Nana Akomea
The New Patriotic Party (NPP) has observed that the recent Supreme Court order for the Attorney General (AG) to release the agreement signed between the governments of Ghana and the United States of America in respect of the transfer of two ex-Guantanamo Bay detainees (Gitmo 2) to Ghana, is an indication that the Mahama-led National Democratic Congress (NDC) administration is not running a transparent government.
“The 1992 Constitution is anchored on probity, transparency and accountability in the governance of the country. The NDC constitution also gives pride of place to the tenets of probity, transparency and accountability. President Mahama in the early days of his presidency, declared: ‘As President, l am committed to running a transparent and accountable government, devoid of corruption.’ It is therefore, with great shock that the NPP and many Ghanaians have observed the total lack of transparency and accountability in President Mahama ‘s government,” NPP Communications Director Nana Akomea, said in a statement yesterday.
Court Order
According to the NPP, it took a court to order the release of the agreement President Mahama had with the US government over the relocation of the former Gitmo detainees to Ghana and said, “That was a clear example of President Mahama’s non-transparency and non-accountability.”
The statement underscored, “In this Gitmo saga, with national security implications, Parliament of Ghana was kept in the dark. It is apparent that even Cabinet and the National Security Council were not fully briefed nor consulted as two cabinet ministers of state, also members of the National Security Council, have stated publicly they did not have full details of the Gitmo agreement.”
The NPP noted, “In the wake of the arrival in Ghana of the detainees, there was so much concern from Ghanaians on the implications for national and personal security, and possibly violation of the law. There were also so many conflicting statements on the conditions of the stay of the Gitmo 2 in Ghana. Despite the resultant widespread calls for full disclosure, President Mahama remained adamant.”
Smarttys Linkage
The NPP said the Gitmo 2 saga could be likened to the Smarttys controversial bus branding contract that sent tongues wagging due to the huge amount involved.
“The Smartty’s bus branding saga is another sad story in the governance of non-transparency and non-accountability. Public funds had been spent on the dubious decision to put colour images of President Mahama and NDC campaign slogan on public buses. When this activity and expenditure were exposed, there was great public indignation and protest. In response, government directed the Attorney General and Minister for Justice to investigate.
“Despite the huge public interest and agitation, the government refused to publish the findings of the Attorney General but rather issued a terse White Paper. It had to take a court order obtained by a group of patriotic citizens to order government to publish this report,” the party bemoaned.
GNPC Loans
According to the NPP, the Ghana National Petroleum Corporation (GNPC), a public body, procures loans that are secured by the Ghanaian taxpayer, but the corporation, with ‘tacit’ support from the government, had refused to disclose the terms and conditions of the loans.
“GNPC rather decided to fight a court action that sought to compel them to full disclosure before parliament. Even though the court upheld GNPC’s case, the strong and costly resistance they put up against disclosing loan agreements to parliament, has further dented the aims of transparency and accountability in governance,” the party claimed.
ADB Shares
The party also said that Agriculture Development Bank (ADB), a public financial institution, recently embarked on shares floatation and despite calls and expectations that the terms and conditions should be disclosed before parliament, “ADB refused and instead resorted to all kinds of manoeuvres, giving rise to allegations of bribery, just to avoid disclosure.”
The statement said the bank’s actions had the “tacit support of a government that had proclaimed transparency and accountability to the people of Ghana.”
By William Yaw Owusu