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Assistant Superintendent of Police (ASP) Augustus Nkrumah says his description of Daniel Asiedu as a ‘terrible guy’ is not an opinion.

At the High Court, ASP Nkrumah said per the statements given by Daniel Asiedu and Vincent Bossu, both accused persons in the J. B Danquah Adu murder case, the accused persons stated that they were ‘thieves and they were going on stealing expedition.’.

According to the investigator, the accused persons graduated from thieves to armed robbers because of the offensive implements they possessed.

‘For an armed robber to have those offensive weapons indicated that he was capable of resisting anything in the commission of the crime so when the first accused person (Asiedu) had the chance of entering the deceased’s room, he ensured that whatever prevented him from robbing was eliminated.’

ASP Nkrumah said this while answering questions under cross examination administered by Mr Yaw Dankwa , defence counsel for the two accused persons.

He maintained that it was Asiedu who murdere
d the MP, adding that investigations and the admission of the accused person (Asiedu) in the commission of the crime and retrieval of offensive weapons and belongings pointed that it was Asiedu, who killed the MP.

Daniel Asiedu is being held for his alleged involvement in the murder of former Abuakwa North Member of Parliament , J. B Danquah Adu at his residence in the year 2016 at Shaishie, Accra.

Daniel Asiedu is being held for murder and robbery.

His accomplice, Vincent Bossu is being held for allegedly conspiring with Asiedu to rob.

They have pleaded not guilty before a seven-member jury.

The court presided over by Mrs Justice Lydia Osei Marfo has remanded the two accused persons into prison custody.

ASP Nkrumah, the eighth prosecution witness, said when the deceased put up resistance, ‘what first accused person (Asiedu) did was to stab him (the late MP) in the neck and chest about six times for the deceased to give up the ghost.’

The investigator told the court that it was incorrect for defence co
unsel to suggest to him that he formed an opinion that Asiedu murdered the MP on November 23, 2016, without conducting investigations.

The eighth prosecution witness said investigations at the time established that it was Asiedu who murdered the former MP.

The investigator admitted that he personally wrote his statement.

According to the investigator, his own statement was not tendered in evidence because he had not been asked to do so.

ASP Nkrumah denied that he was selective in his investigations.

He told the court that eleven statements, including caution statements, were taken from the accused persons.

The matter has been adjourned to March 11, 2024

Source: Ghana News Agency

Professor John Gartchie Gatsi, Dean of the School of Business Studies, University of Cape Coast (UCC), has made a strong case for the adoption of Islamic banking to spur economic growth.

He said the introduction of that banking system would diversify financial sources for developmental projects, create new jobs, promote transparency and accountability and ensure proper debt management.

Prof Gatsi, a Professor of Finance, was delivering his inaugural lecture at UCC on the theme: ‘Islamic banking options: Exploring an inclusive alternative or complement.’

The lecture focused on the need to adopt Islamic banking in Ghana to promote financial inclusion and freedom of choice of financial products and services.

It discussed the history of Islamic banking and how it differed from the conventional banking.

It further highlighted the various options available under Islamic banking and the unique governance structure and also projected Islamic bonds in comparison with conventional bonds.

Islamic banking, which i
s founded on Islamic principles, provides a system where lending and borrowing take place without interest and the proceeds from engagements are shared based on profit and loss sharing agreements.

Professor Gatsi said he was not arguing for conventional banking to be replaced with Islamic banking, but that it was important to complement the former with the latter to help reduce poverty, promote social justice, and mitigate debt burden.

He, therefore, called on the Bank of Ghana to create the necessary environment for the adoption of the new banking system and urged government to diversify its sources of funding for infrastructural projects.

The lecture was graced by many distinguished personalities including stalwarts of the opposition National Democratic Congress led by Prof Naana Jane Opoku Agyemang, the former running mate to former President John Dramani Mahama, traditional leaders as well as eminent members of the academic community.

Professor Gatsi observed that attempts to introduce the system sinc
e 2004 had failed and called for renewed efforts to establish it.

As a secular state with an enviable religious tolerance, he said he did not foresee any pushbacks like it happened in many African countries where the system had been introduced.

Professor Gatsi argued that Islamic banking would significantly reduce the debt burden on government because unlike the conventional financial system, government would not start paying coupons on bonds until the project was completed.

He identified debt servicing arrangement under the conventional financial system as expensive and difficult to honour.

‘Under Islamic Banking, debt management is such that when capital is acquired, on the other side, you see the asset that is created by the capital.

