ICT revolution at Suame Magazine

Picture shows Ms Natalie Schell, an intern from Columbia University in New York assisting the artisans in their training.

There is a sudden upsurge of interest among the otherwise low literate artisans of Suame Magazine for Information and Communications Technology (ICT) education.
What inspired this new spirit of ICT enterprise among the artisans appears a complete mystery to those familiar with the Suame Magazine environment where computer is largely considered the preserve of the formal sector.
The interesting point about these massive developments in the ICT at Suame Magazine is the exclusive private initiative of the Suame Magazine Industrial Development Organisation (SMIDO).
The Suame Magazine Industrial Development Organisation (SMIDO), the development unit and umbrella organisation of Suame Magazine has unleashed a revolution unprecedented in the informal sector industry of the country in Suame Magazine.
According to SMIDO, this new development is emerging as a response to findings from a survey in 2007 that indicated that less than one percent of the over 200,000 artisans at the suame magazine have email addresses and uses the Internet.
This was said to be at odds with the global orientation of their industrial operations requiring transactions with stakeholders across the world.
It was an exciting sight when the Daily Graphic visited the training centre last week to witness at first hand, how the artisans were acquiring computer knowledge.
The artisans in their usual fitting costumes were spotted busily going through lessons in ICT in a typical school-styled fashion.
I was confronted with a reality I never thought would happen at Suame Magazine’s largely independent artisanal population.
Artisans who have never sat behind the computer in their lifetime are now manipulating the computer for various designs that would leave the average visitor to the resource center pondering over whether he or she was really at Suame Magazine.
The center has four instructors with two expatriates from the Columbia University in New York.
Records at the resource center indicated that high profiled personalities like Dr Kwabena Duffour, Professor Kwabena Frimpong Boateng, the KMA Chief Executive, Ms Patricia Appiagyei, Ms Dorothy Gordon of the Ghana Indian Centre of Excellence in ICT, Professor Vasco of the Institute of Advanced ICT Studies and a host of other dignitaries have visited the resource center to acquaint themselves with this new revelation at Suame Magazine being spearheaded by SMIDO.
The President of SMIDO described this as not necessarily an ICT revolution but a mindset to embrace the modern world of technology, which is threatening the survival of Suame Magazine and the artisanal engineering industry in Ghana.
In an interview, Mr Nyaaba-Aweeba Azongo, consultant to SMIDO revealed that plans were underway to establish an Internet café to introduce the artisans to the use of the Internet given the advances they have made at the basic stages of computing
According to Mr Azongo, the Ghana-Indian Kofi Annan ICT Center is rolling out a programme with SMIDO to introduce an artisanal engineering model of International Computer Driving License (ICDL) to offer international certification to artisans upon graduation at the resource centre.
He contended that the ICT breakthrough is an important milestone towards graduating the artisans of Suame Magazine towards the modern industrial village to be established by SMIDO on a 1000acre land at Asenemaso in the Atwima Nwabiagya District of Ashanti.
According to him, the full potential of ICT to economic development is seen as the creative sectors of the economy and said that these are the sectors that have been left behind in the nation’s planning process.
He said the formal sector was not a force to reckon with in the creative industry where ICT could introduce the magic wand for economic development.
In his elaboration, the main determinant of the creative economy is the proportion of the employment and entrepreneurial seeking ratios of the labour population.
He contended that the formal sector has a preponderance of employment seeking attitudes as against the entrepreneurial seeking behaviours of the average workforce in the artisanal or the informal Sector.
In this direction the entrepreneurial creative industrial sectors incorporation of ICT is a key instrument towards wealth creation and sustainable development.
For his part, the President of SMIDO, Mr George Asamoah Amankwa expressed the hope that the government would extend a vehicular support to SMIDO project, which was a major undertaking worthy of national commitment and support.
In another development, a team of experts from IBM, the global computer giants would be arriving in Ghana by the end of September 2008 for a one month assignment with SMIDO to support the review and curricula development of the Suame Tech Automatics Engineering Institute for ICT in vehicular diagnosis and repairs.
This is to set the basis for a formal training center for artisans in Suame Magazine and the rest of the country.
Picture shows Mr Nyaaba-Aweeba Azongo, consultant to SMIDO admiring the learning skills of the artisans

50-year Jail term for 'Kumasi Ataa Ayi'

Eric Alfred Zieme, described by the police as Kumasi’s most notorious armed robber, was yesterday sentenced to 50 years’ imprisonment with hard labour by the High Court in Kumasi.

“You are the devil incarnate,” Justice Kwame Ansu-Gyeabour, the presiding judge, told Zieme before handing him the sentence.

Zieme, 26, also known as Kumasi Ataa Ayi, was found guilty of raiding the B5 Plus Company at Buoho, a Kumasi suburb, at gunpoint on October 11, 2007 and robbing Gocrest Limited of GH¢40,504 which it had collected from the B5 Plus to be deposited at the bank.

The convict, who has nine other armed robbery and murder cases yet to be tried, had no lawyer and so he represented himself in court throughout the trial.

He was always in clutches when he appeared in court because of gunshot wounds he sustained when the police fired at his legs when he attempted to escape arrest.

The court held that the convict stood out as a person who was prepared to reap where he had not sown and build his life through foul means.

The judge said the court took into consideration the prevalence of armed robbery in the country, the evidence adduced against the convict by the prosecution, the character and antecedents of the convict, among other things, before imposing the sentence.

He said although the convict told the court that he was in Wa to attend an uncle’s funeral on the day the incident happened, he was, however, unable to prove his claim when offered the opportunity to do so.

Besides, Justice Ansu-Gyeabour said the convict’s mother, Bridget Zumbele, who was in court and had promised to furnish the court with witnesses for the convict, failed to do so and even declined to testify herself as the sister of the convict’s uncle whose funeral he claimed to have attended at Wa.

He stated that the convict admitted the offence in his caution statement to the police but denied on oath that he had given that statement to the police and also failed to prove an alibi.

He said it was abundantly clear that the evidence on oath had been a deliberate ploy and an after- thought.

The judge said the convict was unable to prove how he earned the money used to acquire his property, including the restaurant building project he had embarked on at the race course area in Kumasi.

Justice Ansu-Gyeabour also held that three witnesses, namely, Benedict Kofi Adombre, a driver whom the convict shot in the thigh, Alice Akpo and Victoria Asare, both cashiers of Gocrest Limited, from whom the convict stole the money, all came out to identify the convict during an identification parade.

The court ordered that the two cars seized from the convict on his arrest — an unregistered Toyota Corolla saloon car and an old Tico taxi — be handed over to the Ghana Police Service to assist the service in its patrol duties.

It further ordered that the remaining items seized from the convict, including a Honda motorbike, five travelling bags containing clothing, a Samsung DVD player, a Sony TV set, home theatre with speakers, two deep freezers, two satellite dishes, 35 bags of cement, 17 pieces of plywood, five packets of floor tiles and two ceiling fans, be auctioned and the proceeds paid to offset the amount stolen from B5 Plus, with the remaining paid to government chest.

