Deadliest, Cheapest Weapon---AK 47

In the deadly wars in some parts of the African continent, one weapon has featured prominently – it is the AK 47. Not only is this weapon used in wars, it has eventually landed into the hands of criminals and bandits who are using it to terrorize the helpless and innocent.Some of the areas within the continent that are simmering with civil wars are Somalia in East Africa, a country which has been described as a failed state. Liberia in the West of Africa only recently came out of long fought civil strives spearheaded by Charles Taylor, who is currently standing trial in The Hague. The wars were fought in two phases. The first Liberian Civil War was fought from 1989 to 1996 and the second was from 1999 to 2003.Sierra Leone also in West Africa, went to war, a civil war in which some of the most unimaginable cruelty was visited on unarmed and defenseless civilians. But thankfully that war is over now.Darfur in Western Sudan is currently grappling with a war that the international community is making efforts at resolving.All these conflicts have a few things in common. They share misery, brutality, inhumanity, tragedy, pain and death and more especially weapons. But the weapon of choice is the AK47, also known as Kalashnikov, named after the man who invented the deadly weapon.We bring you a write up on the deadly weapon AK47, courtesy of aljazeera and Josh Rushing.The AK-47 kills 250,000 people every year. It is cheap, you can find it everywhere, it has changed the face of war and it has allowed ragtag militias to challenge the armies of major powers. It is so durable that when it gets dirty and wet it keeps on firing. It is so simple even a child can operate it, which has made the training of child soldiers more feasible. This gun can be bought and sold in bazaars the world over. It is the weapon of choice of drug dealers and criminals and is the symbol of revolutionaries. It is a gun that can be purchased in some countries for the price of a bag of corn and the fluctuations in its price can be a predictor of coming strife. The AK-47 is the real weapon of mass destruction.In the 1980s the US Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) bought AK-47s from China - hundreds of millions of dollars worth - and shipped them to mujahidin fighting the then Soviet Union. This act has been called the single most important contribution to the weapon's spread.

Financial rot at Health Ministry revealed

Proceedings at Wednesday's sitting of the Public Accounts Committee (PAC) of Parliament have shown that some public institutions are, still embroiled in financial malpractice and malfeasance. This was made manifest when the committee found that payments running into billions of cedis made by the Ministry of Health (MOH) were not covered by the necessary documentation. On the second day of the sittings, it was discovered that the dollar account of the MOH was being operated without adequate documentation, since 13 payments, totalling ¢13.24 billion, had been made without supporting documents.In a desperate bid to defend and salvage the image of the ministry, its officials produced some documents which were yet to be assessed by the committee and authenticated by the Auditor-General.When the officials were questioned over the submission of the remaining documents, they replied that efforts were underway to produce such documents for the committee.That led the chairman of the committee to comment that answers given to questions by members of the committee were misleading and fraught with lots of inconsistencies. In its probe of the MOH, the PAC found, to its chagrin, unapproved expenditure, failure to tender the award of road construction works, indebtedness of health institutions, engagement of unapproved temporary staff, unaccounted for fuel, unearned salaries and non-payment of rent by occupants of government flats and bungalows. In a response, the Financial Controller of the ministry, Mr Simon Dosu, who claimed to have assumed that position a few months ago, pointed out that most of the documents that the committee had sought for were not available at the time of audit. Mr. E. T. Mensah, a member of the committee and Member of Parliament (MP) for Ningo-Prampram, asked Mr. Dosu whether notes on the ministry's activities had been handed over to him by his predecessor? Replying, Mr Dosu said the handing over had been brief and had not included all the details of financial expenditure and payments effected by the ministry under the dol¬lar account. Commenting on activities at the Korle-Bu Teaching Hospital, Mr Sallas Mensah, the Chairman of the PAC; said the committee's review of the budget performance of the hospital for 2003 revealed that the sector minister's approval for ¢3.70 billion, representing excess capital expenditure, had not been approved by Parliament. He said the committee had, therefore, advised the management of the hospital to operate within its expenditure limit to curtail budget overruns and prevent avoidable strain on the finances of the ministry.Mr Mensah further explained that the hospital also failed to tender the award of a road contract, estimated at ¢289.3 million. "We noted that the construction of the Korle-Bu residential access road for doctors' bungalows, courts A, B, C and Zoti Bungalow were not put to tender, neither were alternative quotations obtained. The sum of ¢289.3 million was paid to Facol Roads Limited in respect of the access roads construction," he said. The PAC Chairman said the committee further noted that a reserve price was not obtained from either the Ghana Highway Authority or any other recognised body to serve as a yardstick for measuring the contract price. "We recommend that in future laid down regulations should be adhered to. Officers responsible for untendered contracts for which quotations are not obtained should be surcharged in future should any loss of funds arise," he added. In an answer to the query, the acting Chief Executive of the hospital, Dr Ben Annan, said the project was done under a certificate of urgency and that explained why it did not go through a tendering process. He said three contractors were shortlisted to bring quotations to the hospital, after which Facol Company Limited was endorsed to undertake the construction works. When the Minority Leader, Mr Alban Bagbin, asked Dr. Annan to tell the committee of the names of the two other companies, the acting chief executive could not remember them offhand. Source: Daily Graphic

Kufuor hails Equatorial Guinea's gas plant

Oil-rich Equatorial Guinea on Wednesday formally entered the global gas market as a major new player with the inauguration of a 1.5 billion-dollar Liquefied Natural Gas Plant.The plant has the capacity to deliver 3.7 million tonnes of the fuel annually for 17 years.President John Agyekum Kufuor, who was specially invited to join in the celebration of the occasion, alongside the leaders of Nigeria and Sao Tome, hailed the initiative by the country to expand and diversify its oil industry, as an important economic step. African countries, he said, needed to add value to natural resources to sustain their economies and take advantage of the global market system.He, however, cautioned that in so doing, care must be taken to protect and maintain the environment. The environment must never be neglected in the pursuit of social and economic advancement, he stated.President Kufuor therefore encouraged the government of Equatorial Guinea to make sure it involved all stakeholders in the management of the environment.Again, it should strive to use the new-found wealth to benefit and improve the lives of all the population.President Teodoro Obiang Ngueso Mbasogo, said the onshore project was a symbol of what could be achieved through economic partnership. He pledged his government's commitment to utilise the country's oil wealth to raise the living standards of the people.Mr Ken Woodworth, Managing Director of the EN LNG, operators of the plant, said their hope was that the project would serve as a catalyst for the establishment of the Gulf of Guinea as a world force in the industry.Equatorial Guinea, with a population of less than 800,000 has large oil and gas deposits. Their exploitation is driving spectacular economic growth.Now the third largest producer of crude oil in Sub-Sahara Africa, after Nigeria and Angola, it has a real Gross Domestic Product (GDP) growth rate of 18.6 per cent with inflation pegged at 5.2 per cent.
Source:GNA

Kufuor leaves for Equatorial Guinea

President John Agyekum Kufuor left Accra on Wednesday for Malabo, Equatorial Guinea, for a one-day visit during which he will participate in the commissioning of a multi-million dollar liquefied natural gas plant.

A statement signed by Mr Andrew Awuni, Press Secretary to the President, said Mr Kufuor would also hold consultations with President Theodoro Obiang Nguema Mbasogo.

President Kufuor, who was accompanied by senior government officials, is expected back home later on Wednesday.
Source:GNA