Gov't condemns Minority, Kufuor calls for inquiry into fires

Government has denounced calls by former President John Kufuor and the Minority in Parliament, for a committee of inquiry to be set up to investigate recent fire outbreaks across the country.

Minority Members of Parliament last week filed a motion requesting a debate on the setting up of the commission of enquiry into the recent fires.

On Thursday July 18, President Kufuor also gave his backing to the Minority’s calls.

But addressing journalists at the Daily Media briefing at the presidency on Friday, Deputy Information Minister, Ibrahim Murtala Mohammed, said the minority’s demand is surprising; considering an independent state institution has already investigated the matter.

"The investigation [has] not been done by NDC as a political party, neither [has] it been done by the executive arm of government," stressing there is the need to respect the security agencies who conducted the inquiry.

He condemned what he claimed to be a deliberate attempt to discredit independent state institutions when political parties are in opposition, and called for an end to the phenomenon.

He said the report will not be the property of the American forensic experts who came to assist the local security agencies, but a property of the security agencies who would subsequently forward it to the president.

According to him, once the report is finalised and submitted to the president, the findings about the fires would be made available to the public.