The court also ordered that the restaurant project started by the convict, should be handed over to the Kumasi Metropolitan Assembly (KMA) for it to remodel and construct for public use.

The prosecution was led by Mr Emmanuel Otoo-Boison, a State Attorney.

Zieme has a month to appeal against the sentence.

The facts of the case were that on October 11, 2007, Benedict Kofi Adombre, a driver, Alice Akpo and Victoria Asare, both cashiers of Gocrest Limited at Adum, went round to collect money from the company’s customers.

After the three had collected money from the B5 Plus Company around 1.30 p.m., the convict, with an AK 47 assault rifle, attacked them in front of the company’s premises and shot the right thigh of the driver and robbed them of cash totalling GH¢40,504.

A report was made to the police and a medical form was issued to the driver to attend hospital.

On November 2, 2007, the police, upon a tip-off, arrested the convict from his hideout at the race course and the witnesses involved identified him as the one who had committed the offence.

The police later retrieved three guns, comprising two AK 47 assault rifles and a pump action gun, which he had hidden at various areas in the bush on the Barekese road, the Buoho area and at Brofoyedru.

The police also seized various items from him and charged him with the offence.

Ministry concludes tilapia pond feeding trials

The Ministry of Fisheries has successfully concluded a 10month pond feeding trials with all male tilapia at the Aquaculture Adaptive Trials Centre at Nkawie in the Ashanti region, and has subsequently identified pelletized feed as most suitable for commercial aquaculture production.
The objective of the trial was to demonstrate tilapia growth and economic performance from fingerling to market stages.
The all male tilapia exhibited excellent growth from five grammes to an average of 500 grammes over the 10month period when they were fed on Raanan pelletized fish feed imported from Israel by Dizengoff Ghana Limited.
The feed maintained good water quality, and no pond water flushing was required. Additionally the fish growth with the feed yielded a high economic return in the trial.
A total of 4400 fingerlings were stocked in the pond which was equipped with stand-by aeration at the latter stages of the trials.
At a field demonstration on the production of the all male tilapia using the pelletized feed at Nkawie last week, Mr Emmanuel Nii Aryee, Ashanti Regional Director of the Ministry of Fisheries said the move was a major success in the Ministry’s quest in promoting aquaculture.
This is because, hitherto, most fish farmers were not feeding their stock very well with the right feed thus the produce did not gain the weight they were supposed to before harvest.
Additionally, many of them mixed the males and females together which was also not good for commercial fish production, he said.
The male tilapia is noted for growing faster than the female and that it could attain the weight of about 750 grammes within seven months, for harvesting when fed well. Hence it is profitable to use male fingerlings instead of female fingerlings in fish farming.
The Ministry of Fisheries thus entered into an agreement with Luye Fisheries in China for assistance in the production of male tilapia fingerlings for distribution to fish farmers in Ghana.
The move was to help make high yielding fingerlings always available to fish farmers so as to serve as a boost to aquaculture in the country.
Consequently, the Ministry allocated the Aquaculture Adaptive Trials Centre at Nkawie in the Atwima District of Ashanti to be used as a pilot station for the development of what they termed, the Super Male Tilapia in the country.
Speaking at the field demonstration, the Regional Director of Fisheries said the Ministry sees pond fishing as being very good economically and thus has been promoting aquaculture on a more serious note in the last three years.
He said after the Ministry adopted the all male production method, there was also the need to identify a suitable feed so as to be able to achieve the needed results.
Mr Aryee said the Ministry decided to go for the Raanan feed because that one could float on the surface of the water making it easy to monitor how the stock was consuming the feed.
He said he was aware that GAFCO as well as Agricare have also started producing pelletized feeds and that GAFCO for instance was still in the process of trying to come out with brands that could float on the surface of water.
He said the brands of the other pelletized feeds that does not stay at the surface but sinks to the under of the water was equally good but said the floating ones were more preferable since it allows the farmer to monitor the feeding rate of the stock.
He said his outfit has assigned the Tano Odumase fish pond to produce high yielding all male fingerlings for supply to fish farmers in the Ashanti region so as to serve as a boost to aquaculture.
He said Ashanti was the leading region in pond fish farming.
Adding, he said as part of efforts to boost aquaculture, the ministry has introduced an input credit scheme where fingerlings are supplied to selected farmers as well as assisted in the construction of ponds.
Touching on the results of the trials, Mr Aryee said the exercise had thought the Ministry a lot of lessons which it could impart to fish farmers.
For instance, he said the ministry stocked a total of 4400 fingerlings in the pond which was too small for the stock and also did not mount the stand-by aeration on time.
Again he said the fingerlings were stocked in November and so when the harmattan started in January, the fishes did not eat much during that period so that also affected their growth.
Mr Aryee said lessons learnt from the trials would go a long way to assist fish farmer adding that the average weight could go beyond 500grammes if conditions are favourable.

Filth engulfs Kumasi Central Market

Customers at the Kumasi Central Market, which is said to be the biggest in the West African sub region, are welcome by filth.
Ironically many traders and hawkers sit and transact business in the midst of the filth as if good health doesn’t mean anything to them.
The openly sell foodstuffs and their wares in the middle of the road and on the pavements amidst filth which they themselves generate.
Some display their goods including tomatoes, yams, garden eggs, apples, lettuce and cabbage on the ground over a mat while others put theirs on the bare ground just next to drains filled with stagnant and stinky water.
Others especially those who trade on the streets simply carry their commodities on their hands, heads and shoulders and move around.
This is not the first time an issue of this sort had been raised. It has been raised on a couple of platforms but the situation keeps worsening with no solution to it.
What even makes the situation a bother for me is how foodstuffs especially vegetables and fruits, some of whom are eaten in their raw state is sold on the bare ground in the midst of filth.
One always wonders why there is so much indiscipline at the city centre of the Kumasi metropolis, especially at the precincts of the central market and wondered whose responsibility it was to ensure sanity at the place as the city authorities, the Kumasi Metropolitan Assembly (KMA) look on unconcerned.
One is not likely to see the degree of filth during daytime as the place is crowded but at night after the day’s activities.
Last Monday, as I walked on the road in front of the Central Market I was fascinated with the mounting heap of garbage and people including pedestrians and traders who throw garbage anywhere and everywhere.
I wondered how city dwellers had lost their sense of sanitation and civility questioned how people, who initially lived a clean life, create and live in such filth. Such gross disregard to health defies Ghanaian culture.
This appalling sanitation problem makes the government’s much-hyped tourism programme look like a child’s play.
The least talk about the resultant congestion on the road in front of the central market as it is neither not comforting driving through that area nor footing.
Trading activities along the streets and pavements was now as brisk as before the introduction of the exercise, which has come to nothing after spending several millions of Ghana cedis on it.
The last time the Metropolitan Chief Executive, Miss Patricia Appiagyei reacted to concerns on the aborted decongestive exercise, which it claimed it was embarking on a sustainable base to evict traders who have taken over walkways in the Central Business District of Kumasi, she accused the media of not supporting the Assembly resulting in the failure of the exercise. The KMA gave every assurance that it would sustain the decongestive exercise and evict traders who had taken over the walkways in the central business district of Kumasi.
The City Mayor alleged that some sections of the media criticised the KMA and that explained why the exercise had been stalled.
“Some media men criticised us as well as politicised it that is why we have relented on the exercise. We thought we were in partnership with you but we were wrong. You find people back on the pavements because the media did not support us”, Miss Appiagyei said.
Last year, the KMA embarked on the exercise to decongest the CBD of traders who had indiscriminately taken over the streets and the pavements and millions of cedis were spent on the exercise, yet the hawkers are still on the streets doing brisk business with its attendant socio-economic problems.
Assurances were given by the KMA that the exercise was not going to be a nine days’ wonder but would be sustained to enable residents to appreciate the need to comply with the directives of the KMA.
It is not clear what might have compelled the KMA, which in 2006 “blew” some GH¢100,000 on a similar abortive ejection exercise, to go back on its word in 2007, but the lack of political will, as the case has always been, cannot be ruled out.
The activities of the hawkers, who have taken over pavements in the city centre, have compelled pedestrians to walk on the roads, putting them at great risk.
A huge number of petty traders have virtually hijacked the business district of the city which is seriously impeding the free flow of vehicles and pedestrians.
These lawless individuals have completely taken over all the pavements in the city centre and are busily going about their ‘normal’ duties as if there were no laws to bring them to order.
For how long can residents continue to grapple with this problem?
Personally I feel there ought to be a conscious attempt to improve sanitation in that part of the city to give the city the beauty and the Garden City status it deserves.

