A 34-year-old farmer is in the custody of the Eastern Regional Police Command for allegedly killing a young man he suspected of sexually harassing his (farmer’s) niece.
The incident occurred when the farmer, Samuel Obeng Ofori, on his way to his farm in the morning, saw three brothers allegedly making frantic attempts to rape his niece.
Enraged by what she considered an attempted rape of the girl, who was on her way to school at the time, Ofori was said to have fired at the three, killing Frank Fordji Ajololo, one of the three men, on the spot.
The other two brothers were said to have taken to their heels.
According to the Eastern Regional Police Commander, DCOP Ransford Ninson, in the early morning of Tuesday, November 23, 2010, the relatives of Oforiwaa gave a crate of minerals to her to send to somebody in her school.
On her way to the school, the three brothers approached her and seized the crate of minerals after which they attempted to rape her.
In a bid to free herself from the grips of her captors, the girl screamed, which attracted some of the residents of the area to her rescue.
Incidentally, her uncle, Ofori, who was also on his way to his farm, arrived at the scene and saw the ensuing struggle between her niece and the three young men. He allegedly fired at them, killing Frank Ajololo in the process.
He was said to have later gone to the police station to report himself and is currently in police custody assisting in investigation.
The body of the deceased, Frank Ajololo, has been deposited at the morgue of the Suhum Government Hospital for autopsy.
Thursday, November 25, 2010
GUARD AGAINST SHODDY WORK (BACK PAGE, NOV 24, 2010)
YOUTH recruited under the Youth in Road Maintenance (YiRM) module of the National Youth Employment Programme (NYEP) have been advised not to allow themselves to be influenced by unscrupulous contractors to execute projects in shoddy ways.
The Deputy Eastern Regional Minister, Mr Baba Jamal, who made the call, stated that if they connived with unscrupulous contractors to do shoddy work, they would fail to justify the purpose for which they were employed under the scheme.
He was speaking at the end of a weekend training programme for 10 regional supervisors for the YiRM module of the NYEP at Koforidua.
The participants had undergone an intensive training in road maintenance at the Ghana Highway Authority Training Centre in Koforidua and were to supervise the youth engaged under the module to keep the roads across the country in good condition.
The deputy regional minister said the introduction of the YiRM module of the NYEP was aimed at not only creating employment for the youth but also to enable them to check poor execution of road construction projects by contractors across the country.
He indicated that the survival of every government depended on the success of youth employment programmes such as the NYEP.
He, therefore, urged the beneficiaries of the various modules to appreciate their recruitment into responsible positions to ensure the success of the programme.
Mr Jamal reminded the beneficiaries to guard against any other conduct that could cast a slur on the government, saying that “your failure to live up to expectation will give credence to the notion that you were appointed not on merit but on political lines”.
The Deputy National Co-ordinator of the NYEP, Alhaji Tapsoba Alhassan, said the recruitment of the youth under the module was not based on their political affiliation but on their merit and competence.
He appealed to the media to refrain from carrying out negative and unsubstantiated publications about the NYEP and the personnel working for the programme, saying that, “you should ensure fair reportage by cross-checking and obtaining authentic information before making them public”.
The Deputy Eastern Regional Minister, Mr Baba Jamal, who made the call, stated that if they connived with unscrupulous contractors to do shoddy work, they would fail to justify the purpose for which they were employed under the scheme.
He was speaking at the end of a weekend training programme for 10 regional supervisors for the YiRM module of the NYEP at Koforidua.
The participants had undergone an intensive training in road maintenance at the Ghana Highway Authority Training Centre in Koforidua and were to supervise the youth engaged under the module to keep the roads across the country in good condition.
The deputy regional minister said the introduction of the YiRM module of the NYEP was aimed at not only creating employment for the youth but also to enable them to check poor execution of road construction projects by contractors across the country.
He indicated that the survival of every government depended on the success of youth employment programmes such as the NYEP.
He, therefore, urged the beneficiaries of the various modules to appreciate their recruitment into responsible positions to ensure the success of the programme.
