NEWS

Hotline: Under the Melcom rubble

The Melcom disaster which has ceased to be news after the rescue exercise ended. But how deeply have we looked at the incidents that led to the unfortunate disaster and what measures are we putting in place to forestall future occurrences? In this Joy FM Hotline Documentary, Manasseh Azure Awuni, revisits the disaster and delves deep into the issues of building permits, compensation and welfare and asks and reveals how the workers could have escaped unhurt if attention was paid the numerous danger signals.

Dr. Sekou Nkrumah loses 27 year old son

Sekou Nkrumah

The death is reported of Alin Nkrumah, son of Dr Sekou Nkrumah and grandson of Dr Kwame Nkrumah, Ghana’s first president.
27 year old Alin passed away at the SSNIT hospital at Oxford Street, Osu on Monday November 19, 2012.
His father, Dr Sekou Nkrumah, who confirmed the death on Adom FM’s Dwaso Nsem morning show on Wednesday November 21, 2012 said the family was not sure what killed him but expect to receive the autopsy report by close of day today.
The late Alin turned 27 on November 3, and according to Sekou Nkrumah, his sister and brother believed it was time to re-unite father and son after a 22 year strained relationship.
Alin’s mother left Ghana with him in 1989 when he was five years old, and the young man had never overcome his unhappiness at growing up without his natural father, Sekou opined.
Dr Kwame Nkrumah’s last child told listeners of Adom FM’s Dwaso Nsem morning show that although he had lost his son, he “did not feel the blow, not as much as his mother because I believe that’s her only child,” and also because father and son had a “strained relationship, there was a lot of bitterness.”
He had not made contact with his ex-wife because “I don’t have her contact, Alin was the one who had the information.”
Interestingly, the late Alin lived with his aunt and not his father, a situation Sekou explained was because she was the one who was instrumental in bringing him back to Ghana. The UK branch of the CPP also played a part in Alin’s move to Ghana.

Police Badly Assault Taxi Driver For Stopping At An        Unapproved Area- Graphic Image

Scores of passersby and shop owners at Tanoso in Kumasi last Saturday jeered at a team of policemen in protest of what they say was an unjustified assault by the police on driver of taxi cab with registration number AW 8287-12. In their bid to arrest the taxi driver, David Sarfo, alias Owuraku, for allegedly stopping at an unapproved area along the Abuakwa-Kumasi road, a National Youth Employment Programme (NYEP) member of the team, detailed from the Motor Traffic and Transport Unit of the Abuakwa Police in Kumasi, opened a gaping wound in the head of the driver when he suddenly hit the driver's head with a baton.
Blood oozed out and drenched the driver, who screamed and repeatedly complained of dizziness, but that appeared not to be the concern of the policemen, who were only determined to handcuff and haul him away.
Lance Corporal F.K. Gyimah, particularly, dragged the driver, who then also tried to resist, attracting some sharp criticisms from the onlookers, whose advice against the act by the police was ignored.
Lance Corporal Gyimah ended up exchanging words with some of the protesting onlookers.
Sanity only prevailed after Sergeant Ariel Ayeh rushed from a distance to the scene, called his subordinates to order and asked them to rush the bleeding driver to nearby UEW-K Clinic for treatment.
As they boarded the vehicle and started driving away, the apparently angry onlookers jeered and hooted at the police.
The team was composed of regular police personnel, NYEP persons and members of the Road Safety Management Services Limited.

Later at the UEW-K Clinic, Lance Corporal Gyimah declined to comment on the incident when The Finder contacted him. However, in response to a question on why he dragged the driver when he was bleeding badly, he retorted that he was not dragging the driver, only that there was a scuffle so the police decided to arrest the driver.
Meanwhile the driver, after he was discharged was advised by the medical officer not to drive because of the extent of his injury. The driver then explained the circumstances leading to the incident.
He said because of a congregation held by the UEW-K that day, there were lots of people trying to catch a car to Kumasi along the road.
As he approached the area, some of the people rushed towards him and so he stopped only for the police to claim that he had wrongfully stopped.
When he attempted to get out of the car, the NYEP man hit him on the head with the baton, he said.

GRAPHIC IMAGE BELOW:

The police dragged the driver on the ground after hitting him in the head with a baton