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Govt. Transition
Team dismiss allegations of former Chief of Staff
Accra, Feb. 19, Ghanadot/GNA
– The Government Transition Team on Thursday dismissed
claims by former Chief of Staff Kwadwo Mpiani of
non-involvement of the former administration in the team’s
activities saying the government team had “at all times
acted in good faith”.
“(The Government side of the Transition Team) will make
details of its report available to the people of Ghana after
submitting it for the attention and consideration of His
Excellency the President,” it said in a statement signed by
Mr Alex Segbefia, Secretary to the Transition Team.
The statement said it considered some of the comments and
allegations of Mr Mpiani as “most unfortunate”.
It said compared to the treatment given to the NDC in 2001,
“the Government Transition Team has behaved with
circumspection and decorum”.
“Our President (John Evans Atta Mills) was both a victim and
an observer of the developments in the first transition
exercise and thought through the pain and anguish
experienced by his colleagues in 2001.
“In order not to allow for a situation where people might
wish to pay back for treatment previously meted out to them,
he gave strict instructions against a replay of the 2001
scenario.”
Providing details of its work, the government’s team said in
the first transition exercise in 2001, when the NDC handed
over to the NPP, the NPP side received “very comprehensive
and detailed handing over notes”.
On receipt of the handing over notes, the NPP Administration
did not see it fit to contact members of the previous
administration to seek clarification on any issues unclear
to them.
“Rather, they commenced criminal investigations and
commissioned forensic audits into projects and programmes
executed by the previous administration.
“Many members of the previous NDC administration were hauled
before a series of inquisitorial bodies namely police
investigators, BNI officials, the Serious Fraud Office and
finally some were prosecuted before the law courts.”
The statement said the approach of the NPP, in addition to
the shabby manner in which they handled the exit
arrangements for the outgoing NDC officials, brought about
hardship, inconvenience, harassment and embarrassment to
many former NDC office holders and held them up to ridicule
and contempt in the public eye.
The statement said the government transition team used the
very conciliatory framework for effecting transitions that
was proposed by the IEA, adding that these arrangements
“further tempered by fellow feeling and charity has brought
tremendous criticism of slowness to act and weakness in
victory upon the administration of President Mills”.
It said the NPP side gave its handing over notes to the
government side, which indicated that it would need time to
study them and contact them for further discussion.
“However, because the handing over notes submitted were not
very detailed and also were not clear on some issues…the
government side sought and obtained additional details from
civil servants and heads of various MDAs to obtain more
details.”
It said this additional information was what the government
team wished to discuss with the former government side and
they have now indicated that they were not ready to do so.
The government side stressed that it would not take
responsibility for the consequences of their choices as the
government made conclusions based on factual information
that had been made available.
It said guided by the desire to have a transition “without
tears” it decided to limit personal contacts between
political office holders as much as possible to avoid
needless friction.
“That is to say their participation was deliberately limited
but where it was possible to obtain the same information
from public servants in the MDAs this was what was done.”
It said the former government’s side had seen it fit to
condemn a report which had not been completed, adding that,
this perhaps suggested that “they wished to save themselves
the embarrassment of being confronted with the lapses in
their own stewardship”.
The statement said the Transition Team and its committee did
not function as tribunals but simply carried out the
business of obtaining information and fact-finding.
“What the side representing the previous administration is
rejecting is the participation in an honest and sincere
process that adds to the growth of Ghana’s democratic
culture and transparency,” it added.
GNA
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