Minority leader criticises Reconciliation Bill

The Minority Leader in Parliament, Mr Alban Bagbin had stated that the National Democratic Congress (NDC) would allow the PNDC/NDC era to be investigated only when the reconciliation exercise was extended to cover all regimes since independence.

He cautioned that the reconciliation exercise being envisaged by the government could unite the nation only when it told the people the "truth behind the Reconciliation Bill".

Mr Bagbin was speaking at a public forum organised by the Koforidua Polytechnic branch of the Tertiary Institutions Network (TEIN) of the NDC, at the weekend to mark its second anniversary.

He referred to the proposed Reconciliation Bill, which would be laid before Parliament on Tuesday and queried why the Bill sought to limit the exercise to only military regimes, "when severe atrocities and human rights abuses occurred in past civilian regimes".

He wondered why the "NPP government was afraid to extend the investigations to the Busia and Nkrumah regimes" where, according to him, "several disappearances occurred and bombs were thrown at political opponents".

The Minority Leader said contrary to its principles of democracy, the government was "only interested in entrenching itself in power and has devised a system of intimidation to put fear into its political opponents".

He alleged that the arrest and intimidation of NDC activists and appointment of people from other opposition parties into the government, were attempt to stifle the opposition and suppress multi-party democracy in the country.

Mr Bagbin, who is also the Member of Parliament for Nadowli North, pointed out that the criticisms of the government by the minority parties was not meant to bring it down but to ensure that the government did the right thing and "not misuse power".

He said the NDC was "happy that it was in the opposition since it would give the people the opportunity to judge the two governments during the 2004 elections".

Mr Bagbin explained that the re-organisation of the NDC was the first step in "putting the party on a sound footing" and urged the students to co-operate with the committee to come out with policies that would benefit the party.

The National Youth Organiser of the NDC, Mr Enoch Teye Mensah, attributed the defeat of the party in the December elections to "misinformation and politics of deception by the NPP" and said Ghanaians voted for the NPP because of lies told about the NDC.

He said the government has shown that it rather has "zero tolerance for criticism but not corruption" and has been waging a "campaign of lies to destroy the NDC".

Mr Mensah said the arrest of some leading members of the party was a calculated attempt to collapse the party.

The MP for Bibiani, Mr Seidu Adamu reiterated that the minority criticisms of the government were not to run the country down but to offer "constructive advice" to enable the government to perform better.

He alleged that more than 2,000 people had lost their jobs within the six months the government took over power through "bad policies of fuel and tariff increases".

The MP for Fanteakwa, Mr Samuel Ofosu Ampofo said there was the need to allow the minority parties to grow to ensure true democracy in the country.