JusticeGhana News Review 2012

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JusticeGhana News Review 2012

31 December 2012

Foreword: Hello JusticeGhana Reader and/or Visitor,

We welcome you once again to your favourite website. The year 2012, came with loads of promises and challenges. But we hope you had a joyful Christmas and wish once again to take this opportunity to say a very healthy and prosperous New Year to you!

With your unwavering support and loyalty over the years, we are able and happy to present to you below- the Ups and Downs of the Year 2012, as observed by JusticeGhana Youth Editors:

JANUARY

Media Monitoring- Birth of Blue Ivy Carter: Beyonce and Jay-Z celebrated the birth of their first child, a daughter named Blue Ivy Carter. Blue Ivy was born on January 7 to her pop star mother and hip-hop mogul father.

ITALY- Costa Concordia cruise ship capsizes: Thirty people died and two others were declared missing after the Costa Concordia cruise ship capsized off the Italian coast. The Carnival Corporation ship rammed into a reef off the Italian island of Giglio due to the captain's alleged malpractice.

UGANDA- Using Community Radio to Heal After Kony’s War: Radio Mega FM transmitted talk shows and informal memorial to the community through radio broadcasting to drive in peace during the Lord’s Resistance Army’s destruction of northern Uganda.

Acholi leaders and NGO officials who LRA Joseph Kony turned against, were responsible for communicating to a chaotic population where literacy was low and poverty high, thus the aim of Mega FM was to educate the community and to talk to the rebels about peace and reconciliation. Community radio stations in Gulu — the heart of Acholiland — became the linchpin of those efforts.

SIERRA LEONE: Government Online Mining Database to Increase Transparency

The launch of Sierra Leone’s first online mining database in West Africa comes with a promise to increase transparency and accountability in the country’s rich natural resource sector. It was Launched on Jan. 19, by the Government of Sierra Leone Online Repository System and is a joint initiative between the government and international donors, including the German Society for International Cooperation (GIZ), the United Nations Development Programme, the Revenue Development Foundation and the World Bank. http://www.globalissues.org/news/2012/01

ZAMBIA: Chinese Underage Sex Scandal Sparks Emotive Debate: Zhang Daliu, 46, a carpenter from China, Hong Pin Liu, 46, a carpenter; Yang Gang Qiang, 36, a welder; and Zhu Xiang, 51, a bricklayer faced a possible life imprisonment if convicted of indecent assault and sex with a minor, after charges were brought against them by prosecutors in Luanshya, a town on the southern fringes of Zambia’s mineral-rich Copperbelt Province. Each charge carries a minimum jail term of 15 years with hard labour, with a maximum life sentence (http://www.globalissues.org/news/2012/01).

The UK: Racism raises Its Ugly Head- COMPLAINTS of racial abuse against two black footballers were being ­investigated early January. Rangers stars Kyle Bartley, 20, and Maurice Edu, 25, were said to have been targeted on Twitter. One message told Edu to “go back to the jungle”. http://www.people.co.uk/news/uk-world-news/2012/01/15/racism-raises-its-ugly-head-102039-23699846/

FEBRUARY

The US: Whitney Houston Dies at 48- The American singer and actress Whitney Houston died in Los Angeles at the age of 48. According to the Police she died in her room at the Beverly Hilton Hotel, where she had been staying as a guest.

GLOBAL POLITICS- Russia and China Prevent U.N. Action in Syria (Feb. 4): Russia and China veto an effort by the United Nations Security Council to end the violence in Syria. The veto happens just hours after the Syrian military launch an assault on the city of Homs. The Security Council votes 13 to 2 for a resolution backing an Arab League peace plan for Syria. China and Russia voted against the resolution, seeing it as a violation of Syria's sovereignty. So far, Syria's 11-month uprising has caused more than 5,000 casualties.

RUSSIA FEDERATION- Report Exposes Assassination Plot against Putin (Feb. 26): Russian television reports that an assassination plot against Vladimir Putin has been stopped. The report says that Russian and Ukrainian intelligence worked together and arrested two men after an apartment explosion in Odessa, the third largest city in Ukraine. A third would-be assassin is killed in the explosion. The report also says that the three men were sent by Chechen terrorist leader, Doku Umarov. The report is released one week before the presidential election on March 4. Putin is expected to win the election, despite his fading popularity and the recent protests. Also on February 26, thousands of demonstrators protest in downtown Moscow. The activists hold hands and wear white ribbons to express their frustration with Putin (Infoplease.com)

MARCH

The US: George Clooney arrested during protest at Sudanese Embassy in Washington, D.C. The Hollywood actor and sometime political activist, George Clooney, was cuffed with zip-ties and taken away in a police van after being arrested during a protest outside the Sudanese embassy in Washington DC.