Mr Jamal reminded the beneficiaries to guard against any other conduct that could cast a slur on the government, saying that “your failure to live up to expectation will give credence to the notion that you were appointed not on merit but on political lines”.
The Deputy National Co-ordinator of the NYEP, Alhaji Tapsoba Alhassan, said the recruitment of the youth under the module was not based on their political affiliation but on their merit and competence.
He appealed to the media to refrain from carrying out negative and unsubstantiated publications about the NYEP and the personnel working for the programme, saying that, “you should ensure fair reportage by cross-checking and obtaining authentic information before making them public”.
TAKE ADVANTAGE OF OIL AND GAS — CJ urges students (PAGE 3, NOV 22, 2010)
THE Chief Justice, Mrs Justice Georgina T. Wood, has called on universities and other tertiary institutions to design courses that will equip students with knowledge and employable skills in the oil and gas industry.
That, she said, would enable Ghanaian students to take advantage of the numerous employment opportunities offered by the exploitation of oil and gas in the country.
“It is time tertiary education considered positioning itself to take opportunities that are uncovered on a daily basis so that Ghanaians can take their destiny into their own hands, especially in the field of oil,” she stated.
The Chief Justice made the call in a speech read on her behalf by Mr Justice Paul Baffoe Bonnie, a Justice of the Supreme Court, at the sixth convocation of the All Nations University College (ANUC) in Koforidua on Saturday.
The event, at which 281 students who pursued various programmes at the university graduated, coincided with the matriculation of 850 students into the institution.
“History shows that countries can only thrive better when they invest in their people and infrastructure, when they promote multiple export industries, develop a skilled workforce and create space for small and medium-sized businesses that create jobs,” Mrs Wood said.
The Chief Justice said the country was currently battling with challenges of development, in spite of the fact that various governments and organisations had, over the years, put in place different policies and projects to improve the quality of education, reduce poverty and speed up the rate of development.
“However, despite these wonderful policies and projects, the country is only creeping out of high rate of unemployment, high rate of school drop-outs, increasing population, high rural-urban drift, among other numerous socio-economic challenges,” Mrs Wood stated.
She expressed delight that in spite of those challenges, the country had, over the years, witnessed an increase in the number of private universities which supported the few overcrowded and overstretched public universities in the country.
“It is invigorating that the religious bodies that pioneered education in Ghana have vigorously joined that crusade of university education and equally taken the challenge to assist the educational sector in bringing up graduates who are instilled with decent moral behaviour.
“The expectations are that these fresh graduates will come up with fresh and innovative ideas to strengthen the inefficient, ill-equipped, grossly underpaid, demoralised, unmotivated and unresponsive civil and public service that has bedevilled all African countries, including Ghana,” the Chief Justice stated.
In an address read on his behalf, the Minister of Education, Mr Alex Tettey-Enyo, commended the role being played by private universities to develop tertiary education in the country.
“While the government welcomes private participation in tertiary education as a solution to improving access, if we are to derive benefits from education, we must ensure that curriculum is relevant and quality is high,” he said.
He commended private institutions providing tertiary education but cautioned that “we must be able to increase access without overcrowding classrooms and improve quality with better learning resources without making education unaffordable”.
The Provost of the College of Science of the Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology (KNUST), Professor R. K. Nkum, advised the graduates to be prepared to learn from the experiences of others they would meet on the job market to enable them to excel in their chosen careers.
Earlier in his welcoming address, the President of the ANUC, Dr Samuel H. Donkor, had said the university would partner major research institutions and universities, both local and international, for research collaboration to make the ANUC a centre of excellence in research and innovation.
That, she said, would enable Ghanaian students to take advantage of the numerous employment opportunities offered by the exploitation of oil and gas in the country.
“It is time tertiary education considered positioning itself to take opportunities that are uncovered on a daily basis so that Ghanaians can take their destiny into their own hands, especially in the field of oil,” she stated.
The Chief Justice made the call in a speech read on her behalf by Mr Justice Paul Baffoe Bonnie, a Justice of the Supreme Court, at the sixth convocation of the All Nations University College (ANUC) in Koforidua on Saturday.
