Published articles by BENJAMIN XORNAM GLOVER, Journalist @ GRAPHIC COMMUNICATIONS GROUP LTD
Graphic Online
The workers union of Tema Oil Refinery (TOR) has called on the government to as a matter of urgency to revive the company and save it from collapse.
The workers blamed the government for failing to ensure the availability of crude oil for the refinery to process.
Addressing journalists on Tuesday (April 18, 2023) after a durbar with the workers, the National Chairman of the General Transport Petroleum and Chemical Workers Union (GTPCWU), Bernard Owusu said the inability of the government, Board of Directors and Management to secure the much talked about partnership agreement has brought the refinery on its knees.
He said it was intriguing that the government was focusing on
mobilising refined petroleum products into the country but cannot make
similar arrangements for crude oil for TOR to refine.
via : https://www.graphic.com.gh/news/general-news/revive-tema-oil-refinery-workers-union.html
Video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XBMuc8vcEfw&feature=youtu.be
The Ashaiman Circuit Court has granted a GH¢150,000.00 bail with three sureties, two of which must be justified to Ibrahim Abdul Rakib, one of the suspects arrested in connection with the killing of the 21-year-old soldier, Private Imoro Sherrif, in Zongo Laka in the Greater Accra Region.
Ibrahim Abdul Rakib, who has been charged with dishonestly receiving was among four accused persons who through their lawyers applied for bail at the Ashaiman Circuit Court on Tuesday, April 11 2023
But it was only Rakib who secured bail on health grounds.
When the case was called on Tuesday, April 11, 2023, Abdul Fatawu Alhassan, the defence counsel for three out of the six accused persons including Rakib told the court that his client was battling a stomach ulcer and had been suffering in the police cells.
He, therefore, prayed the court to grant his client bail since the condition of his client could aggravate with time if not attended to.
The fifth accused person, Yussif Mohammed who was also charged with dishonestly receiving an item, was also represented by lawyer Ishahadu Mohammed whose application for bail was not granted.
Superintendent Sylvester Asare, representing the prosecution, opposed the bail applications by pointing out that Ibrahim Abdul Rakib, along with the other suspects, had been in police custody at the Police Headquarters, which was in close proximity to the Police Hospital, and had never reported any health issues to the investigators.
As a result, he urged the court to deny bail and instead keep the suspects in custody with the assurance that they would receive medical attention.
After carefully considering the arguments presented by the lawyers for the four accused persons and taking into account the seriousness of the charges and potential punishments, Judge Simon Gaga decided not to grant bail.
However, in the case of Ibrahim Abdul Rakib, the court deemed it necessary to grant bail based on medical reasons.
The remaining five persons arrested in connection with the killing of Private Imoro Sherrif, a soldier, on March 4, at Ashaiman in the Greater Accra and charged with stealing, robbery and receiving of dishonest goods were however remanded in police custody.
They are Safianu Musah alias Dayorgu, Samuel Tetteh, alias Wiper, Abubakar Sadick, alias Birdman, Yussif Mohammed and Abdul Gafaru Abdul Karim.
They would reappear in court on April 25, 2023. The Court further ordered the Prosecution to file disclosures on or by April 25, 2023.
This was after the Prosecution had prayed the court to adjourn the case to enable them to advance investigations, which he said had gone far.
Superintendent Asare said in praying the court for adjournment said it was in the interest of justice and the safety of the accused persons that they remained in custody.
Second case
Meanwhile, Samuel Tetteh, alias Wiper, Abubakar Sadick, alias Birdman, who have been charged with conspiracy to commit murder in the same case will reappear appeared before the District Magistrate Court in Tema presided over by Benedicta Antwi on April 25, 2023, pending the advice from the office of the Attorney-General (A-G).
This was after the prosecutor, Superintendent Sylvester Asare, prayed the court to remand the suspects since they were awaiting advice from the office of the A-G.
Background
On March 4, 2023, police received information that a male adult had been found lying dead at Ashaiman Taifa in the Greater Accra Region.
According to the police, the crime scene team retrieved a number of items, including a knife with blood stains and a backpack, in the course of investigations.
In the backpack, police found one Samsung tablet, one Apple laptop, one military uniform with the name tag "Imoro", eight other items of clothing, as well as a Ghana Card and a Health Insurance card bearing the name Imoro Sherrif.
