The New Patriotic Party has noted with grave concern and deep worry the latest interdiction of two of the nation's senior civil servants, the Chief Director of the Ministry of Youth and Sports, Albert Anthony Ampong and the Principal Accountant of the same Ministry, Adim Odoom. The interdiction follows the whistle they blew on various malpractices at the Ministry of Youth and Sports and the President's staunch but embarrassing defence of the actions of the then Minister, Alhaji Muhammad Muntaka Muabarak.
The latest interdiction also comes after two rulings given in favour of the two civil servants by the Fast Track High Court on two cases brought by them in protection of their rights to work in the civil service without any unjustified harassment. The rulings were a loud statement about the NDC government’s penchant for acting unlawfully and recklessly.
It is significant that even the report of the so-called National Security Committee which investigated the "Muntaka Saga" made express findings of financial impropriety and misconduct against Hon Muntaka as a Minister. These included among others,
i. collecting per diems from the Ministry when he was not entitled to;
ii. falsely representing a lady as an official of the Ministry of Youth and Sports for the purposes of visa collection when the lady was in fact NOT an official of the Ministry;
iii. wasting the taxpayer's money on the visit to Germany of the same lady as part of government entourage when she was not supposed to be part of the entourage,
iv. wasting the taxpayer's money on the lady again on a trip to Ivory Coast to watch a football tournament as part of government entourage when she was not supposed to be part of the government entourage; and
v. wasting the taxpayer's money on baby oil, diapers, baby food, meat for his household and so on when those personal items are not supposed to be part of the budget for the Ministry of Youth and Sports.
Strangely, the President of Ghana, in the face of these gloomy findings against his Minister, gave him a pat on the back and taunted Ghanaians by questioning whether that was the first time a minister had travelled abroad with his girlfriend. A President openly condoning immorality and potential criminality on a national platform is the last thing expected of an occupier of the highest office of the land.
For falsely representing a lady as an official of the Ministry of Youth and Sports when in fact she was not, for deliberately and falsely charging expenses incurred for his baby diapers, baby oil and food for his household on the budget of the Ministry of Youth and Sports, among other offenses, one would have expected the President and his Attorney- General to recommend the prosecution of Alhaji Muntaka. On the contrary, the President in a twist of contradictions, heaped praises on Muntaka and merely asked for a refund of the expenses he falsely charged on the budget of the Ministry of Youth and Sports. The President again in yet another twist of contradictions recommended the interdiction of the two senior civil servants who made the allegations against Muntaka. Is it Justice for some and not all in Ghana now?
It is clear that the latest interdiction of the two gentlemen coming after the official vehicles used by the Chief Director had been seized on 31st December, 2009 by 14 operatives of the National Security in a manner reminiscent of the PNDC dark military operations, has executive influence. The interdiction of the two without any reason is obviously in reaction to their success in the court action they instituted against the Attorney-General.
What is most worrying for the NPP is the effect of the interdiction of the two poor civil servants on the professional integrity of the Civil Service. The Civil Service is an indispensable tool for the nation's development, and nothing should be done to undermine its professional integrity. It is expected that when poor civil servants are compelled to institute a legal action in defence of their rights, they will not be victimized as a result. We wish to remind Ghanaians of Article 191 of the Constitution which protects civil servants from victimization and unjust punishment. In all of this, the role of the Attorney-General's Department cannot go without reprobation. That Department is turning out to be the worst nightmare of the Mills presidency. It is expected that in an issue like this when the Attorney-General had been notified of the attempt to interdict the two civil servants and in fact, the letter interdicting them had been copied to her, the Attorney-General would have advised the Civil Service Council on the illegality of its actions. On the contrary, the Attorney-General is silent on this brute violation of the rights of two poor Ghanaian workers. All this is a wicked and embarrassing display of selective justice. The Minister who was responsible for the wrongs stated above has only been asked to go and sin no more. The two civil servants who dared to draw attention to the looting of tax payer’s money have been interdicted. What kind of “father-for-all” is President Mills? The effect of this is obvious. Public servants and the public in general would be unwilling to volunteer information towards the fight against corruption. They would do this to avoid suffering the fate of Albert Ampong and Adim Odoom. The attitude of the NDC government in this matter makes complete nonsense of their professed fight against corruption.
The NPP calls for the re-instatement of the two senior civil servants now!