Asantehene supports Suame Industrial Dev Organisation

The Suame Magazine Industrial Development Organisation, the umbrella organisation and development unit of Suame Magazine has received its greatest boost in its march towards the development of Suame Magazine into a modern industrial estate from the Asantehene, Otumfuo Osei Tutu II.
The Asantehene has pledged his support for SMIDO assigning the Akyempimhene, Oheneba Adusei Poku to be liaising with the organisation to occasion his support for the development of Suame Magazine, which he said holds significant prospects for Asanteman and Ghana’s industrial development as a whole.
Otumfuo Osei Tutu II gave his support when members of the Suame Magazine Industrial Village Committee led by its Chairman, Dr Kwabena Duffuor paid a courtesy call on him at the Manhyia Palace last week.
The visit was to formally introduce members of the committee and their mission to establish a modern industrial village for Suame Magazine to the Asantehene.
The occasion was a historic moment for Asanteman as Otumfuo personally addressed questions to them as well as allowing ample time for committee members to address his council of elders.
The atmosphere was that of appreciation and a welcome endorsement of SMIDO by Otumfuo.
The Asantehene advised the leadership of SMIDO to be transparent and truthful in their responsibilities as well as shed off any other interest apart from the genuine interest to salvage the prospects of the industrial estate, which appeared to have been at the receiving end of national policy neglect.
He applauded SMIDO for their foresight and urged them not to relent in their efforts to develop Suame Magazine.
He advised them to have confidence in themselves and to ensure that state- of –the- art technology was infused into the operations of the industrial estate to enable them keep pace with modern technology.
The Chairman of the committee, Dr Kwabena Duffuor said his conscience has never been deeply exercised and challenged in his numerous official calls to take up responsibilities than the one from SMIDO and Suame Magazine.
He said, with the virtual collapse of the Timber and Wood industry in Kumasi, the shoe industrial enterprise, the worst will be for them to approach Suame Magazine with apathy.
Suame Magazine is the very economic heart of Kumasi, Asanteman and Ghana as a whole, he said and added that the best service they can render to Asanteman and Ghana, as a whole will be to support SMIDO in its bid to Develop Suame Magazine into a modern industrial Village.
The President of SMIDO, Mr George Asamoah Amankwa used the occasion to present a special copy of the SMIDO blueprint to the Asantehene and the Asanteman Council.
The Asantehene, who was visibly enthused by the exceptional strides of SMIDO in its brief moment in Suame Magazine by pulling together a high-profiled committee under the Chair of Dr Kwabena Duffour and Professor Kwabena Frimpong Boateng, whose advocacy for science and technology driven development, could not hide his joy but to commend the leadership of SMIDO for such a sterling accomplishment.
Mr George Asamoah Amankwa, briefed Otumfuo about the formation of SMIDO out of BUSAC fund’s support to Suame Magazine and the progress made so far particularly the establishment of an ICT resource center to train artisans in the basics of computer towards the adoption of ICT vehicular diagnosis and repairs.
The rest of the committee members Professor Frimpong Boateng, Miss Dorothy Gordon of the Ghana Indian Kofi Annan ICT center and ,Mr Nyaaba-Aweeba Azongo, the consultant to SMIDO each took turns to brief Otumfuo about the project and their individual and collective roles towards the development of the SMIDO initiative.
Professor Frimpong Boateng in his remarks noted that given the uneconomic parcels of lands available for Agriculture, mechanised farming was a viable investment enterprise in the region.
Against this background, he noted that the only option left to the region was to adopt technology for which it has an exceptional comparative advantage in the country with the existence of Suame Magazine and the KNUST.
He said, the Suame Magazine Industrial Village Project for which he has been appointed to facilitate with Dr Kwabena Duffuor was not a task beyond their capacity and that given the required support and encouragement the region would soon witness a globally competitive technologically advanced industrial village in Kumasi.
Later in an interview with the Daily Graphic, the Consultant to SMIDO, Mr Nyaaba-Aweeba Azongo said the Asantehene has always been represented in their numerous national events.
He said, they have been greatly inspired and alive to the testimony of Otumfuo’s unparallel passion for meaningful development programmes in the region.
According to Azongo, he hopes the political leaders of the region would take a cue from the exceptional demonstration of leadership by Otumfuo to come on board in a non-partisan manner to equally lend their weight behind the project as a national undertaking.
He said political leaders in the region have a duty towards supporting Suame Magazine’s development which could not be sacrificed or shirked under any excuses.

Expansion work progresses at Barekese

The Board of Directors at the Ghana Water Company Limited (GWCL) has expressed appreciation at the progress of rehabilitation and expansion works at the Barekese and Owabi Headworks which supply pipe-borne water to the Kumasi metropolis and its environs.
The GWCL was currently embarking on rehabilitation and expansion works at the Barekese and Owabi headworks so as to be able to increase the supply of pipe-borne water to the Kumasi metropolis.
The Board Chairman, Mr A. R. Musah, who led a team of board members to inspect progress of work at the two headworks at the weekend, expressed appreciation with the quality of work.
The visit was to enable them acquaint themselves with work so far done on the ongoing rehabilitation and expansion project.
The project which was more than 30 percent complete is being funded by the government at a cost of Euros 37,999,870.
The Kumasi metropolis would be supplied with 27million gallons of water per day upon the completion of the project in October 2009.
The Barekese Headworks currently has capacity to produce 18million gallons of water per day whiles that of Owabi has capacity to produce three million.
However the two headworks are unable to produce at their full capacity because of obsolete machinery.
The expansion works was expected to increase the capacity of Barekese by an additional six million gallons thereby producing 24million gallons per day.
The Board chairman of GWCL expressed satisfaction with the work done so far and expressed the hope that it would be completed on schedule.
Members of the board that accompanied the chairman were Mr E. Adjei Boye, Ms Susana Mensah, Mr R. Obiri Yeboah, Mr Kwaku Amoa Gyarteng, Mr P. M. A. Pecku. Others were the Deputy Managing Director of the GWCL Mr Kwaku Botwe, Mr Fred Lokko, Ashanti Regional Chief Manager and the project consultant, Mr Anthony Amankwah.
The project is being executed by Taysec Construction Company.