The police said the content of the backpack suggested that the victim could be a soldier, so the military was notified of the incident, and the deceased was subsequently identified by the military as Imoro Sheriff, a soldier.
The prosecution said two of the accused persons attempted to rob the soldier, and in the process, one of them stabbed him in the arm, while the other four bought a stolen mobile phone taken from the soldier, now deceased.
Personnel of the GNFS wrapping up after extinguishing the fire. |
Fire has destroyed a warehouse belonging to Multipac Ghana Ltd, a beverage manufacturing company in Tema.
The fire started Saturday (April 8, 2023) dawn, at about 12am.
According to the Ghana National Fire Service (GNFS), it took firefighters about four hours to bring the fire under control.
The Deputy Director of Operations at the Ghana National Fire Service headquarters, Divisional Officer Grade 1, Joseph K. Forson who was at the scene said they received the distress call at 12:52 am.
The first fire engine from the Industry Area Fire Station, which was about two kilometers away arrived at the scene.
The crew detected the fire in one of the warehouses at the premises of the factory where raw materials are kept.
Multiple fire pumps were called in to support.
DO1 Forson said a total of six pumps and one water tanker from the Ghana Ports and Harbours Authority as well as ten private water tanker operators were called in to help extinguish the fire.
The fire was brought under control at 4:20 am and totally extinguished at 6:33 am.
DO I Forson said there were no casualties or injuries recorded adding that investigations were underway to determine the cause of the fire.
via: https://www.graphic.com.gh/news/general-news/fire-destroys-warehouse-of-multipac-ghana-ltd.html
The family of the slained officer
of the Ghana Immigration Service (GIS) in Bawku in the Upper East
Region, has appealed to the leadership of the GIS to collaborate with
other security agencies to ensure that justice was served in relation to
the killing of the officer.
The family says it is
saddened at the loss of their beloved son and expressed the hope that
the GIS will take steps and liaise with other security agencies to bring
the perpetrators of the heinous and barbaric act to book.
Speaking on behalf of the
family, Cephas Motey, a younger brother of the deceased appealed to the
GIS to ensure that the body of the officer was brought back to Accra
with dispatch to enable the family to fast-track the funeral planning
process.
Mr Motey, a lawyer spoke on
behalf of the family when the Comptroller General Of the GIS, Kwame
Asuah Takyi led the leadership of the GIS to call on the family to
express their condolences, reports Graphic Online’s Benjamin Xornam
Glover from Klagon in Greater Accra.Philip Motey, the
immigration officer was killed in Bawku in the Upper East Region last
Monday. He was in a vehicle with two other immigration officers when
unknown assailants pounced on them and fired indiscriminately into their
vehicle.
Motey was pronounced dead on arrival at the Bawku Presby hospital.
The two other officers are receiving treatment at the hospital, one in critical condition at Tamale and the other at Bawku.
The deceased, an Assistant
Inspector of Immigration, 42, was in the company of Eric Ayibiya, 30,
and Laurence Afari, 42, when they were shot multiple times while moving
in a blue sedan vehicle in Bawku by the unknown gunmen.
The three officers
stationed at different border posts, were on their way to the Bawku
Township to buy food when the incident happened. The gunmen reportedly
surfaced and shot into the vehicle and bolted after the incident.
The Comptroller-General,
accompanied by Members of the National Immigration Management Committee
speaking during a visit to the family house of the deceased on Thursday,
April 6, 2023, gave the assurance that the GIS will liaise with the
relevant security agencies to find the perpetrators of the crime, so
they face the law.
He said the leadership of the Immigration Service would ensure that justice is served. The entire officers of the service are sad at the incident and are calling on management to take decisive action to ensure that justice prevail, he said.
Mr Takyi disclosed that
because the deceased died in active service, the leadership of the
service would consider recruiting qualified relatives of the deceased
family into the service to compensate for the loss.
Mr Takyi on behalf of the
GIS and in line with custom offered a cash donation of GHc5,000 and 40
packs of water to the family as part funeral preparations.
Calm person
The younger brother of the
deceased, Cephas Motey, a lawyer, described the late officer as a
selfless, calm, dedicated person who was aspiring to become a lawyer and
had even completed his LLB course and was waiting to write the entrance
examination for the professional part of the legal education.
“He would have become the third lawyer in our family,” he said, adding that their 89-year-old father and 79-year-old mother, who incidentally have had an experience working in the northern parts of the country, have been left devastated.