CJA calls for accountability of NPP regime

The pressure group, Committee for Joint Action (CJA), on Tuesday called on the new National Democratic Congress (NDC) government to deal with issues of corruption and maladministration as part of the promises it made to Ghanaians.
     The group said whereas it was refreshing to note that Ghanaians did not hesitate in showing the Kufuor administration the exit, it was also important that the larger question of accountability was addressed.
     Mr Kwesi Pratt Jnr., a member of the CJA, speaking at a press conference in Accra, said it was not enough to vote out a corrupt regime but allow its officials and functionaries to escape public accountability.
     He said public officials of the past regime who were cited for various corrupt practices must be made to face the full rigours of the law. 
     Mr Pratt expressed the hope that the Atta Mills administration would honour the pledges made to the people of Ghana by conclusively dealing with the issues of corruption and maladministration raised by the CJA.
     The group also called on the government to review all the cases raised by the CJA and ensure that every pesewa lost to the Ghanaian tax payer was recovered.
     "We wish to put it beyond doubt that we shall measure the President Mills-led NDC government by the same yardstick we used to measure the New Patriotic Party (NPP) when they were in power," he added.
     The CJA had over the past few years accused the NPP administration of corruption and maladministration as a result various audit reports from the Auditor General and Public Accounts Committee.
     The group cited various corrupt practices at the National Health Insurance Scheme (NHIS), Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Regional Integration and NEPAD and the Ministry of Water Resources, Works and Housing.
     He said there were also doubtful payments at the Ministry of Education, Ministry of Transportation, Ministry of Trade and Industry, and Ministry of Tourism and Diasporan Relations.
     The CJA further alleged that in eight ministries alone under the NPP government, money amounting to 440,814,014,679 cedis was lost to the public in 2005 as a direct result of a combination of factors including corruption, maladministration, inefficiency and sheer negligence.
     The group said they look forward to the reduction in fuel prices and taxes that President Mills promised during the campaign.
     The CJA further urged the Mills administration to conduct thorough investigations into the circumstances surrounding the sale of 70 per cent shares of Ghana Telecom to Vodafone with the ultimate aim of reviewing the transaction.
     They said the NDC government must also ensure that all state lands, buildings and other properties illegally sold to former government officials and members of the NPP were returned to the state.
     The CJA also urged the government as a matter of urgency to investigate the gruesome murder of Yaa-Na and 30 of his kinsmen as well as the murder of Alhaji Issah Mobilla and bring the perpetrators to book.
GNA