Stray cow causes accident in Kumasi

The reason why stray animals should not be allowed on the street was given meaning on Tuesday morning as a stray cow crashed into a taxi cab on the Asokwa-Baba Yara Sports Stadium road in Kumasi.
The accident resulted in injury to the driver of the taxi cab and four passengers of the vehicle.
The taxi cab, a Kia Pride with registration number AW 1397 Y was also badly damaged as the front and rear windscreens were smashed together with the bonnet and roof of the vehicle.
The fat cow also died on the spot.
Eyewitness said the cow was being followed by a shepherd boy on the shoulders of the road at about 6am when all of a sudden it jumped on to the road and crashed into the oncoming car.
The car hit the animal head on and lifted it over the roof.
The shepherd boy was said to have taken to his heels immediately after the accident as the driver who was only indentified as Alex also tried to pursue him but was unsuccessful in arresting him.
The matter was later reported to the Asokwa Police.

Another fuel tanker in accident

A fuel tanker was on Monday night involved in an accident which resulted in the tanker catching fire at Asokwa near the Mckweon Restaurant on the Asokwa-Baba Yara Sports Stadium road.
Four vehicles, which had been parked by the road side were burnt together with the tanker.
There were no casualties as the tanker driver escaped unhurt from the vehicle before it burst into flames.
This brought to three the number of tanker trucks which had been involved in an accident and catching fire in the Ashanti region in the last two weeks.
The first was at Adum in Kumasi which claimed three lives and the second was at Atwedie in the Asante Akyim South District which resulted in injury to four persons including a policeman and a fireman.
The cause of this latest incident was not clear but it was believed a break failure might have caused the accident.
The vehicle with registration number AS 7401 F veered off the road and landed in a gutter just in front of the Mckweon Restaurant at Asokwa.
The incident happened about 200 metres away from the Engas Filling Station, which exploded about a year ago claiming some lives including the owner of the station.
Eyewitnesses said the vehicle burst into flames shortly after the driver had escaped from it after the accident.
They said thick black smoke drifted into the evening skies, as frightened residents rushed out of their homes to escape to safe areas. Fire fighters had a difficult task controlling the blaze, and had to spend about two hours before bringing the situation under control. The accident was said to have happened a few minutes after 8pm and the fire started afterwards as the fuel drifted into the drains with the fire running through the drains from where the tanker fell.
The fire caused destruction to telephone and electricity cables.

EIA report on energy project ready

An Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) scoping report had been submitted to the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) so as to help pave the way for the construction of the plant to generate between 30 and 52 megawatts of electricity from garbage in Kumasi.
The almost US$136 million project is expected to generate energy from the Kumasi Metropolitan Assembly’s (KMA’s) landfill site at Oti to serve the Kumasi metropolis, depending on the volume of waste supplied to the landfill site per day.
The gas from the waste materials will be used to generate energy.
Cinergex Solutions is the sole financier of the project, excluding Value Added Tax (VAT), and is expected to use 14 months to construct the plant, when actual construction work begins.
The project is to be on a build-operate-and-transfer (BOT) basis and as a result Cinergex has consequently signed a power purchase agreement (PPA) with the Electricity Company of Ghana (ECG).
The electricity produced by the waste-to-energy plant will supplement the ECG’s power supply from the Volta River Authority (VRA) for the Kumasi metropolis.
Mr Anthony Mensah, Director of Waste Management at the KMA who was responding to a question on the progress of work on the project in an interview with the Daily Graphic said the financiers of the project have gathered and analysed all relevant information on the proposed undertaking to determine the likely consequences if the undertaking was implemented and has forwarded it to the EPA.
He said the EPA which was currently reviewing the report was expected to issue a provisional permit to pave way for constructional works on the project.
Asked why the EPA permit had delayed as of now, Mr Mensah said the financiers initially assumed that the EPA permit covering the landfill site would have covered the plant only for them to realise later that they needed a whole new permit for the plant.
He said consultants have been commissioned to prepare the two phases of environmental impact assessment reports, that of the scoping and final reports.
He said the scoping report was ready and had been submitted to the EPA for review leading to the issuance of a provisional permit after which the final report would be sent for the final permit.
Mr Mensah said his understanding was that once the provisional permit was issued, the financiers of the project would release funds for the purchase of the components of the plant for onward shipment to Ghana from the United States of America (USA) and Canada respectively.
He said the plant itself entails a lot of pre-fabricated components which would be mounted on a concrete sub structure.
The Waste Management Director said the financiers have since engaged a surveyor to assess where the plant would be mounted at the land fill site.
President John Agyekum Kufuor performed the sod-cutting ceremony at the project site in May 2007. Prior to that, the government, through the Ministry of Local Government, Rural Development and Environment, and the KMA signed a contract with the contractors, Cinergex Solutions Limited from Canada in November 2006 for the construction of the plant.
The energy to be generated by the plant would depend greatly on the volume of waste supply to the landfill site and, according to experts, 500 tonnes of waste per day will generate 12 megawatts of electricity, 1,000 tonnes will produce between 30 and 52 megawatts of power, while 1,600 tonnes of waste per day will produce a maximum of 60 megawatts, which happens to be the maximum capacity of the plant.
The Kumasi metropolis currently generates about 1,200 tonnes of waste per day.
It is the desire of the KMA to liaise with other assemblies nearby to supplement and complement its waste requirements so that the plant could operate at full capacity.
The issue of waste collection and sanitation in general had been a major challenge for local authorities and that it was good news that energy could now be generated from waste in Ghana.

Reflectors installed at accident prone spot in Kumasi

The Urban Roads Department in Kumasi has erected Reflective Channelizer Cones on the concrete triangle located in front of the Akyempimhene’s Palace on the road heading towards Adum from the Asafo-UTC interchange in Kumasi.
The erection of the traffic signals followed last Friday’s fuel tanker accident at same spot, which led to the loss of three lives.
There had been complaints from the public on the location of the concrete triangle which had been causing numerous accidents at the spot with the most fatal being last Friday’s incident.
The triangle initially had some small reflectors slapped on the concrete but it got defaced a few months after its construction.
As a result most motorists run over it at night and sometimes even at day time resulting in accidents.
In last Friday’s incident, the driver of the fuel tanker with registration number GT 7560 X was heading towards Adum when the driver suddenly lost control in front of the Justmoh Construction building after climbing the concrete triangle.
The fuel tanker overturned afterwards and burst into flames. A huge explosion was heard, which shook several houses, near the accident spot, shattered wooden doors, ceilings and glass doors and windows of some of the buildings.
The fire spread through parts of Adum and the crowded cold store area opposite the Asafo Neoplan Station causing massive destruction to property as the fuel spilled through drains. A number of people were wounded and the three deceased who were attending to nature’s call at that early morning in the drainage were burnt beyond recognition.
The erection of the Reflective Channelizer Cones on the road and on the triangle, which is to impart information to road users that a concrete triangle exists at the spot, has therefore been welcomed by some residents.
Officers of the Urban Roads mounted the reflectors at the weekend to help avert further fatalities at the spot which had been noted for accidents ever since it was constructed about a year ago.