‘But we have found ourselves in a situation where we borrow so much but we cannot account for so much in terms of the assets that have been created by the debts that have been procured,’ he said.

‘…that is the reason why we are seeing so many uncompleted projects we cann
ot complete because of the way we manage debt,’ he added.

He observed that in the Middle East and North African (MENA) countries where Islamic banking operated, there was an average debt to GDP ratio of 40 per cent, stressing the need to adopt the system.

Prof Gatsi indicated further that Islamic banking was well aligned with the tenets of joint venture and public-private partnership (PPP) and would encourage the execution of more developmental projects.

‘We have laid the foundation by attempting some activities regarding PPP and that will help foster the introduction of Islamic banking, especially Islamic bond to finance infrastructure,’ he advised.

He added that the adoption of Islamic banking would add its portfolio of financial products and services to conventional banking services to promote inclusion.

‘There are many people who do not engage in banking activities; some because of their religion, some because there are no attractive products in the conventional banking system.

‘So, when you introdu
ce Islamic banking, that will provide alternative for inclusion and promote social justice,’ he said.

In line with Islamic principles, the banking system prohibited the funding of certain items and activities such as alcoholic beverages and gambling, he said.

Professor Gasti argued further that Islamic banking system protected the environment such that its principles did not allow it to finance activities which destroyed the environment.

Similarly, he said, it would largely contribute to the achievement of the Sustainable Development Goals.

Source: Ghana News Agency

The Bible Society of Ghana (BSG) will on Sunday, March 10, launch a new version of the Bible in Ho.

The Bible, known as Diglot Bible (bilingual), comprises both the Ewe and English languages.

Mr Joseph Ireland, the Regional Manager of BSG, who disclosed this to the Ghana News Agency in Ho, said the launch would take place at the Evangelical Presbyterian Church (EPCG) Dela Cathedral at Ho Kpodzi.

Right Rev. Dr. Lt. Col. Bliss Divine Agbeko (Rtd), Moderator of the General Assembly of the EPCG, would be the main speaker at the event whilst Dr Archibald Letsa, the Volta Regional Minister, is the Special Guest.

Mr Ireland said the BSG was mandated to make the Bible available, accessible and affordable to all manner of people irrespective of language.

He noted that the Diglot Bible was easy for cross referencing and would also ease the inconvenience of carrying both English and Ewe Bibles at the same time.

The Bible was easy to use as the Ewe version of every chapter followed immediately the English one.

He
expressed the hope that the new Bible would attract a large patronage.

Source: Ghana News Agency

Benjamin Obeng Antwi, Public Relations lead for the Electricity Company of Ghana in the Volta Region, has been honoured by the Ghana Journalist Association (GJA).

The honour comes as he exits the Region on transfer to the Ashanti Region, and was extolled for exceptional delivery of his role.

Mr. Antwi took charge in the Region in February 2019, and worked to enhance public engagements of the Company.

The citation was presented on the behalf of the Association by Mr. Lambert Atsivor the Administrator, and in the presence of Madam Christiana Jatoe-Kaleo, the General Manager of the ECG in charge of Volta and Oti Regions.

‘The Volta/Oti Regional Chapter of the Ghana Journalists Association presents to you this citation in recognition of your exemplary and dedicated service as the Public Relations Officer of the ECG in the Volta Region.

‘The Association and the entire media fraternity in both Volta and Oti Regions acknowledge and appreciate your professionalism and collaboration, which has significantly enha
nced the relationship between the media and the ECG-Volta,’ the citation, signed by Emmanuel Agbaxode, the GJA-Volta Chairman, said.

Mr Antwi, receiving the honour, greatly appreciated the role of the media in Volta in shaping the growth of the Region.

He thanked the journalists association for the spirited support to the Company, especially in promoting its outlook as the hub of excellence.

‘When you come to the Volta Region as a PR person, before you excel, you need the media fraternity – the GJA. I’ve never seen media supporting the ECG like the way you do in the Volta Region, such that there are times that for some of the issues, I even stay back and they go ahead and communicate it for me because they understand the issues.

‘And so if we don’t face much negative press in the Region, it’s because of the support they have offered to me and I am very grateful,’ the PRO said.

The PRO further attested to extra efforts by the media in the Region to project the company, and commended the General Manager fo
r the Region for making ‘a conscious effort’ to improve media relations further.

The General Manager, on her part, was hopeful the relationship would continue, and that the successor would build more upon the relationship and the successes.

