Man Shot At Kintampo

DCOP Atingane, Regional Police Boss

Kintampo, April 1, 2015 -A 54-year-old man, Effah Asirifi, allegedly received gunshot wounds Tuesday morning at Kintampo in the Brong-Ahafo Region.

The victim, a businessman and an executive member of the Kintampo Garages Association, was shot on a parcel of land the garages association acquired, near the Bui power sub-station at Kintampo.

Mr. Effah confirmed the incident to DAILY GUIDE when contacted on his hospital bed at the Kintampo Municipal Hospital, shortly after the attack.

The dastardly incident happened at the time the executives of the garages association had visited the said land.

Members of the Association hinted DAILY GUIDE that the victim was shot twice on the right arm-the first shot hit his arm but he managed to lie on the ground when the second bullet was fired.

At the time of filing this report yesterday, the victim had been transferred to the Tamale Teaching Hospital for further treatment as most of the pellets were still stuck in the affected arm.

According to the victim, he suspects a foul play since the land in question is said to be subject of chieftaincy litigation.

Meanwhile, the police have arrested a man suspected to have shot the victim.

Source: Fred Tettey Alarti-Amoako

BA Queenmothers Learn Conflict Prevention

The Queenmothers welcoming the minister

PARAMOUNT QUEENMOTHERS in the Brong-Ahafo Region have been trained on the best ways to prevent chieftaincy conflicts in their traditional areas.

The event, organised by the Konrad Adeneur Stiftung (KAS) on Friday, was under the theme: “Prevention of Chieftaincy Conflict in the Brong-Ahafo Region: The Role of the Queenmother.”

It saw the queenmothers taken through topics like enstoolment/destoolment of chiefs as a source of chieftaincy conflict and its effects, the process of chieftaincy conflict resolution and the role of Queenmother in chieftaincy conflict resolution.  

The Minister for Chieftaincy and Traditional Affairs, Dr Henry Seidu Danaah, who expressed his appreciation to the Brong-Ahafo Regional House of Chiefs and the KAS for organising the event, disclosed that it would go a long way to enhance the understanding of the queenmothers about chieftaincy issues, particularly those topics that relate to enstoolment and destoolment.

“It is very important that our queenmothers have adequate knowledge about the relevant provision of the Chieftaincy Act considering the fact that in many Traditional Areas it is the Queenmother who nominates when it comes to enstoolment of chief,” he said.

The minister assured the queenmothers of his ministry’s support in organising more of the training programmes to equip them to ensure peace in the chieftaincy institution.

Dr Isaac Owusu-Mensah, a representative of KAS, said the programme was to help the queenmothers to contribute in preventing and resolving chieftaincy disputes in their respective traditional areas.

According to him, a study conducted by his organisation in some traditional areas across the country about six months ago revealed that neglect of queenmothers partially contributed to most of the chieftaincy conflicts in the country.

Dr Owusu-Mensah said the workshop was, therefore, aimed at educating the queenmothers about the Chieftaincy Act since they play key roles in keeping their traditional areas in peace.

The facilitators included A.K Essien, Acting Registrar of the National House of Chiefs; Ernestina Kuukuwa Abraham, Counsel for the National House of Chiefs and P.A Nyarko, Registrar of the Brong-Ahafo Regional House of Chiefs.

Source: Fred Tettey Alarti-Amoako

Tourism Minister Chased Over Unpaid NAFAC Mattresses

Mr Charles Mensah

Sunyani, March 31, 2015 -THE MINISTRY of Tourism, Culture and Creative Arts is being pursued by business operators in Sunyani, the Brong-Ahafo Regional capital, for failing to pay for the hired mattresses used in the celebration of the National Festival of Arts and Culture (NAFAC 2014) held four months ago in Sunyani.

The Ministry hired a total of 800 student mattresses for six days during the festival, costing a total of GHc3,800, according to documents available to DAILY GUIDE.  

NAFAC 2014, it would be recalled, was inaugurated at the Jubilee Park in Sunyani on December 6, 2014 with President John Mahama as the special guest of honour. The six-day event was used to showcase Ghanaian culture, customs and tradition and was attended by chiefs and cultural troops from all over the country.

However, the owner of Adom Plastic Chairs and Mattresses, Charles Mensah, disclosed to DAILY GUIDE that four months down the lane the organisers are yet to pay him for the services he rendered to the Ministry, despite all efforts he had made to retrieve his money. He was anticipating instituting a legal action against the Tourism Ministry over the matter.

“They [organisers of NAFAC] keep on telling me stories anytime I go to their office to collect my money,” he bemoaned.

Antwi Bosiako, the Chairperson for the Local Planning Committee of the NAFAC 2014, confirmed the claim to DAILY GUIDE when contacted.

Mr. Antwi Bosiako, who expressed grave concern about the development, said he was equally disturbed about the action of the Ministry since the affected persons and institutions are always on his neck to take their money.

“I have been calling Accra and the money is not forthcoming. The Chief Director tells me they are working on it. This is the fourth month and they are still keeping the money,” he stated, adding, “I’m tired of what is going on.”

