Ghana 2012 presidential aspirants must undergo compulsory medicals : John Boadu

The New Patriotic Party’s Deputy Director of Communications for election 2012, John Boadu has called for a compulsory and thorough health check for all persons hoping to contest next year’s presidential and parliamentary elections.

According to him, the exercise is necessary to help electorates know the state of health of the various candidates so they can choose candidates who are healthy and also meet the dictates of Article 69(c) of the 1992 constitution which requires prospective candidates to the office of president must be of sound mind.

Speaking on Minority Caucus, a political talk show on Multi TV, Mr. Boadu said “for me, I will insist (that) in 2012 elections, as the constitution says, we must make sure almost everybody that contests, both in parliamentary and presidential elections goes through health check in order to ensure that we are voting for what we required.”

Commenting on President Mills’ leave of absence, John Boadu raised concerns about the President’s decision to spend his holidays outside the borders of the country.

“How on earth will any President anywhere decide to spend his holidays outside his own country with all the facilities, the communication directors, the Presidential aides, and the staffers? What is the total cost of this expensive presidency and expensive holiday” he queried.

According to him, President Mills should have considered vacationing at any of the tourist sites in the country adding that such an initiative would boost the fortunes of the country’s tourist attractions.

Describing the Mills-Mahama administration as the most expensive government in the country’s political history, Mr. Boadu contended “we are running an expensive executive presidency, and he (Mills) is the only president that has incurred so much debt in the history of our country. No president compares himself with the appetite for incurring debt for the people of this country more than his Excellency J.E.A. Mills.”

He also raised issues with the huge number of Presidential Aides in the Mills-Mahama administration indicating that “never in the history of this country have we had so many people as presidential aide. Strangely enough, just within two years, the basic salary of an equal colleague in the Atta mills administration is taking 3800, some of them are taking 4000, some of them are taking 5000 to the extent that in this government, the presidential staffers are so many that they are not able to have offices at the Castle.”

Recent comments made by some leading members of the Committee for Joint Action [CJA] indicating that the Kufuor-led NPP administration was more corrupt than the current NDC were dismissed by John Boadu.

Enumerating a number of cases of corruption he has identified in the Mills-Mahama administration, Mr. Boadu pointed out “CJA if you want to know, the NYEP Coordinator in the Ashanti Mampong municipality inflated the number of workers, an investigation was carried, he used the excess money to run the NDC office both at the regional level and at the constituency level. CJA, the president was accused of using GH¢90 million for his FONKA and GAME. CJA are you aware of Carl Wilson and his activities? CJA, are you aware that Asiedu Nketia is a member of a board of which he has a company that supplies the same company of which he is a member blocks… CJA, aren’t you aware that so far, tender board has never given a report to this nation?”

He further dismissed recent calls by the CJA for the prosecution of former NPP officials who are alleged to have cost financial loss to the state.

source : joyfm

Because Accountability Counts – A Journalist guide for covering post-elections

Because Accountability Counts – A Journalist guide for covering post-elections in Ghana is one of the key building blocks for Ghana Post-elections Intervention Project whose main objective is to help overcome the challenges and problems affecting citizens’ ability to hold elected representatives accountable for promises they make during pre-election campaigns. The guide’s main objective is to empower journalists and other stakeholders
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