The Citizen Watch, a think tank, has appealed to the government not to only prosecute officials of the National Democratic Congress (NDC) administration who are found culpable of corrupt activities while in government but to deal with anyone engaged in the act.
It noted that “it is time for us to drop the party colours and work for the nation by protecting the public purse, we should not pick and choose but prosecute anyone found culpable of corruption”.
The Citizen Watch explained that in recent times, there have been alleged corrupt cases leveled against some government appointees of the New Patriotic Party (NPP) administration referred to investigative bodies, Commission for Human Rights and Administrative Justice, Office of the Special Prosecutor and Economic and Organised Crime Office but was not enough.
In a statement issued in Accra yesterday, Francis Mensah, the Convener of Citizen Watch, intimated that “those found culpable, their properties should be confiscated by the state, be sold to defray losses incurred while in office because approach of fighting corruption should go beyond interdicting and resignation.
“We know the president is doing his part to stem corruption but not enough, must step up approach in this direction, the government should establish body to monitor and scrutinise work of investigative bodies,” the statement said but quizzed, “Who monitors and scrutinises work of investigative bodies to realise if they are doing the right thing or not?”
“The president suspended Adjenim Boateng Adjei, the Chief Executive Officer of the Public Procurement Authority, over allegations of corruption and conflict of interest, referred allegations involving conflict of interest to the Commission of Human Rights and Administrative Justice and those relating to potential acts of corruption to the Office of the Special Prosecutor for their prompt action.
“The corruption claims came in an investigative documentary conducted by Manasseh Azure Awuni, a freelance journalist titled ‘Contracts for Sale’. Additionally, Akosua Frema Osei-Opare, the Chief of Staff directed Emmanuel Sin-nyet Asigri, the Chief Executive Officer of the National Youth Authority to resign.
“This follows a petition brought to the attention of the Chief of Staff regarding procurement procedure breaches which the Public Procurement Authority is investigating, the president’s swift response to corruption can be graded as satisfactory but there must be improvement.
“We urge the government for quick implementation of Right To Information law to deepen democracy and development,” the statement said. -myjoyonline.com