The event, at which 281 students who pursued various programmes at the university graduated, coincided with the matriculation of 850 students into the institution.
“History shows that countries can only thrive better when they invest in their people and infrastructure, when they promote multiple export industries, develop a skilled workforce and create space for small and medium-sized businesses that create jobs,” Mrs Wood said.
The Chief Justice said the country was currently battling with challenges of development, in spite of the fact that various governments and organisations had, over the years, put in place different policies and projects to improve the quality of education, reduce poverty and speed up the rate of development.
“However, despite these wonderful policies and projects, the country is only creeping out of high rate of unemployment, high rate of school drop-outs, increasing population, high rural-urban drift, among other numerous socio-economic challenges,” Mrs Wood stated.
She expressed delight that in spite of those challenges, the country had, over the years, witnessed an increase in the number of private universities which supported the few overcrowded and overstretched public universities in the country.
“It is invigorating that the religious bodies that pioneered education in Ghana have vigorously joined that crusade of university education and equally taken the challenge to assist the educational sector in bringing up graduates who are instilled with decent moral behaviour.
“The expectations are that these fresh graduates will come up with fresh and innovative ideas to strengthen the inefficient, ill-equipped, grossly underpaid, demoralised, unmotivated and unresponsive civil and public service that has bedevilled all African countries, including Ghana,” the Chief Justice stated.
In an address read on his behalf, the Minister of Education, Mr Alex Tettey-Enyo, commended the role being played by private universities to develop tertiary education in the country.
“While the government welcomes private participation in tertiary education as a solution to improving access, if we are to derive benefits from education, we must ensure that curriculum is relevant and quality is high,” he said.
He commended private institutions providing tertiary education but cautioned that “we must be able to increase access without overcrowding classrooms and improve quality with better learning resources without making education unaffordable”.
The Provost of the College of Science of the Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology (KNUST), Professor R. K. Nkum, advised the graduates to be prepared to learn from the experiences of others they would meet on the job market to enable them to excel in their chosen careers.
Earlier in his welcoming address, the President of the ANUC, Dr Samuel H. Donkor, had said the university would partner major research institutions and universities, both local and international, for research collaboration to make the ANUC a centre of excellence in research and innovation.
Thursday, November 18, 2010
PRESBY UNIVERSITY COLLEGE ADMITS 500 (BACK PAGE, NOV 17, 2010)
THE Presbyterian University College (PUC) last Saturday admitted 500 students at its eighth matriculation at Abetifi in the Eastern Region to pursue various programmes at the institution’s four campuses.
The students will be pursuing their studies at the Okwahu (Abetifi), Asante-Akyem (Agogo), Akropong-Akuapem and Tema campuses of the university.
Addressing the ceremony, the Principal of the institution, Professor K. Sraku-Lartey, said as part of measures to ensure quality academic programmes that would produce the best students, PUC had revised its strategic plan to reposition the institution.
“We are now striving to obtain a charter in five years’ time and make PUC self-sustaining financially within 10 years, as well as realign existing programmes and introduce new demand-driven ones whose outputs will meet local and international requirements,” he stated.
Professor Sraku-Lartey also indicated that the university intended to increase its student population to at least 3,000 in five years and establish a School of Agriculture, which will be backed by viable commercial agriculture.
In a speech read on his behalf, the Moderator of the Presbyterian Church of Ghana, Rt Rev Yaw Frimpong-Manso, called on the government to support the infrastructural development of the university to enhance teaching and learning.
The students will be pursuing their studies at the Okwahu (Abetifi), Asante-Akyem (Agogo), Akropong-Akuapem and Tema campuses of the university.
Addressing the ceremony, the Principal of the institution, Professor K. Sraku-Lartey, said as part of measures to ensure quality academic programmes that would produce the best students, PUC had revised its strategic plan to reposition the institution.
“We are now striving to obtain a charter in five years’ time and make PUC self-sustaining financially within 10 years, as well as realign existing programmes and introduce new demand-driven ones whose outputs will meet local and international requirements,” he stated.
