BNI Terror As President Launches Fund

Yesterday, as President Kufuor and Ex-President Clinton of the US were launching the "Foundation for Building Capital of the Poor," at the La Palm Royal Beach Hotel, one journalist was at the receiving end of the cruelty and brutality of two BNI operatives. Mr. Haruna Mohammed who had been assigned to cover the launching and also take exclusive pictures for The Accra Daily Mail was subjected to the kind of high-handed show of power they were known for in the past. Mr. Haruna Mohammed was covering the function for his editor who had received an invitation from the Attorney General and Minister of Justice in a letter dated 16th September 2002.

The following is the BNI victim's own narration.

"I arrived at the venue of the function at exactly 9:30 am. Protocol officials at the entrance asked for my accreditation, which I didn't have because ADM only received an official invitation without an accreditation. The protocol officials then allowed me in after explaining this to them.

Shortly afterwards, His Excellency President Kufuor and his guests, Mr. Bill Clinton and Dr. Hernando Soto and other state officials arrived for the programme to officially begin. As they took their turn to deliver their speeches, the media personnel covering the event including photographers and reporters with tape recorders, were all trying to do their normal duties for their media houses.

Two BNI operatives, whom I first met at the entrance of the hall, during my encounter with the protocol officials, prevented me from taking pictures with my camera and tried to take the camera away from me. Fortunately, some journalists intervened and pleaded with them not to take the camera away.

The reason of their action as they also explained to the other journalists was that I managed to enter the hall without an accreditation, even though I had produced the official invitation to show that I was not an imposter.

After the function, I walked towards the main car park of the hotel and saw the two men again, this time, riding in a Toyota Land Cruiser with registration number GR3552T, which they parked a few metres away from the main gate. They got out of the vehicle and ordered me to come quickly. I walked towards them to hear what they had to say. To my surprise, they held the neck of my dress and started shaking me vigorously. One of them slapped me in the face and threatened to add more if I dared challenge them. I was very frightened and shaken, not knowing what offence I had caused them.

They yelled at me with words like, "I'll kill you", "I'll punch your face".

And to my shock and disbelief, one of them hissed at me, "You're lucky that this isn't Rawlings' era, we would have broken your neck".

With that they jumped into their luxury vehicle and drove off. But even in my fright my journalistic curiosity did not desert me as I managed to take one picture of them and their Land Cruiser."

President Kufuor launches Fund

From GNA files -- President John Agyekum Kufuor yesterday launched the "Foundation for the Building of Capital of the Poor," a programme devised to assist in mobilising assets the poor are holding to step up their economic development.

Development economists believe that unregistered and untitled plots of land, real estate and other properties worth hundreds of billions of dollars owned by the poor in Ghana could be formalised by legal reforms and used by their owners as collateral to secure funds to improve their lot.

To spearhead this transformation the Foundation, to be governed by a seven-member Board of Directors, will adopt and implement the Property Reform Programme developed by the Peruvian Economist Dr Hernando de Soto, who is the founder of Institute of Liberty and Democracy (ILD).

According to studies and analyses of non-western nations ILD conducted, property transactions of more than 70 per cent of the world's population take place outside the formal legal framework.

Dr de Soto has consequently asserted that developing countries and former communist countries have an estimated sum of 93 trillion dollars locked up in what he describes as "the dead capital".

Author of "The Mystery of Capital," he defines dead capital as: "property and other assets of the vast majority of the world's citizen's which are outside national and international regular economic activities."

"The ownership of the bulk of that property, be it real or land is anchored in controversy, contention and litigation."

In Peru, Egypt and other countries the Foundation for Building the Capital of the Poor, described by Former President Bill Clinton as the best economic idea in the world today, has unleashed the locked up capital of the poor for prosperous investments that have yielded significant tax revenue for their countries.

In the steps of its fore bearers, Ghana's Foundation would operate as a charitable, scientific, educational, research and non-profitable company to bring the success story to Ghana.

The foundation would facilitate private investments by educating companies to encourage them to provide capital, goods and services to create a commercial institution that would serve the newly viable low-income markets in Ghana.

In due course a regional training institute would be established in Accra for the benefit of other African countries interested in property reform programmes.

Members of the Board include Minister of Justice and Attorney-General Nana Addo-Dankwah Akufo-Addo, Lands and Forestry Minister Kasim Kasanga and Mr Kwadwo Baah-Wiredu, Minister of Local Government and Rural Development.

Dr de Soto, the President of the National House of Chiefs, Odeneho Gyapong Ababio, Mrs Stephanie Baeta-Ansah, Managing Director of Home Finance Company, Dr Kwasi Prempeh, Director of Legal Policy and Governance of the Centre for Democratic Development and two persons from the private sector to be nominated by President Kufuor, are also members.

Former US President Bill Clinton is a patron of the Foundation.

President Kufuor said a major challenge facing the government is how to convince chiefs, the people and other stakeholders to accept a uniform land tenure system.

The challenge is on how such uniformity would protect the rights of ownership and lending of lands to modern business practices in the country.

He said the National House of Chiefs, the embodiment of the country's customs and traditions is the best institution to assist the nation to bring about uniformity in land tenure system for the proper growth of the economy.

"Fortunately, the institution of chieftaincy is attracting many enlightened people on whom we can count to take on the challenge of educating the people. There is nothing to fear from harmonising and modernising land law and usage around the country."