Police arrest fake currency dealers

FOUR people have been arrested by the Police in Kumasi for allegedly dealing in fake currency to the tune of GH¢ 150,000. George Agyemang, 45, and Twum Adjei, 41 both car dealers and residents at Teshie Nungua in Accra were arrested on Monday, August 18, 2008 in Kumasi while their accomplices Mallam Mohammed Awal, 35 and Nuhu Musah, 42, a.k.a. Manoah were also arrested the following day at Mamobi in Accra. The Police have since retrieved GH¢ 90,005 of the fake currencies. Two of the suspects, George and Twum had succeeded in putting GH¢59,995 in circulation before they were arrested. A fifth suspect whose name was only given as Adam was on the run. He was said to be using a black convertible Mercedez Benz CLK 55 Amg with an unidentified Togolese registration number and the police have mounted a search for him. Police investigations have revealed that George and Twum sold the car with which Adam had absconded with to Mallam Awal and Nuhu in receipt of the fake currencies as payment. Briefing the press in Kumasi today (Monday), DCOP K. A. Opare-Addo, the Ashanti Regional Commander of Police, said George and Twum agreed to sell the car to the other suspects at a cost of GH¢ 150,000 and agreed to receive payment in the fake currencies. The commander said on Monday August 18, 2008, police received information that a group of people from Accra had in their possession a large amount of forged Ghanaian currency notes and were lodging in a hotel in Kumasi. He said the information indicated that the suspects were making efforts to change the forged currency into genuine ones by defrauding unsuspecting individuals. He said the police trailed George and Twum to a room at the Silicon Hotel at Kentinkrono in Kumasi. When they were searched, fake GH¢50 denominations all with same serial number VB 0352416 totalling GH¢71,000 and GH¢20 denominations all with same serial number VB 0352461 totalling GH¢17,100 were found on them. Again GH¢10 denominations with same serial number of LB 2392169 totalling GH¢950 and GH¢5 denominations with same serial number totalling GH¢955 were also found on them. The Police Commander said all the fake currencies in possession of the suspects amounted to GH¢90,005 and that during interrogation, they mentioned Mallam Awal, and Nuhuall based in Mamobi in Accra as their sources of supply. George and Twum therefore led police to Mamobi in Accra where they identified the two other suspects Awal, and Musah for arrest. George and Twum told the police that they agreed to sell the black convertible Mercedez Benz CLK 55 Amg with the unidentified Togolese registration number to Awal, and Musah who then transferred it to Adam. DCOP Opare-Addo said George and Twum agreed to receive payment for the car in fake currencies amounting to GH¢ 150,000. He said since only GH¢ 90,005 were found on them during their arrest, the police suspected that some innocent persons might have been victims to the difference of GH¢ 55,995 which the suspects could not account for. Mr Opare-Addo said the suspects who bought the car in forged currency could not have used all their money and that they suspected they still have more of such currencies hidden somewhere. He therefore appealed to members of the public to be on the lookout when indulging in any form of transaction that involves money so as not to fall prey to such circulating currencies.
Picture shows the fake

Fuel tanker catches fire in Kumasi. One person dead

ONE person was killed and a number of others wounded when a fuel tanker overturned and burst into flames at the Nsuase area of Adum in Kumasi this morning (Friday). The deceased was burnt beyond recognition and his remains had been deposited at the morgue while the injured were receiving medical attention. The fire spread through parts of Adum and the crowded cold store area opposite the Asafo Neoplan Station causing massive destruction to property as the fuel spilled through drains. Thick black smoke drifted into the early morning skies, as frightened residents rose from their beds to escape to safe areas. Fire fighters had a difficult task controlling the blaze, and had to spend about two hours before bringing the situation under control. The accident was said to have happened at about 5:10am and the fire started afterwards whilst people siphoned the fuel. An eyewitness told the Daily Graphic that the tanker with registration number GT 7560 X was heading towards Adum when the driver suddenly lost control in front of the Justmoh Construction building.
A huge explosion was the heard, which shook several houses, near the accident spot, shattered wooden doors, ceilings and glass doors and windows of some of the buildings.
This caused people to rush out of their homes onto the streets. They rescued the driver and his mate and rushed them to the hospital. The eyewitness said some people hurriedly went for buckets to siphon the fuel and it was during that process that they saw fire running through the drains from the cold store area towards where the tanker fell. The fire caught the tanker and it exploded. When the Daily Graphic got to the scene fire fighters from the Ghana National Fire Service (GNFS) were battling the blaze. They sprayed water and foam on the burning tanker to cool it and prevent whatever gasoline residue was in the tank from exploding. The road from the interchange area leading to Adum through the Justmoh Construction area was closed to traffic in the morning. National Disaster Management Organisation (NADMO) officers were yet to ascertain the number of casualties at the time of filing this report. Residents in the cold store area and some portions of the Nsuase area evacuated from their homes in the heat of the fire.