Professor Sraku-Lartey also indicated that the university intended to increase its student population to at least 3,000 in five years and establish a School of Agriculture, which will be backed by viable commercial agriculture.
In a speech read on his behalf, the Moderator of the Presbyterian Church of Ghana, Rt Rev Yaw Frimpong-Manso, called on the government to support the infrastructural development of the university to enhance teaching and learning.
Saturday, November 13, 2010
RIOTS AT KYEBI...As galamsey youth battle police, soldiers (LEAD STORY, NOV 10, 2010)
Story: Nana Konadu Agyeman, Kyebi
STONE-THROWING illegal miners on Monday engaged armed policemen and soldiers in a confrontation at Kyebi after the security men had seized equipment belonging to the galamsey operators, including excavators and pumping machines.
Numbering about 200, the youth hurled stones and sticks at the six security men after blocking some of the roads in the town.
The military and police personnel responded with warning shots to disperse the mob and managed to exit through an alternate route to the Kyebi Police Station to request for reinforcement.
In the absence of the security men, the rioters were reported to have taken their mining equipment to the forecourt of the Okyenhene’s palace, poured petrol on it and were in the process of setting them ablaze when the military/police reinforcement arrived amidst the firing of warning shots to finally disperse the mob. No arrest was made.
The personalities who came the scene included the Eastern Regional Minister, Mr Samuel Ofosu Ampofo, the Eastern Regional Police Commander, DCOP Ransford Ninson, the Commanding Officer of the 1st Battalion Infantry, Lt Col Barimah Owusu, and some members of the Regional Security Council (REGSEC).
They held a meeting with some of the chiefs at the Okyenhene’s palace at Kyebi, including the Okyenhemaa, Nana Twumawaa Dokua, during which the regional minister urged the traditional leaders in the Akyem Abuakwa area to cause the arrest of any person who undertook mining in the area and called on the security agencies to go all out in dealing with illegal miners at Kyebi and its environs.
He condemned the violent behaviour exhibited by the galamsey operators towards the security personnel who were discharging their legitimate duty.
“If the law is not allowed to prevail, we all stand a big risk of being the subject of frequent violent attacks by the illegal miners, who now possess sophisticated weapons to defend themselves and their illegal activities,” Mr Ofosu Ampofo stated.
He called on small scale miners to respect the laws of the land, which require them to register with the Minerals Commission, adhere to proper mining regulations and pay taxes to the Commission.
He said small scale mining had triggered the violation of minerals and environmental laws in the country, a situation which, he said, had emboldened the galamsey operators to frequently mine with poisonous chemicals and divert water bodies without any regard to the health implications their actions posed to the public.
“Today, River Birim is at the brink of extinction simply because the mining laws are not being adhered to by these galamsey operators,” he said, pledging that this would not happen under his watch as a regional minister.
He further expressed dismay at the growing acquisition of sophisticated weapons by the galamsey operators to defend their businesses and themselves, citing a case in which angry, armed galamsey operators demonstrated and marched to the palace of the paramount chief of Akyem Bosome, Okotwereaso Oware Agyekum, who is also the vice president of the Eastern Regional House of Chiefs, and made attempts to remove his sandals of authority and slaughter a sheep to signify his destoolment.
He said the chief, who sustained injury at the hands of the mob, was, however, rescued by the timely intervention of the security forces.
Nana Dokua, who represented the Okyenhene, pledged the support of the traditional leaders to the security forces in their effort to get rid of galamsey operations in the Akyem Abuakwa Traditional Area.
STONE-THROWING illegal miners on Monday engaged armed policemen and soldiers in a confrontation at Kyebi after the security men had seized equipment belonging to the galamsey operators, including excavators and pumping machines.
Numbering about 200, the youth hurled stones and sticks at the six security men after blocking some of the roads in the town.
The military and police personnel responded with warning shots to disperse the mob and managed to exit through an alternate route to the Kyebi Police Station to request for reinforcement.
