NDC was not interested in graft fight – Braimah

Executive Secretary of the Media Foundation for West Africa (MFWA) , Sulemana Braimah, has said the National Democratic Congress (NDC) administration under Former President John Dramani Mahama was not interested in transparency and did not want to fight corruption, hence the refusal to pass the Right to Information (RTI) Bill.

His comment comes on the heels of claims by the General Secretary of the NDC, Johnson Asiedu Nketia, that the Special Prosecutor will be ineffective without the passage of the RTI Bill.

Mr Nketia said on Asempa FM’s Ekossi Sen on Wednesday 3 January 2018 that: “The government must ensure the passage of the RTI bill if it is serious in fighting against corruption. The Bill when passed will enable everybody especially the media to ask questions from duty bearers on happenings in the country. What is the use of the Special Prosecutor without the RTI law?”

But commenting on these remarks on his Facebook page, Mr Braimah said: “The General Secretary of the main opposition NDC, Asiedu Nketiah, is advocating for the passage of the RTI Bill into law. He describes a RTI law as being more important to the fight against corruption than the law backing the setting up of the office of the special prosecutor.

“I agree with him (but) why didn't his NDC government pass the RTI Bill while it was in power for 8 years? Well, the reason is simple: The NDC government was not interested in fighting corruption and didn't want to be transparent to the people.

“The last minute attempt to pass the Bill on the last day of the previous parliament was just some camouflage. But is the NPP truly committed to the fight against corruption? If Yes, then let the RTI Bill be passed into law. Simple.”