Keeping Kwesi Botchwey report secret dangerous – Spio Garbrah

Presidential hopeful and leading member of the opposition National Democratic Congress (NDC) Ekow Spio-Garbrah has warned against the continues treating of the Kwesi Botchwey report as top secret.

In his view, the manner in which contents of the heavily guarded classified report is being handled is problematic, adding that going forward it could have dire consequences for the NDC if the status quo remains.

The largest opposition party after its crushing defeat in the 2016 general elections commissioned a 13- member fact finding committee chaired by former Finance Minister, Dr. Kwesi Botchwey to diagnose what led to the NDC’s loss.

Five months after the committee presented its report to National Executives, the party has kept the report under lock and key saying it’s not meant for public consumption.

The report is said to make damning revelations on how campaign funds never got to their intended destinations, divisions in the party and how the party’s election collation centre broke down during the polls.

Some media houses have reportedly intercepted a copy an executive summary of the classified report and have been serializing contents of the report, although the party insists it’s fake.

Speaking on Metro TV’s Good Evening Ghana show, the former Trade and Industry Minister said it’s important that the party executives review the manner in which the report is being managed as it interested party members could take legal action to force the report out.

“I believe the party has put all factors into consideration in the manner in which it’s handling the report. I have my own views as to how to manage it quite differently and I’m happy to share that with the Chairman and General Secretary when I get the chance. I think it’s gotten to a point, …you see when you keep information so tight that it becomes like a balloon which is about to bust, if you just puncture it there’ll be a big explosion versus allowing the air to come out slowly it’s not a big deal.

“If it gets to a situation where former appointees and ministers feel that they must take legal action and use all sorts of means to get the report then you may be putting more value or more interest on it than necessary. The secrecy is now letting it look like a hot potato that everybody must get a copy, in the Western World somebody will pay $100,000 or $1 million for a certain document and maybe there’re media houses going round looking for anybody who can sell certain version of the report to them.

“I believe the wisdom of the party headquarters would have taken all factors on the ground into account and decided that for whatever the reason let’s manage it a certain way, but I think there are some other options that exist which I’ll be happy to explore with them when I get the chance so that we don’t have the difficulty we’re having now.” Spio Garbrah told host Paul Adom Otchere.