Fraudster arrested in Kumasi

A forty-four-year-old man, who is alleged to have defrauded a number of people of various sums of money running into millions of Ghana cedis, has been arrested by the police. Victor Osei Sarfo who was arrested last Thursday after an 18-hour trail by the police in Kumasi, allegedly operated in various parts of the country. He was said to have posed as the son of Ambassador D. K. Osei, the President’s Secretary, and in some instances impersonated ACP Bright Oduro, Second in Command of the Greater Accra Regional Police. He also variously posed as a police detective, a BNI operative, an aide at the Castle, as Ambassador D. K. Ose himself on telephone and also impersonated a number of other personalities including Members of Parliament to defraud his victims. He again posed as a friend of high ranked police officers as well as politicians. Some of the names he used in his operations were Osei Kwadwo and Nana Osei but when he was arrested by the police he gave his name as Victor Osei Sarfo. Osei is said to have preyed on individuals and police officers, convincing them he could help them secure promotion in their various places of work as well as secure visas for them to travel outside the country especially to the United States of America (USA). Four mobile phones, two of which he used in his activities as belonging to Ambassador Osei and ACP Oduro were retrieved from him when he was arrested. A number of his victims had been showing up at the Asokwa Police to lodge complaints against him since he was arrested last Thursday. Police in Accra had demanded for his transfer to Accra to assist in investigations in similar cases involving him. The Crime Officer in charge of the Asokwa District of Police in Kumasi, ASP David K. Gyabaa, told the Daily Graphic that preliminary investigations had revealed that the suspect was an ex-convict who was jailed for 10 years. He was also said to have jumped bail while facing trial in a court of law and was being sought for adding that investigations had revealed that the suspect had a serious criminal record. ASP Gyabaa said the suspect was arrested after he attempted to defraud a police officer at the Asokwa Division of Police. He said police officers at Asokwa had known Osei who was also known as “Boga” as a self styled informant who had given information to the police on numerous occasions leading to the arrest of criminals. He said it was through such activities that the suspect came into contact with one of the officers at the Asokwa Police station whom he assured that he was a friend of ACP Oduro and that he could speak to him on his behalf for him to facilitate promotion for him. He said the suspect later pretended to be ACP Oduro and called the victim with one of his four mobile phones, telling him the victim that Osei had discussed his case with him, and that he was discussing the issue with Police Commissioner Adu Gyimah. He later asked the victim to give GH¢150 to Osei for onward transmission to him to facilitate the promotion. ASP Gyabaa said at another time, the suspect called the victim again under the name of ACP Oduro and informed him that Osei had given him the money to work on the promotion. He said the suspect after that incident called the victim and told him he had already given the money to ACP Oduro on his behalf so he should hurriedly arrange to get him the money. The police officer said the victim suspected Osei to be a fraudster and thus discussed it with his senior officers who agreed for them to call ACP Oduro directly on the purported telephone number he had used to call him. When they did the police officers detected that, the voice on the other side was not that of ACP Oduro. Hence they arranged with the victim to raise the GH¢150, recorded all the serial numbers on the notes and gave it to the victim for onward transmission at the Ultimate Drinking Spot near the Asokwa police station where the suspect had agreed to meet with the victim to collect the money on Thursday August 14, 2008. The Police officers laid ambush and picked him at about 7pm on that day when he showed up to collect the money. ASP Gyabaa said a number of complainants started showing up after his arrest to lodge complaints of fraud against him. He said the Police called Ambassador Osei to find out his relationship with the suspect and Ambassador Osei denied categorically ever knowing the suspect. He said Ambassador Osei informed them that he had received information that someone had been going round posing as his son to defraud a number of people. The police officer said complaints received on the suspect as of now includes a GH¢450 he had allegedly collected from a woman to ensure that her daughter was enlisted in the Ghana Armed Forces for which he had given the woman a prospectus indicating that the girl was about to be enlisted. Again, there has been a complaint from a youngman whom the suspect collected GH¢200 to assist him enlist in the Customs Excise and Preventive Service (CEPS). Another one was from two nurses at the Atasemanso Hospital, whom he had allegedly collected GH¢1500 and GH¢2900 respectively to assist them secure visas to travel to the USA. There were also three nurses whom he allegedly collected GH¢4400 and a doctor also at the Atasemanso Hospital, whom he duped GH¢3000 to help secure USA visas for some members in his household to enable them travel to the USA. Yet another one was a man from whom he collected GH¢400 to help secure a USA visa for him. ASP Gyabaa said the victims cut across and described him as a confident trickster, fraudster, slippery, intelligent and a radical who had the phone numbers of many supposedly big men in society on his phones and could imitate their voice on telephone. He said the suspect had in some instances introduced himself to his victims as a “commando” in the PNDC regime who was trained in Cuba. The suspect had since been put before court on charges of impersonation, defrauding by false pretences and extortion and remanded into prison custody while police were conducting further investigations on him.

Barman testifies against Loving Cee. In fraud case

A prosecution witness in the case involving William Des Bordes a.k.a. Loving Cee, a Kumasi based radio presenter who is facing trial for defrauding by false pretences has told the Ashanti New Town Circuit Court that, the accused physically attacked the hotel manager by pushing her off when she demanded that the accused settled all his bills before leaving the hotel premises on the day he was checking out.
Gyasi Muller, a bar man at the Cedar Crescent Hotel who was testifying when the case came up for hearing on Monday August 18, 2008 said that the accused was checking out of the hotel on June 19, 2008 when the incident happened.
He said the accused arrived at the hotel premises in the company of a friend who was driving a pick-up vehicle in which they packed the accused’s personal belongings.
He said the manager of the hotel; Ruth Naa Bekoe demanded payment after the accused had appended his signature to his bills.
He said he was at the bar when he heard exchanges between the manager and the accused over the unpaid bills since the bar was close to the reception.
He said he went to the reception and heard the accused saying that the hotel manager would hear from him later since his mother’s house was nearby and close to the hotel and that there was no way that he would abscond.
He said the accused retorted that the hotel would hear accordingly from him but said the manager also replied that she did not know the accused in person and since he checked in as an individual at the hotel, he needed to settle all his bills before he moved out of the hotel.
The witness said the accused then moved towards the car park and the hotel manager followed suit but said the accused pushed the hotel manager away and threatened to beat her up.
He said the accused then zoomed out of the hotel premises in his car and after that, the hotel staff tried to prevent the friend of the accused from also driving off with the pick-up, in which the accused’s personal belongings had been packed into.
The witness said the friend of the accused forcibly screeched the car out of the hotel premises causing a stone to roll from the tyres of the car to hit an eight-month-old daughter of the hotel manager, resulting in a cut on the cheek of the little girl.
During cross examination, counsel for the accused wanted to know how long the witness had worked at the hotel to which the witness answered he has worked there for two years.
Counsel put it to the witness that he only worked at the bar and was not the one who determined the bills of customers at the hotel.
The counsel also said that the accused had been civil in all his dealings at the hotel and that he never said the hotel manager would hear from him later on the day he was checking out of the hotel.
Counsel said the accused was rather challenging the manager that a quantum of the payments he had made at the hotel had not been deducted from his bills.
He said the accused never pushed the hotel manager and also never said that his mother’s house was nearby and that he would not abscond and that they would hear from him later.
The case was adjourned to September 5, 2008.
William Des Bordes a.k.a. Loving Cee is in court answering a charge of defrauding by false pretences after he lodged at the Cedar Crescent Hotel in Danyame, Kumasi between December and June 2008 with his wife and two children. He is said to have piled up a substantial bill for the six months stay at the hotel, deceived the hotel management and paid part of his bills leaving him with part. He has pleaded not guilty to the charge.
On his first appearance in court, he was remanded into one week prison custody by the Ashanti New Town Circuit Court.
He however spent only one night in prison following an appeal filed by his lawyers at the High Court to secure bail for him the following day.

Cocaine: Man, 34, Under Guard At Hospital

A 24-hour police guard has been placed on a 34-year-old man at the Komfo Anokye Teaching Hospital (KATH) in Kumasi, where 73 thumb-size pellets of a whitish substance suspected to be cocaine were removed from his stomach.

Mohammed Joojo Gyimah, a native of Achiase in the Kwabre District of the Ashanti Region and a labourer in Barcelona, Spain, reported at KATH with stomach pains after swallowing the pellets.

Doctors on duty quickly alerted the police before performing surgery on him to remove the pellets when he was rushed there.

All the pellets have since been removed and he is still on admission. It was detected that two of the substances burst in his stomach, which caused the discomfort.

The suspect reportedly told the police that he attempted to smuggle the substance to Barcelona in Spain but had to abort his plans upon arriving at the Kotoka International Airport, since he experienced severe stomach upset and felt dizzy.

