Pastor Jailed Two Years For Dealing In Fake GHC 50 Cedi Notes

Reverend Isaac Oti Agyemang, a pastor of Conquerors Redemption Church International at Achimota, was on Wednesday sentenced to two years imprisonment for dealing in fake GHC 50 cedi notes.

This was after a Circuit Court in Accra had found Rev. Agyemang guilty on charges of conspiracy to possessing fake currency and possessing fake currency.

Rev. Agyemang and two others were arrested at the church premises on June 28, 2010 with 2,193 pieces of the false GH 50 cedi notes.

Charles Tawiah, a trader, had earlier on pleaded guilty and convicted to six months imprisonment while another pastor of the Church Apostle Richard Kwesi Dwumfour was however acquitted and discharged.

Prosecuting, Deputy Superintendent of Police, (DSP) Abraham Annor, told the court that, personnel from the Bureau of National Investigations (BNI), on June 28, this year, had information that, some people were in possession of fake GHC50 notes at the church premises and were about to use it for business transactions.

DSP Annor said the BNI personnel armed with that information, trailed the suspects at ABC Junction, Accra until they alighted from a vehicle and walked into the premises of Conquerors Redemption Church International.

He said personnel from the BNI on arrival, met the accused in possession of a black laptop bag containing 2,193 pieces of fake GH 50 cedi notes.

DSP Annor said the accused were arrested and during interrogation, Tawiah owned up and mentioned Apostle Dwumfuor and Rev. Agyemang as persons who were to assist him sell the fake notes.

Source: GNA

'Barking dog' Rawlings will not campaign for NDC - Nyaunu

Rawlings

The National Democratic Congress (NDC) MP for Lower Manya Krobo, Michael Teye Nyaunu, has said the Rawlingses will campaign for the National Democratic Party (NDP) ahead of the December general elections.

According to the outspoken legislator, he does not foresee the Rawlingses campaigning for the ruling party because the party has relegated them to the background.

The NDP has called on the former first lady, Nana Konadu Agyeman Rawlings to accept the Presidential candidate position of the party, but Mrs. Rawlings is yet to reply.

In an interview with Citi News, Mr. Nyaunu stated that “maybe subsequent events may change his position but Nana and the founder will not campaign for the NDC because Rawlings is still a barking dog and he needs to be caged. They will campaign for the NDP, National Democratic Party and not the National Democratic Congress.”

According to him, Mrs. Rawlings is qualified in every way to lead the NDP as she is “well educated, has the necessary exposure and I will definitely encourage her to pick it up.”

Mr. Nyaunu also opined that former President Rawlings’ comments on President Mahama to the Volta Regional House of Chiefs in Ho were misinterpreted.

He said: “Rawlings never declared his support for John Mahama. Rawlings said John Mahama taking over the realm of affairs has brought a spark and hope for the NDC. I think Rawlings is very conscious of the choice of words he uses.”

“He said President Mahama has brought some sparkle into the NDC. Even if he brought fire, he said he brought some hope, he didn’t say they have attained it. That is it,” the NDC MP explained.

He however expressed his sympathy to President Mahama because he “has inherited a very fragmented party and I wonder what he can do within this limited time of two or three months to unify the party.”

Source: Citifmonline.com

Demo looms against EC in Salaga as 7000 remain

It is estimated that about 7000 eligible voters in the Salaga constituency in the Northern region are likely to be disenfranchised on December 7.

Reports indicate that the affected persons were left out during the biometric registration exercise due to faulty machines.

A group of civil society organizations called the East Gonja Civil Society Association has given the Electoral Commission one week to address the problem or expect a demonstration if the problem is not solved.

The Association’s Executive Secretary, Abdul Aziz Seidu addressed the media on Thursday saying, “The eligible voters through no fault of theirs will be losing their constitutional right to exercise their franchise and these people who could not register will be the sole cause of the EC.”

“We are by this medium calling on the Chairman of the Electoral Commission to expedite action on the situation to avert any unfortunate circumstance and we want the EC to further consolidate the peace and stability of the country by simply taking steps to get this population registered”, he added.

Aziz cautioned, “It means a lot in Ghana to infringe upon the rights of citizens especially as it is mandated by the constitution and this issue, once it remains unresolved, has the tendency of marring the peace process that the CSO’s, the East Gonja district assembly and for that matter the chiefs and people of the traditional area have strived so much over the years to preserve.”

Source: Citifmonline.com

Skirmishes In Cote d'Ivoire, Ghana Not Involved - Gbevlo Lartey

Ghana has denied any involvement in last Friday’s armed skirmishes at a border town in Cote d’Ivoire.

The National Security Coordinator, Lt Col Larry Gbevlo-Lartey, told the graphic.com.gh that the incident at the border town of Noe in Cote d’Ivoire “was purely an internal Ivorian matter and Ghana has no hand in it”.

He has, accordingly, challenged the Ivorian authorities to show “proof of Ghana’s involvement in the matter”.

He reiterated the government’s resolve not to allow anybody or group of persons to use any part of Ghana’s territory to destabilise any country, especially Cote d’Ivoire, and denied media reports that the incident happened at the Ghana-Cote d’Ivoire border.

Last Friday, Cote d’Ivoire closed its border with Ghana after an attack on an Army checkpoint in that country, an incident which the Ivorian Defence Minister, Paul Koffi Koffi, claimed was carried out by "armed elements from Ghana".

“His assertion is a hasty judgemental statement which is without any evidential support,” Lt Col Gbevlo-Lartey said, and stated, “We in Ghana want the Ivorian Defence Minister to give us proof that Ghana has a hand in what is purely an internal matter in Cote d’Ivoire.”

President John Dramani Mahama stated during a recent visit to Abidjan that Ghana would not become a base for those trying to destabilise Cote d’Ivoire, a call Mr Koffi welcomed and described as an example of "frank co-operation" between officials in Cote d’Ivoire and Ghana.

Lt Col Gbevlo-Lartey said Ghana was not interested in the internal affairs of any country, for that matter Cote d’Ivoire, and assured Ghana’s neighbours of its commitment to the peace and stability of the sub-region.

He explained that as a decent member of the international community and trailblazer of African unity and social economic advancement, Ghana would strictly abide by all international laws and protocols that enjoined countries to respect the sovereignty of other nations.

He urged Ghanaians to remain calm while the situation was closely monitored.

Cote d’Ivoire is recovering from months of political unrest after disputed elections in November 2010. An estimated 3,000 people died in the fighting that followed the disputed polls.

Then President Gbagbo refused to concede defeat to then candidate Ouattara, who eventually ousted his rival with the help of former rebel forces, the UN and Cote d’Ivoire’s former colonial power, France.

Mr Gbagbo is currently in The Hague, awaiting trial at the International Criminal Court (ICC) on charges of crimes against humanity.

Meanwhile, both the entry and exit points at the Elubo and Ivorian side of the Ghana-Cote d’Ivoire Border remain closed.

Many vehicles and people trying to cross over to the other end remain stranded.

At the moment, 200 Ghanaians living in Cote d’Ivoire have returned home using canoes to cross the Tano River.

Some of the stranded travellers told graphic.com.gh that they had set off from Nigeria, Mali, Benin and Togo for business in Cote d’Ivoire and were held up due to the closure of the border, adding that they did not know about the closure or any armed attack.

Security sources at the border stressed the need for an increase in border patrols to help deal with the threat of using unapproved routes linking the two countries.

That, they said, would ensure that armed groups operating in Cote d’Ivoire did not cross into Ghana.

Daily Graphic