Yaw Osafo Marfo
The incoming New Patriotic Party (NPP) government says it has gathered information that the outgoing John Mahama-led National Democratic Congress (NDC) administration is ‘improperly’ dishing out fresh contracts and selling off state assets after losing the December 7 elections.
The NPP also expressed apprehension about the sudden rise in recruitment of personnel into the Military, Police Service and other security agencies.
It believes those feverishly being recruited into these institutions are National Democratic Congress (NDC) activists, who might not be well qualified.
A statement released by the party in Accra yesterday claimed, “Intelligence confirms that there is a sudden rise in recruitment of personnel into government agencies, the Military and the Police as well as widespread promotions, appointments and releases in Ministries, Departments and Agencies (MDAs) since the election results were announced on December 9, 2016.”
The party also alleged that there are some unauthorized movements of government vehicles, as well as confiscated ones from parking lots of the Tema and Takoradi Ports and the STC Yard in Accra.
It therefore called on the Transition Team to, as a matter of urgency, order a freeze on all such recruitments and such unauthorized movements of government or confiscated vehicles in order to avoid possible clashes between NPP and NDC activists.
Osafo-Maafo’s Concern
The representative of the president-elect on the Transition Team, Yaw Osafo-Maafo, reiterated the allegations by his party at the second meeting of the team held at the International Conference Centre in Accra yesterday.
He said, “We have heard of ongoing recruitment into the security services now which we hope is not true. We have heard of the conversion of temporary staff of political assistants and some of the staff we took on into permanent public servants.
“We have heard of the awarding of new contracts after the election results were announced on December 9. We’ve heard of the procurement and sale of national assets after the results.
“I hope it is not true. We do not want to believe that these allegations are true.”
Mr. Osafo-Maafo urged government officials to be circumspect in their actions, stating that “we need to be cautious; we need to be transparent; we need to be candid and we need to be factual.”
He entreated the outgoing NDC administration to consult the incoming government within the transition period before binding agreements are finalized.
“We are therefore, appealing to our colleagues, if there is a need for an agreement to be concluded, it is only fair that you bring in the in-waiting government, discuss and get the green light to carry it out,” he said.
Gov’t Denies Allegations
Meanwhile, the spokesperson for the government’s Transition Team, Foreign Minister Hanna Tetteh, has denied the allegation of the NDC government awarding new contracts.
Speaking to the media after the plenary session of the team yesterday, Ms. Tetteh said, “I am not aware of any contracts being awarded, I am not aware of the sale of government properties.”
On the other hand, the outgoing Foreign Minister said she was aware of an advertisement in some newspapers announcing the opening of recruitment into the Ghana Armed Forces.
“However, it is unlikely that the recruitment exercise will be concluded before January 7, in which case the incoming administration will have the responsibility and have the oversight to see how the exercise is concluded.
“The question really is to make sure that whatever exercise takes place, takes place in a transparent manner and that if there are any concerns that the transition team wishes to raise, one would hope that it will be addressed,” she added.
Handing Over Notes Ready
DAILY GUIDE learnt at the time of going to press last night that seven handing over notes had been received from seven ministries by the Transition Team.
The government transition team has also denied reports that the handing over notes for President-elect Nana Akufo-Addo, are not ready.
On Tuesday, there were statements from the NPP Transition Team that it had not received copies of the handing over notes because they were not ready.
However, the government team, in a statement released on that day, insisted that the handing over notes for every ministry were ready and that the process of the transition was set to begin.
“We wish to state that the handing over notes from each ministry that are to be given to the Transition Team for the incoming administration are ready, and indeed were prepared before the elections were held on the 7th of December,” according to the statement.
Challenges
A governance fellow at the Institute of Economic Affairs (IEA), Professor Ransford Gyampoh, has said the presidential transition process would face several challenges.
He explained that the office of Administrator General, which is critical to overseeing the transition process, is in dire need of resources to execute its mandate under the amended Presidential Transitional Act.
Speaking to Citi Fm, Prof. Gyampoh said, “In the law, there is a time period that he is supposed to go, take an audit of assets of the state, those at the presidency, those at the ministry, departments and agencies and then document them and all that.
“But you speak to him and he is helpless because he has a problem with office space; he has no vehicle; he has no serious staff working with him and he suffers logistical challenges that will enable him to work.”
The 16-member Transition Team was officially jointly inaugurated on Sunday, December 12, 2016 by President Mahama and President-elect Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo.
By Cephas Larbi
cephrok@yahoo.com