Gov’t denies claims of doctoring handing over notes

Spokesperson of the government transition team has described as “regrettable” and “ill-informed” allegations that some handing over notes to the incoming government have been doctored.

The statement from Hanna Tetteh comes after the acting General Secretary of the New Patriotic Party (NPP) alleged that some of the handing over notes have been doctored.

“There are a lot of NDC people going round trying to auction cars and shredding documents. Per the Transition Act, ministers are expected to file their handing over notes 30 days before the general elections, but as we speak, majority of the ministries have not done so,” John Boadu alleged.

But, Hanna Tetteh in a statement said the allegation “conveys the impression that the NPP is 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”

Below is the full statement from the government’s transition team

RE: INFORMATION CONTAINED IN THE HANDING OVER NOTES

It has come to the attention of the Government's transition team that some allegations have been made by the Acting General Secretary of the New Patriotic Party (NPP), to the effect that the handing over notes that have been made available to them so far have been "doctored".

The statement is regrettable and ill-informed and indeed conveys the impression that the NPP is 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 handing over notes for the various Ministries, Departments and Agencies were ready within the time frame required by the Presidential Transition Act, 2012 (Act 845), 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.

That notwithstanding, the handing over notes are now all complete and are available to be handed over to the Transition team of the President elect.

Indeed at yesterday's meeting of the Transition team the reports from eight of the Ministries were handed over.

Further at the meeting of the Transition team held yesterday (14/12/16) it was agreed that the rest of the handing over notes would be made available at the next meeting of the Transition team on Monday the 19th of December.

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 shut down of the administration of the outgoing government.

Members of the Government's transition team are available for consultation and discussion with our counterparts on the other side in respect of any concerns they may have at any time.

The Committees that have been established under the provisions of the Act are required to work to ensure a smooth transition and are appropriate venues for discussions of any issues.

Requests for discussions/information/clarification can be made to the leadership of the transition team on the government side or directly to individual members of the team.

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.

While there has been a mandate for the change of political leadership as a result of the outcome of the elections held on the 7th of December 2016, the Government machinery and the institutions of government remain and continue their operations under the laws of our Republic.

Both sides of the Transition team owe it to the people of Ghana to make our best efforts to work together to facilitate a peaceful transition and the more we engage each other as opposed to engaging ourselves through the media, the better it would be for the success of the process that we are undertaking.

We do not believe that the transition exercise should be used as a platform to facilitate a witch-hunt, after the new administration of the next President takes over the reigns of Government.

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.

Hanna Tetteh

Minister of Foreign Affairs and Regional Integration

Spokesperson for the Government Transition Team

Dated at Accra this 15th day of December 2016.