In the absence of the security men, the rioters were reported to have taken their mining equipment to the forecourt of the Okyenhene’s palace, poured petrol on it and were in the process of setting them ablaze when the military/police reinforcement arrived amidst the firing of warning shots to finally disperse the mob. No arrest was made.
The personalities who came the scene included the Eastern Regional Minister, Mr Samuel Ofosu Ampofo, the Eastern Regional Police Commander, DCOP Ransford Ninson, the Commanding Officer of the 1st Battalion Infantry, Lt Col Barimah Owusu, and some members of the Regional Security Council (REGSEC).
They held a meeting with some of the chiefs at the Okyenhene’s palace at Kyebi, including the Okyenhemaa, Nana Twumawaa Dokua, during which the regional minister urged the traditional leaders in the Akyem Abuakwa area to cause the arrest of any person who undertook mining in the area and called on the security agencies to go all out in dealing with illegal miners at Kyebi and its environs.
He condemned the violent behaviour exhibited by the galamsey operators towards the security personnel who were discharging their legitimate duty.
“If the law is not allowed to prevail, we all stand a big risk of being the subject of frequent violent attacks by the illegal miners, who now possess sophisticated weapons to defend themselves and their illegal activities,” Mr Ofosu Ampofo stated.
He called on small scale miners to respect the laws of the land, which require them to register with the Minerals Commission, adhere to proper mining regulations and pay taxes to the Commission.
He said small scale mining had triggered the violation of minerals and environmental laws in the country, a situation which, he said, had emboldened the galamsey operators to frequently mine with poisonous chemicals and divert water bodies without any regard to the health implications their actions posed to the public.
“Today, River Birim is at the brink of extinction simply because the mining laws are not being adhered to by these galamsey operators,” he said, pledging that this would not happen under his watch as a regional minister.
He further expressed dismay at the growing acquisition of sophisticated weapons by the galamsey operators to defend their businesses and themselves, citing a case in which angry, armed galamsey operators demonstrated and marched to the palace of the paramount chief of Akyem Bosome, Okotwereaso Oware Agyekum, who is also the vice president of the Eastern Regional House of Chiefs, and made attempts to remove his sandals of authority and slaughter a sheep to signify his destoolment.
He said the chief, who sustained injury at the hands of the mob, was, however, rescued by the timely intervention of the security forces.
Nana Dokua, who represented the Okyenhene, pledged the support of the traditional leaders to the security forces in their effort to get rid of galamsey operations in the Akyem Abuakwa Traditional Area.
Saturday, November 6, 2010
FLOODS CAUSE HAVOC IN AFRAM PLAINS (BACK PAGE, NOV 2, 2010)
TWO thousand and eight hundred persons in 120 villages and towns along the Volta Lake in the Kwahu East, Kwahu South and Kwahu North districts in the Eastern Region have been rendered homeless by floods.
Besides, the floods have also destroyed 850 buildings and more than 1,800 farms, markets and roads are submerged.
This was confirmed when the Eastern Regional Minister, Mr Samuel Ofosu Ampofo, accompanied by the respective District Chief Executives for the Kwahu South, Kwahu East and Kwahu North districts, Mr Joseph O. Sasu, Mr Samuel Asamoah and Mr Charles Evans Apraku, as well as officials from the National Disaster Management Organisation (NADMO), led by its Eastern Regional Co-ordinator, Mr Ranford Boakye, visited some of the affected communities in the three districts last Friday.
The visit was used to sensitise the affected persons, most of whom were reluctant to relocate to high grounds to avoid the damaging effects of the floods.
In the Kwahu South District, 490 persons have been displaced and 322 houses destroyed in 22 communities, while 1,202 persons had been affected in 74 communities in the Kwahu North District (Afram Plains).
In the Kwahu East District, a transformer belonging to the Electricity Company of Ghana (ECG) that supplies power to the Kotosu Water Treatment Plant had submerged, threatening the supply of water to health and educational institutions as well as various households in the area.
One thousand and two persons in 74 communities have been affected in the Kwahu North, where a number of markets and roads, have been flooded making them unmotorable.
