New executives of Old Vandals Association take office

Story: Fauziatu Adam
The national alumni of the Commonwealth Hall of the University of Ghana, the Old Vandals Association (OVA),  has sworn in its third executive committee in Accra on Monday.
Inaugurating the committee, His Lordship, Justice Anim Yeboah of the Supreme Court, advised the new executives not to intercede on behalf of the students anytime they were being criticised for going wrong.
He added that his expectation for the new executive was very high and urged members of the association to give their maximum support to the new executives.
He urged the executives to keep a good rapport with the Junior Common Room (JCR) to be able to update themselves with what happens in the hall.
The incoming national president of the Old Vandals Association, Alhaji Razak El-Alawa, appealed to all Vandals who are still students in the hall to exercise maximum restraint whenever they felt aggrieved.
"You must try as much as possible not to take the laws into your own hands but rather seek redress through various channels available to you" he said.
He assured them of his commitment and support during his reign, adding that, "we shall co-operate with each other to build a better image for our hall".
Commonwealth Hall is one of five halls of residence of the University of Ghana.
The first batch of students were admitted into residence in Commonwealth Hall at the beginning of 1956-1957 academic year.
In the Lent Term of that academic year, Ghana attained its independence from Great Britain and the hall, hitherto known as the Third Hall (because it was nameless), was officially christened Commonwealth Hall to commemorate Ghana's admission into the Commonwealth of Nations.
 The official opening of the Hall was performed in March, 1957. It is so far, the only all-male hall of residence in the university.

ADB to switch to e-banking in July

Story: Fauziatu Adam
THE Agricultural Development Bank (ADB) is to migrate onto a higher-grade Information Technology software to complete the process of achieving the e-banking application by the bank in July this year.
The Board Chairman of the ADB, Alhaji Ibrahim Adam, disclosed this at the inauguration of three new branches of the bank at the Danquah Circle and Nima in Accra and Kasoa in the Central Region yesterday.
He said the 2010 financial performance of the bank attested to the success of its new strategic direction.
"We reported a significantly improved performance in profits, returns on assets and equity and key balance sheet indicators. On the strength of the strong profit out-turn, the directors declared a dividend payment of 30 per cent or almost GH¢10 million to shareholders," he added.
Alhaji Adam further stated that the net worth of the bank improved by 17.8 per cent, as shareholders' fund increased to GH¢143.2 million.
He said the opening of the new branches was a continuation of the bank’s strategic nation-wide branch network expansion to increase the spread, reach, accessibility and visibility of the bank and also enhance service delivery and customer responsiveness throughout the ADB network.
The Greater Accra Regional Minister, Nii Ashietey Armah, who also spoke at the ceremony, noted that the government had pursued prudent financial policies that had resulted in the attainment of macro-economic stability in the country.
"It is now up to the private and investor community to take advantage of the good foundation that we have laid over the past two years," he said.
"I have encouraged the assemblies in the region to go into joint business ventures with financial institutions to generate more revenue and employment opportunities," he added.
He appealed to ADB to consider increasing the level of support in the areas of education, health and the provision of social amenities, especially in deprived communities.
He advised the management and staff of  the bank to give customers first-class services.
The Managing Director of the bank, Mr Stephen Kpordzih, said the bank was on the way to developing end-to-end customer service delivery with new electronic, one-stop solutions, service quality monitoring and a commitment to service standards.
 

Man blows head with pump action gun

Story: Fauziatu Adam
A 65-year-old man, Daniel Kojo Boadu, yesterday committed suicide by blowing his head with a pump action gun in his room at Odorkor, a suburb of Accra.
Boadu, who had been threatening to kill himself for some time, according to his second son, quarrelled with his second wife in the morning yesterday, after which she left the house.
Later in the afternoon, he threatened to shoot himself and even gave a warning shot, but his children managed to take the gun from him and took the bullets out before giving the gun back to him.
Unknown to them, he had two bullets left in his pocket which he used to kill himself.
When the Daily Graphic got to the house of the deceased, the body had been removed to the morgue, with the family members left in a state of mourning.
Daniel Owusu, the second of Boadu’s 11 children, told the Daily Graphic that his father had been threatening to shoot himself for some months now.
He added that as a result of the threat, they took Boadu’s gun and sent it to his (Boadu’s) elder brother’s place and, therefore, wondered how the deceased got the gun again.
 The Crime Officer of the Kaneshie/Odorkor Divisional Police, Supt Baffuor Apenteng, confirmed the story.
He said the police were still investigating the incident.

Media asked to Fight for Freedoms- NMC chairman, Kabral Blay-Amihere

Story: Fauziatu Adam
THE Chairman of the National Media Commission (NMC), Mr Kabral Blay-Amihere, has called on the media to protect the freedoms guaranteed  them by the constitution so that they do not suffer a relapse into the dark days of the press in Ghana.
“Those acts of harassment, of oppression of the media belong to antiquity because we have multiple provision in the national constitution, in chapters 5 and 12 of our sacred document, which guarantees the freedom and independence of the media  and the right of Ghanaians to free speech,” he added.
Mr  Blay-Amihere made this call at the inauguration of the Board of Directors of the New Times Corporation (NTC) at the corporation’s head office in Accra last Thursday.
Inducting the new board, Mr Blay-Amihere charged the media to give equal coverage and equal opportunities to all political parties and their candidates, adding that the NMC enjoined the public media to give access to the president.
However, he added that the same act and ethics of journalism required that they give other presidential candidates their due.
The NTC board is chaired by Mr Clement Vanderpuije with Dr Dzisah Wilberforce, Ms Helena Asamoah-Hassan, Mr Gerald Ankrah, Mr Ebo Hawkson, Mrs Irene Duncan-Adanusa, Major Albert Don Chebe (Retd), Mr J.E. Allotey-Pappoe and Mr Kofi Asuman, the Managing Director of NTC, as members.
He charged the state-owned media to lift themselves above the political divide and politicisation of news as the country approached the 2012 elections.
Mr Blay-Amihere noted that the once lucrative packaging department of the NTC had collapsed, leaving the corporation to depend on its three publications, namely Ghanaian Times, The Spectator and Sporting Times.
“The new board will find out very soon that these three publications are not generating that much revenue that can take care of staff welfare and sustain the very survival of the corporation,” he said.
He expressed the hope that the collective effort of the Board, Management and staff of the corporation would help it revive its fortunes.
“ The board must be sensitive to the concerns of workers as it embarks on this journey of the renewal of NTC to achieve its goals of maintaining industrial harmony,” he said.
In a speech read on his behalf, the Managing Director of NTC, Mr Kofi Asuman, thanked the old board of directors and pledged his support and cooperation for the new board of directors.