Kony Film goes viral

The Kony2012 initiative, launched by the non-profit group Invisible Children, demanded the removal of Ugandan guerrilla leader Joseph Rao Kony. As head of the Lord's Resistance Army, engaged in a complex and continuing conflict, Kony has terrorised villagers in at least four central African countries for nearly two decades.

MAY

Ghana, Accra: A 70-year-old man, identified as Clarus Kobina Sekyi, a career diplomat and former Ambassador to Algeria, according to the the police, jumped from the 9th floor of the Trust Towers building at Asylum Down in Accra, killing himself.

Mr Sekyi was appointed in December 2001 by President John Agyekum Kufuor to Algeria, together with Prof Mike Oquaye, who was assigned to India. The cause of the alleged suicide is still unkown [Read More at JusticeGhana Obituaries]

JUNE

The UK: Queen’s Diamond Jubilee: This year marked 60 years of The Queen’s reign. The Queen came to the throne on 6th February 1952 (her Coronation took place on 2nd June 1953). Buckingham Palace was responsible for coordinating the events of the Diamond Jubilee central weekend (2nd–5th June 2012), as well as for organising The Queen’s programme in her Diamond Jubilee year (royal.gov.uk).

JULY

The UK: London 2012 Olympic and Paralympic Games- The 2012 Summer Olympics in London was a major international multi-sport event celebrated in the tradition of the Olympic Games, as governed by the International Olympic Committee (IOC). It took place in East London(Stratford) between 27 July to 12 August 2012. The first event, was the group stage in women's football, which began two days earlier, on 25 July. More than 10,000 athletes from 204 National Olympic Committees (NOCs) participated.

Ghana: Ghana Mourns: President Mills Passes Away- Information reached JusticeGhana pointing to the sudden passing away of Professor John Evans Atta Mills- the President of the Republic of Ghana.Young John Evans Fiifi Atta-Mills came to world on 21 July 1944 and recently celebrated his 68th Birthday. According to the Chief of Staff at the Castle- Mr John Henry Martey Newman, the president passed away today, 24th July 2012, while receiving medical attention, at the 37 Military Hospital. His second-in-command: John Dramani Mahama, was sworn in as the country’s president as required by Ghana's 1992 Constitution [Article 60(6)], to complete the unexpired presidential term of office.

The US- Batman cinema shooting: US mourns Aurora victims- A man in a gas mask and body armour threw tear gas canisters at a midnight screening, then fired on the crowd, killing 12 and injuring 58.Suspect James Holmes, 24, was arrested outside the cinema and later charged.

AUGUST

The UK: Ecuador embassy grants Julian Assange Asylum: Ecuador granted asylum to Wikileaks founder Julian Assange two months after he took refuge in its London embassy while fighting extradition from the UK. It said his human rights might be violated if he is sent to Sweden to be questioned over sex assault claims. Anders Behring Breivik: Norway court finds him sane:

A Norwegian court has found that mass killer Anders Behring Breivik is sane and sentenced him to 21 years in jail. Breivik, who admitted killing 77 people when he bombed central Oslo and then opened fire at an island youth camp, told the court he would not appeal. He insisted he was sane and refused to plead guilty, saying last year's attacks were necessary to stop the "Islamisation" of Norway.

SEPTEMBER

Australia: Riot breaks out in Sidney over Anti-Islam video- On September 15 after hundreds of Muslim protestors stormed the business district in anger over an anti-Islamic YouTube video. The protestors rallied outside the US Consulate and then spread through the streets of Sydney to Hyde Park. The protest escalated into a violent riot where 150 police officers were called to control the situation.

OCTOBER

Hurricane Sandy causes widespread destruction: Hurricane Sandy slammed into the US east coast in late October, causing widespread damage and leaving up to 125 people dead across the US and up to 78 in the Caribbean. The 'Frankenstorm', as it became known, saw forecasters predicting deadly winds of up to 150km/h and a storm front stretching across twelve states, with the capacity to affect 50 million people.