At Ekye Amanfrom and Agordeke in the Kwahu North, the floodwaters have inundated the passenger terminals at the two harbours, making it difficult for the pontoons and canoes to berth for passengers.
During the tour, the delegation presented a number of relief items worth GH¢8,800 to the affected persons. The items comprised 800 bags of rice, 40 cartons of soaps, 100 pieces each of bowls and buckets, 20 bales of used clothes, 500 pieces each of plates and cups and 22 bales of poly-mats.
The beneficiary communities included Kotosu and Asempanye in the Kwahu South District, Adawso and Asubone Odumase in the Kwahu South District.
The rest were Ekye Amanfrom, Gadokope, Dororotopong-Kodome, Bridgeano, Teacher Kope and Agordeke in the Kwahu North District.
During the tour, Mr Ofosu Ampofo and his entourage came face-to-face with the threatening nature of the increasing volume of the floodwater, which had caused extensive damage to buildings and personal belongings of the affected persons.
Amazed at the increasing volume of the flood, which, at the time of the visit, could take less than five minutes to make some of the houses in the Kwahu South and Kwahu North Districts to submerge, Mr Ofosu Ampofo appealed to the international community and the country’s development partners to come to the aid of the government to provide the people with their basic needs such as blankets, used clothes and mattresses.
He also called on the three district assemblies to immediately go to the aid of the affected persons by providing them with their basic needs and water tanks at vantage points to serve drinking water to the affected communities to curb the spread of any water-borne diseases.
Besides, the floods have also destroyed 850 buildings and more than 1,800 farms, markets and roads are submerged.
This was confirmed when the Eastern Regional Minister, Mr Samuel Ofosu Ampofo, accompanied by the respective District Chief Executives for the Kwahu South, Kwahu East and Kwahu North districts, Mr Joseph O. Sasu, Mr Samuel Asamoah and Mr Charles Evans Apraku, as well as officials from the National Disaster Management Organisation (NADMO), led by its Eastern Regional Co-ordinator, Mr Ranford Boakye, visited some of the affected communities in the three districts last Friday.
The visit was used to sensitise the affected persons, most of whom were reluctant to relocate to high grounds to avoid the damaging effects of the floods.
In the Kwahu South District, 490 persons have been displaced and 322 houses destroyed in 22 communities, while 1,202 persons had been affected in 74 communities in the Kwahu North District (Afram Plains).
In the Kwahu East District, a transformer belonging to the Electricity Company of Ghana (ECG) that supplies power to the Kotosu Water Treatment Plant had submerged, threatening the supply of water to health and educational institutions as well as various households in the area.
One thousand and two persons in 74 communities have been affected in the Kwahu North, where a number of markets and roads, have been flooded making them unmotorable.
At Ekye Amanfrom and Agordeke in the Kwahu North, the floodwaters have inundated the passenger terminals at the two harbours, making it difficult for the pontoons and canoes to berth for passengers.
During the tour, the delegation presented a number of relief items worth GH¢8,800 to the affected persons. The items comprised 800 bags of rice, 40 cartons of soaps, 100 pieces each of bowls and buckets, 20 bales of used clothes, 500 pieces each of plates and cups and 22 bales of poly-mats.
The beneficiary communities included Kotosu and Asempanye in the Kwahu South District, Adawso and Asubone Odumase in the Kwahu South District.
The rest were Ekye Amanfrom, Gadokope, Dororotopong-Kodome, Bridgeano, Teacher Kope and Agordeke in the Kwahu North District.
During the tour, Mr Ofosu Ampofo and his entourage came face-to-face with the threatening nature of the increasing volume of the floodwater, which had caused extensive damage to buildings and personal belongings of the affected persons.
Amazed at the increasing volume of the flood, which, at the time of the visit, could take less than five minutes to make some of the houses in the Kwahu South and Kwahu North Districts to submerge, Mr Ofosu Ampofo appealed to the international community and the country’s development partners to come to the aid of the government to provide the people with their basic needs such as blankets, used clothes and mattresses.
He also called on the three district assemblies to immediately go to the aid of the affected persons by providing them with their basic needs and water tanks at vantage points to serve drinking water to the affected communities to curb the spread of any water-borne diseases.
