State assets are safe — Administrator General
The Administrator General of the Presidential Estates Unit (PEU), Mr David Yaro, has assured Ghanaians that state assets are secure for a smooth transition.
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He said the comprehensiveness of plans executed prior to the transition, as well as checks and balances embedded in processes to document state assets, provided the basis for a smooth transfer of power.
In an interview with the Daily Graphic, Mr Yaro advised both sides of the transition team to be patient and open, as all issues of interest were covered in the handing over notes.
He said notwithstanding the comprehensiveness of the notes, members of the transition team could easily skim and skip subject areas to specific issues to facilitate the discussions.
That was because, he said, handover notes had been written in accordance with best international standards and practices.
He said although the notes were bulky, as they covered all conceivable issues relating to the transition, they were well outlined for easy assimilation of the key issues pertaining to sectors.
The assurances given by Mr Yaro come on the heels of the maiden meeting of the transition team on December 14, 2016 and its aftermath, with news that the notes were bulky, and that the outgoing government was hurriedly regularising the employment status of some people and giving new contracts.
State assets
Mr Yaro urged the public, especially party members, who were seizing tollbooths to desist from the practice or face the law.
He said tollbooths and public places of convenience were all state assets and did not belong to a party to warrant their seizure by others during the transition period.
He said inventories of those facilities and other assets, when reviewed, could lead to a situation where those involved in the seizure of those assets could be brought to book and made to pay for any losses incurred by the state during the period of seizure.
Facilitation
The Office of the Administrator General facilitates the completion of handover notes for a smooth transition.
Although the Presidential (Transition) Act, 2012 (Act 845) charges the Office of the President with the responsibility for the preparation of handover notes, the Office of the Administrator General, with its staff complement, facilitated the preparation and took the opportunity to also update its records of state assets, vehicles and all other processes required in the running of the state.
After a review of the 2012 handover notes which were found wanting, the Office of the Administrator General developed a comprehensive outline for reporting.
The Administrator General held workshops for heads of ministries, metropolitan, municipal and district assemblies, as well as independent government agencies, on how reporting on state assets could be handled effectively.
After reviews of drafts, the Office of the Administrator General passed the notes through quality assurance processes before final reviews and completion.
Mr Yaro said he was waiting to be formally notified by the Office of the President to make the notes available to Parliament, the Chief Justice, the Council of State and the Public Records and Archives Administration Department (PRAAD), in line with Section 7 (2) (b) of Act 845.
Comprehensive
Describing the notes as “a comprehensive working tool for any incoming government”, he outlined some of the thematic areas covered in the notes.
Apart from vehicles and assets of the government, the notes capture the staff of the various ministries and agencies.
They also capture critical events of sectors that need action by the incoming head of the agency within a month.
He said it would, therefore, be easy for the incoming government to check on employment details.
“We assumed that the notes were for a person coming into a new office and so all issues had to be outlined,” he said.
“Also included in the notes are donor-funded projects and programmes, timelines of programmes and all pending legislation and administrative actions needing immediate action by the incoming head,” he said.
On recommendations to the President, in consonance with Article 179 of the 1992 Constitution, for budgetary allocation for the transition, in accordance with Section 8 (4) of Act 845, Mr Yaro said the Administrator General had to defer that to the Office of the President because it did not have the requisite technical capacity to undertake that work.