Reconciliation Bill under consideration
Accra (Greater Accra) 21 November 2001 - Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo, Attorney General and Minister of Justice, on Tuesday said approval was being sought for the judicial council to constitute its membership into a tender board for major financial transactions of the judicial service.
Plans, he said, were also far advanced to prune down the excess work force of the service and to deal with all suspected cases of ghost names on pay rolls of the service.
Nana Akufo-Addo, answering a question posed by Paul Appiah-Ofori, NPP-Asikuma/Odoben/Brakwa, in Parliament said funds misapplied from the deposit account of the service, 1.5 billion cedis, was expenditure authorised by the late Chief
Justice.
He said the reports disclosed serious lapses in the structure and financial administration of the service, adding that on assumption of office the then acting Chief Justice, Justice Edward Kwame Wiredu restructured the financial administration by appointing a new financial controller and transferred key officers from the department.
Among other measures instituted by the Chief Justice were appointment of a new head of audit, increasing its staff and frequency of spot audit.
Nana Akufo-Addo said new appointments have been made to an inspectorate department to monitor payments of fines and fees.
Persons and companies identified as culprits included Integrated Electronic Services, Anthony Quashie, a storekeeper, Gabriel Daniel, Deputy Financial Controller and the entire management.
They were accused of failure to account for public address system for which over 96 million cedis was paid, payment of 14 million cedis for maintenance of uninstalled recording machines, payments of 16.5 million for uninstalled software and lapses in the award of contracts.
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Accra (Greater Accra) 21 November 2001 - The Speaker of Parliament, Mr Peter Ala Adjetey on Tuesday set the tone for the debate on the National Reconciliation Bill when he reminded members to remove emotions and acrimonious points that would not be reconciliatory in their contributions.
"You are reminded that we are considering the Reconciliation Bill and that matters that did not promote reconciliation should be kept out of the debate", he said.
Mr Adjetey made the point to bring Captain Nkrabeah Effah-Dartey (rtd), NPP-Berekum and Deputy Minister of Local Government and Rural Development on track when he began referring to issues of atrocities in the Provisional National Defence Council (PNDC) era.
"It is for us to acknowledge that there were injustices committed in the past during unconstitutional periods of governance." Capt Effah-Dartey said there have been feelings of bitterness by relatives of those, who suffered some degree of human rights abuses.
Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo, Attorney General and Minister of Justice took the House through the second reading of the Bill.
He read the memorandum to the Bill and quoted President John Agyekum Kufuor, who in his inaugural address said, "our greatest enemy is poverty.
"And the battle against poverty starts with reconciling our people and forging ahead in unity. We have gone through turbulent times and we should not in any way down play or brush aside the wrongs that have been suffered. I do not ask that we forget, indeed we dare not forget, but I do plead that we try to forgive."
Nana Akufo-Addo said it was in the NPP Manifesto to establish a National Reconciliation Committee as a special assignment "to heal the festering sores within our body politic".
Alhaji Muhammad Mumuni, NDC-Kumbungu said the establishment of the Commission posed a challenge to Parliament and the nation for desired reconciliation to be achieved.
He said a platform needed to be created to ventilate the wrongs so that there would be a healing effect instead of raking old wounds that would do no one good.
Alhaji Mumuni said the history of the country needed to be authoritatively written with accurate events to establish the facts as they were and warned that "if at the end the Commission did not unite Ghanaians then we would have failed the nation.
"But that a story would be told where the perpetrators would listen and repent so that the repercussions would not be a boomerang."
He said Ghana has all along been described as an oasis of stability and peace and that those attributes should not be destroyed on the altar of partisan and parochial interest.
He called for openness, an all-inclusiveness and participatory and consultative approach to the work of the Commission so that it would involve Parliament and civil society.
Alhaji Mumuni said at the appropriate time the Minority would make inputs into the Bill to enhance its passage.
Mr Kwame Osei-Prempeh, NPP-Nsuta Kwamang, said the appointment of members of the Commission by the President in consultation with the Council of State was in the right direction.
He said those opposing the President from doing that were defeating the argument adding: "The Electoral Commissioner was appointed by the NDC (National Democratic Congress) government. The NDC lost the election so do we say that that appointment was wrong."
He said all the abuses in Kwame Nkrumah and Busia regimes had been atoned for and that it was the PNDC era that people had not been brought to book about human rights abuses.
Mr Cletus Avoka, NDC-Bawku West, cautioned that care should be taken that the objective of the Bill of uniting the country would not open the floodgates to destruction.
He said Ghana should take a cue from other countries that have established such commissions and examine whether they had achieved their objectives or that it was only money spent in futility to the detriment of people.
Mr Avoka said following from Ghana's experience of about 10 years constitutional rule could it not be said that the country was united enough to avoid the establishment of the Commission.
He said the money to be used on the Commission could better be utilised on strengthening the existing constitutional bodies that dealt with human rights abuses. It would also be better if such a fund were used to fight poverty, disease and under-development, which were the enemies of the people.
Mr John Kwekucher Ackah, NDC-Aowin-Suaman, said since the Bill was meant to be a national exercise it should be viewed in a national character and not focus on only those who suffered during military regimes since others too suffered during the First and Second Republics.
He said the membership of the Commission merits the consideration of the President but in seeking approval Parliament's role needed to be sought.
Mr Ackah said what was most worrying was that the Committee was silent about Parliament's role in the Reconciliation Bill and advised the Attorney - General to take input from Parliament to make it more national.
Mr Seidu Adamu, NDC-Bibinai, said many people had suffered all forms of human rights abuses during all the regimes and that no violation could be said to be less grave than others.
He said the exercise of reconciliation should be holistic and not limited to any particular period and said there was the need for looking at the Bill in its entirety to make sure "we do not add more pain to injury".
Mr Stephen Adoma-Yeboah, NPP-Dormaa East, said it was only under unconstitutional governments and transitional periods that people could not seek redress under the law.
Mr Kobina Tahir Hammond, NPP-Adansi Asokwa and Deputy Minister of Energy, said there was the need for all to be given the chance to come out of their disenchantments to ensure national reconciliation.
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