Govt Transition Team denies allegations
The Government Transition Team (GTT) has denied allegations of impropriety made by some executive members of the New Patriotic Party (NPP) against the government and the team.
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A statement issued by the Spokesperson of the GTT, Ms Hanna Tetteh, said allegations had been made to the effect that the government was recruiting new employees and signing contracts, creating the impression that the out-going government was engaging in acts of illegality.
It pointed out that the current administration was the lawfully elected government of Ghana and had the authority to exercise all the functions of government until it hands over to a new administration.
Therefore, it said, the transition process “should not be seen as a shutdown of the administration of the out-going government.”
‘Doctored’ hand-over notes
The statement said the GTT had learnt that some allegations had been made by the acting General Secretary of the NPP, Mr John Boadu, to the effect that the hand-over notes that had been made available to the incoming government had so far been doctored,
“The statement is regrettable and ill-informed and indeed conveys the impression that the NPP is looking for any opportunity it can obtain to demonise the out-going NDC administration instead of concentrating on understanding the state of affairs of the respective Ministries, Departments and Agencies (MDAs) over which they will soon have political oversight,” it said.
Hand-over notes ready
According to the statement, the hand-over notes for the various MDAs were ready within the time frame required by the Presidential Transition Act, 2012 (Act 845).
However, it said the ministers responsible for the various sector ministries were required to sign the hand-over notes before sending them to the office of the Administrator General.
“The last two months of the year have been a period of immense campaigning and not all ministers had the opportunity to review the notes and sign them within the period defined in the law.
“That notwithstanding, the hand-over notes are now all complete and are available to be handed over to the Transition Team of the President-elect,” it said.
The statement said at the meeting of the Transition Team held last Wednesday, the reports from eight of the ministries were handed over.
Further, it said at the Transition Team meeting last Wednesday, it was agreed that the rest of the hand-over notes would be made available at the next meeting of the Transition Team on Monday, December 19, 2016.
No witch-hunt
The statement said both sides of the Transition Team owed it to Ghanaians to make their best efforts to work together to facilitate a peaceful transition, saying “the more we engage each other as opposed to engaging ourselves through the media, the better it would be for the success of the process that we are undertaking.
“We do not believe that the transition exercise should be used as a platform to facilitate a witch-hunt after the new administration of the next President takes over the reins of government,” it said.
The statement said members of the GTT were available for consultation and discussion with their counterparts on the other side in respect of any concerns that they might have at any time.
It said requests for discussions, information or clarification could be made to the leadership of the Transition Team on the government side or directly to individual members of the team.
It assured the public that the out-going administration was ready to do everything necessary to ensure a smooth hand-over process to further enhance Ghana’s reputation as a beacon of democracy on the African continent.
