fine imposed by the Nigeria Communications Commission (NCC) for SIM deactivation default.
It would be recalled that NCC in October 2015 fined the telecommunication giant N1.04 trillion for failing to disconnect subscribers with unregistered and incomplete Subscriber Identification Modules (SIM) cards within the stipulated time. The Chairman of the Committee, Saheed Akinade-Fijabi (APC-Oyo) said the fine if paid will redefine the relationship between the telecommunications operators and the regulator. He noted that the N50 billion paid by MTN as a part payment for negotiations out of court was not adequate to make up for allegedly undermining government’s efforts to tackle security challenges in the country. Fijabi said that “the law is there to serve as deterrent for you not to go against them. “MTN has been trying to circumvent the process and find a way of running away from the law instead of them facing the music,’’ he said. A member of the Committee, Johnson Agbonayinman (PDP-Edo) said that MTN violated sections 19 and 20 of the Telephone Subscribers Regulations under the Communications Act 2010. Section 19 of the Act reads: “Any licensee who fails to capture register, deregister or transmit the details of every individual or corporate subscriber to the central data base as specified in the regulation or as may be stipulated from time to time by the Commission is liable to a penalty of N200 000 for each subscription medium.” Agbonayinman said “Therefore MTN’s failure to deactivate 5.2million SIM cards should be liable to a fine of N2.8 trillion’’. Meanwhile, the Executive Vice Chairman of the NCC, Prof. Umar Danbatta said that the Commission was committed to ensuring compliance by telecommunication operators to register all SIM cards in the country. “SIM card registration is a continuous process. “There is ongoing registration exercise by all operators and NCC will do enforcement checking to ensure compliance,’’ Danbatta said. Meanwhile, he said that NCC was not in receipt of the N50 billion so far paid by MTN. “I do not know the account where the money was paid into. The commission only received a letter from the Attorney-General of the Federation indicating that MTN had paid the amount into the federal government account,’’ Danbatta said. Source: African Examiner
1...1,1861,1871,188...1,202Page 1,187 of 1,202