Mills should go beyond investigations — CDD

Governance think tank, Center for Democratic Development (CDD), says President John Evans Atta Mills should go beyond directing the Attorney General’s Department to instituting full-scale investigations into the bribery scandal which involves some ministers in his government.

President John Evans Atta Mills

Mabey & Johnson, a United Kingdom construction firm last Friday is reported to have said it paid lump sums of money to some government officials before it won a road construction contract in 1995, after pleading guilty for corruptible practice at the Southwark Crown Court in London.

Some of the names that came up in the trail included high profile elements of the National Democratic Congress-NDC among who where Mr Kwame Peprah, ex-Finance Minister in the Rawlings regime, Dr Sipa Yankey, current Minister of Health, Dr Ato Quarshie, also one time Roads and Highways Minister who served under ex-President Jerry John Rawlings.

According to Kojo Asante, a policy analyst at CDD, the whole truth of the matter can only be ascertained if a commission or a committee is set up to delve deep into the matter.

“The issue at hand clearly merits a serious committee or commission of enquiry to go into the matter. And I am of the firm belief that without that government would find it extremely difficult to get to the bottom of the matter,” submitted Mr Asante, stressing that the credibility of the Mills led- administration is on the line.

He said this on Joy FM, an Accra based radio station on Monday when the radio station sought for his views on the bribery scandal and the call for investigations into the matter by President Mills.

Although he lauded President Mills for instructing the AG to institute investigations into the issue, he could not fathom why he did not relieve Dr Sipa Yankey whose name was mentioned to step aside pending the investigations.

He added that the possibility of Dr Sipa Yankey interfering with investigations is high, since his position as Health Minister offers him enough grounds and the opportunity to monitor how far the investigations would go.

Continuing, he said the issue at hand is a major test case for President Mills’ administration to wipe out the perception that exist in the minds of people that politicians turn a blind eye to the offenses committed by their fellow party members and instead deal with their opponents.

However, Mrs Betty Mould-Iddrisu, the Minister of Justice and Attorney General is reported to have said that the bribery scandal does not warrant any special commission.

According to her, the nature of the matter is such that the internal structures within government would be able to deal with the issue.

BY STEPHEN DARKO