Ms. Eunice Tweneboah-Kodua takes over as the new PRO.

Source: Ghana News Agency

The General Agriculture Workers Union (GAWU) has said the reduction of rice imports in Ghana as stated by President Nana Addo Dankwa Akuffo Addo in the State of the Nation’s Address, is due to smuggling.

Mr Edward Kareweh, the General Secretary of GAWU, in an interview with the Ghana News Agency (GNA), in reaction to the President’s State of the Nation Address (SONA), said the reduction did not mean that there was an abundance of local rice being produced in the country.

Mr Kareweh said the reduction was rather due to an influx of smuggled rice into the country, saying in 2023, most of the local farmers could not sell their produce due to the foreign rice that had penetrated the market.

He said, ‘When we say rice importation levels have come down, it’s not suggesting that we have produced enough; there has been so much illegal importation of rice into this country.’

President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo, during the SONA, said that between 2021 and 2023, rice imports fell by some 45 per cent.

He had stat
ed that in 2021, rice imports amounted to 805, 000 metric tonnes, but reduced to 650,000 in 2022 and a further reduction to 440,000 metric tonnes in 2023.’

The President had assured Ghanaians that this healthy trajectory would continue until the country achieved full self-sufficiency in rice production.

Source: Ghana News Agency

First Lady Rebecca Akufo-Addo has unveiled the logo for the 50th?anniversary celebration of the SOS Children’s Villages in Ghana.?

Mrs Akufo-Addo, who is a patron of the institution, said that over the past 50 years, the SOS Children’s Villages had been a beacon of hope, compassion, and transformation in the lives of countless children in need of care and protection.

She acknowledged that the institution’s programme initiatives had left an indelible footprint on the landscape of child welfare, as it worked to ensure that ‘No Child Grows Up Alone’.

Mrs Akufo-Addo said a reflection on the work and impact of the Villages showed a legacy of quality childcare that had shaped the destinies of children in need, who found solace and a sense of belonging within the warm embrace of the SOS families in Tema, Asiakwa, Kumasi, and Tamale.

She commended SOS for not only concentrating on the Villages alone but also rolling out various child protection and community intervention programmes, geared towards strengthening
families to provide better care and support the holistic development of children.

The First Lady said such programmes were tailored to meet seven strategic goals of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), with a focus on goals five, three, four, eight, 10, and 17, aimed at contributing towards Ghana’s development agenda.

She said with barely six years to meet the Agenda 2030 and the realisation of the SDGs, many stakeholders had expressed worry about the existing vast development gap in meeting them and called for coordinated stakeholder partnership and coherence in achieving these targets.

Mrs Akufo-Addo called on benevolent institutions, businesses, and individuals to join hands with SOS Children’s Villages in Ghana in achieving its mission and reaching out to many more children in need.

This, she said, would help to provide every Ghanaian child with an opportunity to grow up in a loving and supportive environment and contribute to the achievement of the SDGs.

Mr Alexander Mar Kekula, the National Di
rector of SOS Children’s Villages in Ghana, presenting the concept of the 50th-anniversary?logo, announced the theme for the celebration as: ‘SOS Children’s Villages, celebrating 50 years of transforming lives in Ghana.’

Mr Kekula said the logo comprised the map of Ghana, a cyan ribbon, and an embedded 50th, explaining that the map symbolised the institution’s strong connection and commitment to the country.

He said SOS was an integral part of the country’s landscape, playing a significant role in transforming the lives of children, young people, families facing difficult situations, and communities.

Also, the cyan ribbon encircling the map represented unity, protection, and support, adding that it signified the stability of care provided by the villages to the children in need of care and protection, while the embedded 50th also signified the duration or period year of the celebration.

Mr Nathan Kwabena Anokye Adisi, popularly known as ‘Bola Ray,’ the SOS brand ambassador, also commended the Villages for
holding on to their promise to ensure that every child belonged to a family and was embraced with love and care.

Mr Adisi said SOS had initiated several successful programmes in the past and presently and called on stakeholders to look into the future with hope and determination, to work towards making a difference in the lives of those in need.

Mr Yves Hanson-Nortey, the Member of Parliament for Tema Central, and an old student of SOS-Hermann Gmeiner International College, commended the school for instilling the spirit of service and integrity in them.

Activities to celebrate the 50th anniversary include floats across all programme areas, an open house for the association to interact with beneficiaries, a football competition between the Villages, coding for kids, and an awards and dinner night.

Source: Ghana News Agency