Has Prez Mills given up on corruption or… AFAG

The Alliance for Accountable Governance (AFAG) has condemned as untenable, comments by Majority leader in parliament, Cletus Avoka, to the effect that the passage of the Freedom of Information (FOI) bill is not a priority issue.

A statement issued by AFAG Thursday, said the Majority Leader's position was shocking especially when his own political party considered it important enough to draft a promise to pass the act in its 2008 campaign manifesto.

“AFAG wishes to remind the majority leader that, it was his own party the NDC of which he leads their representation in Parliament, who promised the good people of Ghana during the 2008 elections that, once elected into Government, they will deal with the passage of the FOI bill as soon as possible to demonstrate their commitment to the fight against corruption.

“Interestingly today, the leader of the majority in Parliament has the effrontery to display such arrogance by stating categorically that, the FOI bill is not a priority. Is it the case that, the President has lost his moral commitment to the fight on corruption? Or the case is that, the Ghanaian does not deserve enough to demand of Government to account for some manifesto promises made during the 2008 elections?”

According to the group, its search shows that the New Patriotic Party government under President J.A. Kufour repealed the Criminal libel law and enacted other laws to demonstrate its commitment to the fight against corruption, however, “AFAG can't make mention of any bill passed under President Mills which is aimed at tackling the menace of corruption in this country. We are however aware of a range of corruption scandals, rocking various sectors under the watch of His Excellency with little or no effort taken to reprimand such public officials and their allies.”

The group called on President Mills to declare his position on the FOI bill passage. It also demanded of the Minority in Parliament to “state their position on the Majority leader's comment.”

“ In furtherance to this, and in support of the noble works of the Coalition on Right to Information in Ghana, AFAG is urging all Political parties in the spirit of solidarity to renew per a statement their commitment to the coalition call for the urgent passage of the FOI.”