According to him, his committee being in-charged of accommodation and programmes, was given nothing by the sector ministry to work with during the festival.

Meanwhile, DAILY GUIDE’S checks have also revealed that the Tourism Ministry was yet to settle some hotel bills to hotels in Sunyani which accommodated the various dignitaries.   

Source: Fred Tettey Alarti-Amoako

15 Arrested Over Fulani’s Attack In Yeji

The suspects

Sunyani, March 27, 2015 -THE POLICE in Yeji in the Pru District of the Brong-Ahafo Region have arrested 15 persons suspected to have attacked Fulani herdsman and killing 13 of their cows in February this year.

The special operations on Wednesday afternoon, led by the Yeji District Commander, Deputy Superintendent of Police (DSP) Abraham Bansah, at the Kamampa - a village near Zabrema in the Yeji area - saw the arrest of the suspects, including the Assemblyman for the area, Chumba Daniel, 35, who was believed to have masterminded the attack.

Other suspects were: Yaw Bindam, 35, farmer; Kwabena Paul, 35, farmer; Kofi Chuko, 39, farmer; John Lipobil, 41, farmer; Kwadwo Frimpong, 39, farmer and Birigbaa Toobi, 70, also a farmer.

The rest were: Wusil George, 39, farmer; Birigbaa Belegba, 34, night watchman; Banyele Tapoi, 42, farmer; Stephen Konja, 28, DJ; Kofi Osei, 42, farmer; Kwadwo Donkor, 38, mason; Badonima Samuel, 33, farmer and Kwasi Kangare, 36, farmer.

Briefing the media in Sunyani yesterday, the Brong-Ahafo Regional Crime Officer of the Ghana Police Service, Superintendent Alhaji Maama Arhin, said on February 14, 2015, Banyele Tapoi complained that cattle belonging to a Fulani man had destroyed his farm.

He pursued the cattle to their stable and killed four of them. The following day, Chumba Daniel, mobilized the people in the village with the support of John Lipobil, bought cartridges and distributed them to the farmers to launch an attack on the Fulani herdsman and his cattle.

The mob initially kidnapped the herdsman, Ali Abdulai, and killed nine more cows, shared the carcass among themselves and sold the rest.

The owner of the cattle, Alhaji Belete, who is based at Kintampo, upon hearing the incident, went to the village to access the situation only to be shot by suspect Yaw Bindam, according to Superintendent Alhaji Arhin.

The owner who survived the gunshot was taken to the Holy Family Hospital at Techiman and later transferred to the Komfo Anokye Teaching Hospital in Kumasi for treatment.

According to the Regional Crime Officer, information about the attack got to the Yeji police who rushed to the village, but the village folks attempted to attack the police. They (police) retreated and reorganized and stormed the village this week where they arrested all the suspects.

The suspects who have been charged with conspiracy to commit crime, attempted murder, used of offensive weapons, cruelty to animals and stealing, were yesterday remanded by court into prison custody to re-appear on April 1.

Source: Fred Tettey Alarti-Amoako

‘Police Service Must Create New Image’

C/Supt (Rtd) Rev Abayie (M)

Sunyani, March 26, 2015 -A RETIRED senior police officer, Chief Superintendent Reverend Kofi Okodie Abayie, has advised police personnel in the country to take a cue from the current crisis in the Service to change their attitudes so as to redeem the image of the Police Service.
The Ghana Police Service has received an intense public bashing in the past few weeks following a major recruitment scam involving some top officers who are currently on interdiction. This has occurred at a time the Service has been tagged the number one most corrupt public institution in the country.
However, C/Supt (Rtd) Rev Abayie, Chaplain of the Brong-Ahafo Regional Police Church, said the Service could take advantage of the public criticisms to clean its house and be transformed to become one of the most respected public institutions in Ghana.
Speaking to DAILY GUIDE on Sunday, March 22 during the Quarterly Regional Police Church Parade in Sunyani, the retired senior officer, who doubles as the Regional Chairman of the National Association of Retired Police Officers (NARPO), said the recent happenings in the Service are a worry to him and NARPO, which held a national meeting recently to deliberate on them.
Using the analogy of the biblical Zacchaeus, a notorious tax collector and a cheat who changed his bad ways after his encounter with Jesus Christ, C/Supt (Rtd) Rev Abayie advised personnel of the Service who indulge in unprofessional practices such extortion and bribery, to turn a new leaf to save the image of the Police Service.
According to him, the Service has an enviable reputation to protect saying, “Majority of police officers don’t take bribes. I was a police officer for over 40 years and never took a bribe.”
Earlier, a consultant gynecologist at the Sunyani Regional Hospital, Dr JB Fordjour, had advised the congregants – made up of personnel and their spouses – to take good care of their bodies and health by desisting from smoking, alcoholism and immorality so as to remain strong to discharge their mandate.
Dr Fordjour recounted a number of instances where cases involving some personnel at the hospital were smoking and alcoholism, causing extensive damages to their kidneys and livers.
Source: Fred Tettey Alarti-Amoako