NOVEMBER

Ghana: Former Vice-President Alhaji Aliu Mahama [pictured right], has passed away today, 16 November 2012, aged 66. Alhaji Aliu Mahama was second-in-command to President John Agyekum Kufuor, from 07 January 2001 to 07 January 2009.The former vice-president was reported to have taken ill a few weeks ago and until his rumoured death, was receiving medical attention for heart-related illness, at the Korle-Bu Teaching Hospital, in Accra. Former Vice-President Alhaji Aliu Mahama,contested the NPP flagbearer race which witnessed a hooping 17 candidates in December 2007, to lead the then ruling NPP, in the 2008 presidential election. He made little inroads.

The US: Barack Obama re-elected as U.S president: After months of campaigning US President Barack Obama defeated Mitt Romney to be re-elected for a second Presidential term. President Obama was neck in neck with Romney in the polls until election night on November 6, where Obama emerged as the undisputed victor, winning 332 electoral votes to Romney's 206.

The UK: Ex-Downing Street communications chief Andy Coulson and ex-News International chief executive Rebekah Brooks were charged over alleged payments to police and public officials.

Ghana: Melcom department store collapses in Accra, 'many trapped'- The Achimota Melcom department store collapsed in Ghana's capital, Accra, with dozens of people trapped inside. known to have claimed 14 lives while six were injured.

DECEMBER

Ghana: Ghana went to polls to elect 275 parliamentarians and a president to administer the country for four years. The New Patriotic Party (NPP) rejected the presidential results of the 7 and 8 December poll, alleging fraud.

The Volta Regional Minister and MP-elect for Buem Constituency in the Volta Region- Henry Ford Kamel (NDC), was announced dead on Tuesday(25/12/12) by the ruling National Democratic Congress (NDC). Ford Kamel is said to have died of diabetic conditions which had afflicted him for several years. His death was preceded by the deaths of two legislators from the main opposition New Patriotic Party (NPP): Owusu Ansah and Alhaji Ahmed Idi [Read details at JusticeGhana Obituaries].

The UK: Kate Middleton announced that she and Prince William are pregnant with their first royal baby.

Ghana Elections: The NPP drags the President-elect John Dramani Mahama, who is on private holidays in South Africa and the Chairman of the Electoral Commission- Dr Kwadwo Afari-Gyan, to court.

The opposition party has filed a petition at the Supreme Court on 27 December to challenge the declared presidential result of 9 December 2012, on the allegation of electoral fraud and irregularities.

Article 64 (1)(2) of the 1992 Ghana Constitution permits such a writ to filed by any aggrieved citizen of Ghana 21 days from the date of the declaration of such election result.

The US: Shooting in Newtown, Connecticut school leaves 28 dead- Officials confirm 28 deaths including 20 children at the Sandy Hook Elementary School. Police say perpetrator died inside elementary school. Emotional Obama says: 'Our hearts are broken today'

India- NEW DELHI: India Mourns 23-Year-Old Gang Rape Victim— The young Indian victim of a brutal gang rape has died in Singapore, where she had been taken for treatment. Thousands of people staged peaceful protests in the Indian capital — where the incident took place — despite tight security to prevent mass demonstrations. The incident is said to have sparked widespread calls for social change (http://vibeghana.com/2012/12/29/india-mourns-23-year-old-gang-rape-victim/)

Ghana- Accra: Ex-President Jerry John Rawlings- the founder of the National Democratic Congress (NDC), lits pepetual flame at the Revolutionary Square in remembrance of the fallen heroes and heroines of the 4 June 1979 and the 31 December 1981 Revolutions. The former president asks for God’s guidance for the people of Ghana as well as President John Mahama as he gears to up to shoulder the responsibility as the fourth democratically-elected President of Ghana.

Both the president-elect- John Mahama and the main opposition leader- Nana Akufo-Addo, not forgetting various opinion leaders, individuals and organizations, have sent best wisheses messages to the country and its peoples in the coming days and years as the verdict of the 2102 presidential polls, is still being contested at the Supreme Court of Ghana by the main opposition NPP, on alleged electoral fraud.

Researched and Compiled By Marian Asante & Esi Asantewaa

(JusticeGhana Youth Editors)

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