He said he came to Ghana from Spain about five months ago and that a lady friend of his in Spain asked him to send the substance along on his return.

He said he met one Asare, a native of the Brong Ahafo Region, at a place near the Prempeh College in Kumasi where the said Asare supplied him with the substance to be taken to Barcelona for a fee of 2000 euros, while his airfare was taken care of.

He said Asare accompanied him to Accra and on their way to the airport, they stopped somewhere for him to swallow the substances but when he arrived at the precincts of the airport, he experienced severe stomach upset and felt dizzy so he aborted the journey and quickly returned to Kumasi in an attempt to get the pellets removed.

He said he was not successful in getting someone to help him until he collapsed and was rushed to KATH by members of his household.

The Ashanti Regional Police Commander, DCOP Kwaku Ayesu Opare-Addo, who confirmed the story, said the Drug Law Enforcement Unit of the police received the information about the incident on Wednesday, August 13, 2008 and quickly rushed to the hospital.

He said when they arrived, the suspect was in critical condition under observation at the Intensive Care Unit.

He said a 24-hour guard was placed on the premises of the hospital until all the pellets were removed the following day.

Inculcate reading habit in children

Newly appointed Kumasi Metropolitan Director of Education, Mrs Gladys Amaning says her vision was to promote reading skills at the basic level of education in Kumasi.
In an interview with the Daily Graphic Mrs Amaning said improving reading at the primary level was very instrumental in enabling pupils to have a grasp over the English language.
“I believe if we are able to inculcate reading in the children at their preliminary stages, then we stand the chance of making them excel in all fields of their endeavour”.
Mrs Amaning spoke to the Daily Graphic on her vision as a new Kumasi Metropolitan Director of Education. She assumed office in June 2008.
There have been calls for intensified supervisory activities in schools, so as to eliminate all impediments that contribute to falling standards.
A new methodology for the teaching and learning of the English language has been launched by the International English Language Teaching Commission. The commission seeks to replace the present methodology which it considers cumbersome and full of technicalities.

The falling standards in the English language and education in general have been attributed to the inability of students to express themselves in simple English and understand examination questions posed.
Mrs Amaning said teachers’ inability to instruct properly in the language makes the situation even more alarming.
“For a start, we are beginning cluster based training for all teachers in September and I know for sure that in a year’s time we would start seeing results”, she said.

Mrs Amaning who started her teaching career in 1976 after completing a Diploma in Home Economics at the Specialist Training College in Winneba, now University of Education Winneba (UEW) said it had always been her conviction to help improve upon reading skills of students thus leading to an improved spoken and written English language.
She said science students for instance hold the conviction that they needed to be excused a bit when it came to English language.
This is a wrong perception since all students need to be able to express themselves in simple English and understand examination questions posed, she said.
Mrs Amaning’s first posting in her teaching career started at the Bagabaga Training College in Tamale where she spent a year and later moved to the Ashanti region.
She thought as a home economics tutor at the Atwimaman Secondary School (now Afua Kobi Senior High) from 1977 to 1980 and at the Technology Sec School from 1980 to 1992.
She was promoted to the position of an Assistant Director in Ghana Education Service (GES) and posted to the Ashanti regional office as a Home Economics Organiser where she served from 1992 to 1994.
She went back to school to obtain a Bachelor in Home Economics in 1997 and returned to the Ashanti regional education inspectorate division where she claimed she realised a falling standard of education at the basic school level.
“I saw there was a great challenge at the basic school level. Supervision was very low and it was as if no one cared about the falling standards”, she said.
She said she told the then Ashanti Regional Director of Education that she wanted to be posted to the basic level to go and help.
“At that point many people did not understand why I wanted to move from the regional office to the basic level but I embraced myself and was posted to the State Experimental School”.
“My vision was to find out the reason for the falling standards and I saw it was because of poor supervision. The students could not read so I decided to create a library on campus and asked each student to buy a story book “.
It wasn’t easy at that time I faced a lot of opposition and there was even an article in The Pioneer newspaper with allegations that I was squandering monies at the State Experimental School so I was invited by the BNI.
Mrs Amaning said she managed to move on with her vision and within one term, a student had read about 100 story books. “The children became interested in reading and within the eight years that I spent at State Experimental, standards improved tremendously at the school”, she said
She continued her education at the University of Cape Coast (UCC) where she pursued a Masters in Education Administration and completed in 2006. She was then posted to the Sekyere West in Ashanti as a District Director of Education, becoming the first basic school head to rise directly to the position of a Director.
She continued her campaign of promoting reading there and went to London to learn about methodologies in teaching English language at the basic level.
From there she came back to Mampong, formed a team of teachers to start teaching kindergarten pupils on how to read based on the experiences she had in London.
“I was shocked to see how the KG pupils were attacking words when we introduced the methodology to them”.
It was whiles serving at Mampong that she was transferred to Kumasi as Metro Director. Mrs Amaning, 56, is a native of New Tafo in the Eastern region and is married with six children.

"Wee" dealer arrested

The police in Kumasi have busted a suspected Indian hemp “wee” woman dealer who was conveying a large quantity of the stuff from Kumasi to Bolgatanga in the Upper East region.
The woman, Joyce Nketia was apprehended at the Bolga Lorry station at Krofrom on Monday in possession of the dried leaves suspected to be “wee”.
The stuff were in three separate travelling bags.
The suspect was arrested upon a tip off to the Tafo police that someone was trying to transport Indian hemp to Bolgatanga.
The police proceeded to the Bolga Lorry station at Krofrom and saw three travelling bags on the ground.
When the police asked for the owner, Joyce Nketia owned up and on interrogation as to the contents, she stated that the bags were given to her by one Akwasi of Kwadaso to be taken to Bolgatanga.
Inspector Yusif Mohammed Tanko of the Ashanti Regional Police Public Relations Unit said she was subsequently arrested for investigations and when the three bags were forcibly opened, they were found to contain quantities of dried leaves suspected to be cannabis.
He said the suspect later took police to a wooden kiosk at Kwadaso where she claimed the supplier lived but Akwasi was nowhere to be found.
The Police Inspector said the exhibits would be sent to the Police Forensic Laboratory for analytical examination.

Lover butchers girlfriend in ksi

A KUMASI-based carpenter who could not bear the pain of losing his lover to another man is alleged to have butchered the woman with a machete at Fante New Town in Kumasi. A few weeks before the gruesome murder, the deceased, Sabina Amoh, 23 and a seamstress was said to have separated from the boyfriend, whose name was given as Kofi Saul Campbell, and the deceased’s pastor was intervening for her to give the boyfriend a second chance. However, when Sabina heard a knock on her door this morning (Friday) and opened the door to find Kofi, little did she know that the he had hatched a plan to kill her. Relations of Sabina told the Daily Graphic that the deceased responded to Kofi’s call after the latter had knocked on her door at about 5am and the two moved out of the house. Moments later, Sabina’s body was discovered lying nearby a refuse dump, close to the house bleeding profusely. She had sustained deep machete wounds on both ears and cheek and was lying in a pool of blood with little life in her. She was rushed to the Komfo Anokye Teaching Hospital (KATH) where she was pronounced dead. The body had since been deposited at the mortuary and the matter reported to the police. Campbell who was said to be a coffin maker at Fante New Town near the Labour offices where the incident happened was yet to be apprehended by the police for questioning.
He is said to be a native of Enyan Manmu whilst the deceased was also a native of Mankessim, all in the Central region.
Lydia Amoh, a senior sister to the deceased, said the two had been going out for the last two years and coexisted happily until a misunderstanding erupted between them recently. She said the matter was however sent before Sabina’s pastor who was trying to solve the issue amicably.

