Blame NPP, NDC for transition woes – Lecturer

All governments so far in the Fourth Republic should be blamed for the problems that have characterised the transfer of power from one government to the other, following their failure to resource the office of the Administrator General to ensure a smooth transition, Dr Edward Brenya, a political science lecturer at the Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology (KNUST), has said.

His comment follows allegations made by Yaw Osafo Marfo, leader of the New Patriotic Party’s transition team, that the government had carried out recruitment for the security services after the 2016 presidential results were declared by the Electoral Commission.

Although the government has denied such allegations, Dr Brenya said if the office of the Administrator General had been well resourced, some of these allegations would not have arisen.

Speaking in an interview with Emefa Apawu, host of Class91.3FM’s ‘505’ programme on Wednesday December 14, Dr Brenya said: “I think that this allegation by former Minister of Finance Osafo Marfo that the government is alleged to be recruiting people into the security services and entering into contracts, if indeed it is true, I believe is not worth it.

“I believe something of this sort has been going on because governments, right from Rawlings’ time to Mahama’s time have failed to actually ensure the office of Administrator General is well resourced so that that office could actually prepare all the administrative service to ensure a smooth transition.

“When government decides at the last minute to be entering into some activities like this, I think it doesn’t augur well because you are creating a situation that sort of puts one that you are actually employing to make their lives difficult. I don’t think it actually creates that environment that ensures a smooth transition. So I foresee a problem with the transition if indeed this is how it has started.”