Spokesperson of the government transition team Hanna Serwaa Tetteh has again dismissed allegations that some handing over notes from the current government to the incoming government have been doctored.
On Thursday, December 15, Acting General Secretary of the New Patriotic Party (NPP) John Boadu alleged that aside some handing over notes being doctored, documents on some government vehicles are being destroyed.
But in a statement issued a few hours after the allegation was made, Ms Tetteh expressed frustration how the NPP appears to be looking for “any opportunity it can obtain to demonize the out-going NDC administration instead of concentrating on understanding the state of affairs of the respective Ministries, Departments and Agencies over which they will soon have political oversight”.
The Foreign Affairs Minister said the handing over notes, for instance, were ready within the time frame stipulated by the Presidential (Transition) Act, 2012.
“However, the Ministers responsible for each sector Ministry were required to sign the handing over notes before sending them to the office of the Administrator General.
“The last two months of the year have been a period of intense campaigning and not all Ministers had the opportunity to review the notes and sign them within the period defined in the law.”
She continued that even eight were handed over to the team of the President-elect at the start of discussions while the rest have been promised to be made available on Monday, December 19 at the next meeting of the two teams.
“Other allegations have been made in the public domain to the effect that the Government is recruiting new employees and signing contracts, creating the impression that the outgoing administration is engaging in acts of illegality.
“It is important to point out that the current administration is the lawfully elected government of the Republic of Ghana and has the authority to exercise all the functions of government until the hand-over takes place to a new administration.
“The transition process should not be seen as a shutdown of the administration of the outgoing government.”
The statement says government machinery and institutions will continue to work under the laws of the country till January 7, 2017, when an official handover is done.
She indicated that grey areas can be quickly clarified from leaders of the respective teams or even directly from individual members than one team rushing to the media to discuss issues to do with the process.
“We wish to assure the people of Ghana that on the side of the out-going administration we are ready to do everything necessary to ensure a smooth transition.”
“The members of the transition team of the current administration want to affirm our commitment to ensuring a smooth handing over process to further enhance Ghana’s reputation as a beacon of democracy on the continent of Africa.”
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