Loving Cee returns from prison to yob

Kumasi radio presenter, Loving Cee, could not have told a bigger lie when he denied on various radio stations last week that he had never been to prison.
Indeed, according to prison sources, Loving Cee a.k.a. Willian des Bordes, was taken to Kumasi Central Prison on Wednesday July 16, 2008 to begin a one week remand prison term slapped on him by an Ashanti New Town Circuit Court when he made his first appearance on a fraud charge.
Loving Cee however spent only one night in prison following an appeal filed by his lawyers at the High Court to secure bail for him the following day.
When he eventually resurfaced in court last week Wednesday, Loving Cee was to answer a charge of defrauding by false pretences after he lodged at the Cedar Crescent Hotel in Danyame, Kumasi between December and June 2008 with his wife and two children. He is said to have piled up a substantial bill for the six months stay at the hotel, deceived the hotel management and paid part of his bills leaving him with GH¢5940. He is also alleged to have engaged the hotel manager, Ruth Naa Bekoe, in a row over his unpaid bills on the day he was checking out of the hotel. The matter was reported to the police and subsequently sent to court. He has pleaded not guilty to the charge.
The prosecution, led by Inspector Margaret Anhwere Mensah told the court presided over by Mr Owusu Afriyie that the accused (William Des Bordes) enjoyed various services at the hotel including laundry, food and drinks.
Giving evidence in court Ruth Naa Bekoe, the hotel manager said that the accused checked in at the hotel on December 25, 2008 and stayed there with his wife and two children (boys). The witness said even though the hotel rooms at Cedar Crescent went for GH¢70 and GH¢65 respectively per day, she agreed to give the room to the accused at a discounted rate of GH¢55 to which the accused made a deposit of GH¢100 with the explanation that he was staying for three nights. She said the accused did not leave the hotel when the three nights elapsed and continued to stay there till January 20, 2008 piling up a bill of GH¢2017.20 which included food and drinks as well as accommodation. The witness said she however asked the accused to pay just GH¢2000 to offset all his indebtedness as of that time to which the accused paid. However, the witness said the accused did not check out of the hotel and continued to stay there with the explanation that he had been detailed by Deutsche Welle (DW) Radio to cover the 2008 African Cup of Nations, hence he would stay for a while.
The accused further told the hotel management that DW Radio would be paying his bills so they should give him some time to take the money from them for onward payment.
The witness said she told the accused that, he checked in as an individual and that the hotel did not have any contract with DW Radio or the accused person’s current employers, Angel FM, so he should be paying his bills himself.
She said Des Bordes later paid GH¢500 and GH¢400 respectively on separate days in February to offset part of his indebtedness but he continued to stay at the hotel. She said the accused did not pay any money to the hotel from then on until May 10, 2008 when he paid GH¢1000 and June 3, 2008 when he paid GH¢500.
Prior to that, she said anytime they demanded money from him, he requested that one of the hotel staff should go with him to the office or to town for him to get money for them but on all occasions the hotel staff returned to the hotel without any money.
She said the accused on all the occasions abandoned the person he went with to town and the person had to find his way back to the hotel without the money. The witness said at the end of the month of May, she told the accused that she had received a contract to rent out all the rooms at the hotel and that the people who had rented it would be checking in on June 21, 2008 so she would want the accused to vacate his room by then. She said the accused subsequently asked her to prepare his bills for him so as to enable him settle it before he left to which she did and presented him with a bill of GH¢6940 as of June 18, 2008 to which the accused accepted and put his signature against the bill. The witness said the following day on June 19, 2008 the accused came to the hotel with a pick up and a friend and started packing his stuff into the car. She claimed she went to enquire about the payment of the bill and the accused responded that he would sort it out later but she claimed she refused to accept that explanation saying she needed to collect the money since the accused checked in at the hotel as an individual and needed to settle all his debts before he moved out. She said the exchanges resulted in a row and the friend of the accused moved the pickup out of the hotel premises, screeching in a manner that caused a stone to hit and injure an eight-month-old daughter of the witness. The witness said the matter was reported to Ridge Police Station and a medical form was issued for the little girl to be taken to hospital.
She said the matter was later transferred to the Central Police station where the accused did not accept the bill presented to him and felt he was being cheated. She stated that the police commander at the Central Police Station tried to resolve the matter and asked that if the accused claimed he did not accept the bill, then he should go back to the hotel and sit down with them and go through the bill to iron out the rough edges. She said the accused later paid GH¢1000 to the police as part of his indebtedness and boycotted all other meetings to resolve the matter until the matter came to court. Last Wednesday (August 6, 2008) when the matter was called in court the manager of the hotel, Ms Ruth Naa Bekoe who had earlier given evidence was cross examined by counsel for the accused, Mr Kwabena Poku Mensah. The counsel contended that the witness did not provide receipts for all payments made in respect of the accused's stay at the hotel. But the witness disagreed with him and said receipts were issued. The witness said she was waiting for the accused to make full payment of his indebtedness so as to issue him with a VAT receipt. Counsel: Are you aware he is an employee of Deutsche Welle (DW) and that DW was responsible for paying his bills. Witness: No. He did not tell us at the beginning that DW was responsible for his bills. He came in as an individual and that it was only when we demanded payment from him that he told us that he would take the money from DW and give it to us. The counsel contended that that the witness knew that the accused was a radio presenter and had worked with DW Radio, hence she threatened to tarnish his image. The counsel maintained that the witness asked the accused to pack his belongings out of the hotel and that the accused did not go out on his own volition but the witness disagreed with the counsel and said she gave the accused three weeks’ notice to move out. The prosecution said it has three more witnesses to call. The case was adjourned to August 18, 2008.
Des Bordes recently returned from Germany where he worked with Deutshe Welle (DW) Radio for five years. He has since been signed on to work with Angel FM in Kumasi after his work contract with DW Radio expired and was not renewed for him and subsequently asked to move to his homeland Ghana.
Meanwhile information gathered by Graphic Showbiz indicates that last Tuesday (August 5, 2008) des Bordes, in the middle of his programme rushed out of the studio of Angel FM with a mixer and crushed it on the ground to the surprise of staff and onlookers including drivers and passengers who were driving past the front of the radio station.
The cause of des Bordes’ action was not clear but it was learnt that technicians at the station had just done a new setup at the studio with the mixer.
Instead of calling for a technical assistance when he tried to use the mixer and it was not working for him, he got angry and removed the mixer from the studio and crushed it outside on the car park.
When contacted, officials of Angel FM refused to comment on the incident.