THREE BANK WORKERS JAILED FOR FRAUD (BACK PAGE, OCT 30, 2010)
THREE employees of the Suhum branch of the Mumuadu Rural Bank who stole a total of GH¢148,422 belonging to the bank have been sentenced to seven years' imprisonment each with hard labour by the Koforidua High Court.
The convicts, Michael Nti Gyakari, Paul Mensah and Frank Dankwa, were all cashiers at the bank where they embezzled GH¢46,170, GH¢39,334 and GH¢62,918 respectively.
As their modus operandi, they collected the passbooks of customers who went to the bank to deposit their money and wrote the deposited amounts in the passbooks but failed to enter them in the bank’s books and destroyed the deposit forms to avoid detection before pocketing the money.
The three, who are currently students at the University of Cape Coast, were charged with stealing but pleaded not guilty to the 254 counts.
According to the facts of the case as presented by a State Attorney, Mr Frederick Tetteh, on May 14, 2009, after close of work, while the Suhum branch manager of the Mumuadu Rural Bank, Mr James Osafo, was checking the transactions for the day, he detected from Paul Mensah’s cashiers book that there were transactions which were not supported by the vouchers and which indicated stealing.
Consequently, he said, the internal auditor at the bank’s head office at Osino was invited to assist with investigations.
Mr Tetteh said it came to light that within a period of one year, while the three persons were on duty at the bank, they received various sums of money from customers and entered such money in the respective bank passbooks of the customers.
However, the convicts failed to enter the same amount in the ledger books and also failed to feed the computer with the transactions and pocketed the deposited amounts.
The case was then reported to the police and after investigations, it emerged that Nti Gyakari stole GH¢46,170 while Paul Mensah and Frank Dankwah stole GH¢62,918 and GH¢39,334 respectively.
According to the State Attorney, in the course of investigations Nti Gyakari paid GH¢5,000 while GH¢1,900 and GH¢2,000 were paid to the bank by Paul Mensah and Frank Dankwah respectively before being arraigned.
Passing sentence, the court, presided over by Mr Justice G. S. Suurbaareh, said the incarceration of the three should serve as deterrent to other personnel working in the banking industry.
The convicts, Michael Nti Gyakari, Paul Mensah and Frank Dankwa, were all cashiers at the bank where they embezzled GH¢46,170, GH¢39,334 and GH¢62,918 respectively.
As their modus operandi, they collected the passbooks of customers who went to the bank to deposit their money and wrote the deposited amounts in the passbooks but failed to enter them in the bank’s books and destroyed the deposit forms to avoid detection before pocketing the money.
The three, who are currently students at the University of Cape Coast, were charged with stealing but pleaded not guilty to the 254 counts.
According to the facts of the case as presented by a State Attorney, Mr Frederick Tetteh, on May 14, 2009, after close of work, while the Suhum branch manager of the Mumuadu Rural Bank, Mr James Osafo, was checking the transactions for the day, he detected from Paul Mensah’s cashiers book that there were transactions which were not supported by the vouchers and which indicated stealing.
Consequently, he said, the internal auditor at the bank’s head office at Osino was invited to assist with investigations.
Mr Tetteh said it came to light that within a period of one year, while the three persons were on duty at the bank, they received various sums of money from customers and entered such money in the respective bank passbooks of the customers.
However, the convicts failed to enter the same amount in the ledger books and also failed to feed the computer with the transactions and pocketed the deposited amounts.
The case was then reported to the police and after investigations, it emerged that Nti Gyakari stole GH¢46,170 while Paul Mensah and Frank Dankwah stole GH¢62,918 and GH¢39,334 respectively.
According to the State Attorney, in the course of investigations Nti Gyakari paid GH¢5,000 while GH¢1,900 and GH¢2,000 were paid to the bank by Paul Mensah and Frank Dankwah respectively before being arraigned.
Passing sentence, the court, presided over by Mr Justice G. S. Suurbaareh, said the incarceration of the three should serve as deterrent to other personnel working in the banking industry.
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