"Zero tolerance": The battle is lost - NDC

Eighteen months after the declaration of zero tolerance for corruption, some leading members of the minority NDC in Parliament still accuse the presidency of inaction in the war against corruption.

To them the battle is lost.

?The presidency has lost the battle against corruption,? vocal Minority Chief Whip Doe Adjaho told Parliament last Tuesday moments before the House charged its Judicial Committee to investigate allegations of corruption in the judiciary.

President Kufuor had declared his intention to fight the canker of corruption head on during his inaugural address. And Mr Adjaho (MP) wonders whether in the light of the perceived lack of political will to fight corruption since the president declared the ?zero tolerance for corruption,? the government of the New Patriotic Party and its functionaries can still talk about corruption.

Mr clean Adjaho therefore supports the views expressed by his colleague, Francis Agbotse MP Ho West that even though there is perceived corruption in the judicial system that merits an indepth investigation into that arm of government referred to as a no go area, the canker is not limited to the judiciary alone. MP for Biakoye and a leading member of the minority, Dr. Kwabena Adjei agreed with his whip. He told Parliament that since the NPP took over, corruption instead of coming down as promised by the president, has rather moved up.

He accused the government of such corrupt practices as nepotism, tribalism and favouritism. He made reference to the controversial SAHARA contract, which the NDC insists, amounts to corruption. ?There is corruption inherent in any state institution,? Dr. Adjei said, adding, ?we are just coming to terms with what is happening in the judiciary, and it is just a tip of the iceberg.?

Whilst minority NDC members of the House support the Speaker?s directive to the Judicial Committee to investigate allegations of corruption in the judiciary, the leadership of the majority NPP together with the Attorney General and Minister for Justice, Nana Akufo-Addo vehemently opposed the Speaker?s ruling. According to Papa Owusu-Ankoma, there are not enough bases and specific facts to compel Parliament to engage itself in such an exercise.

?I don?t think that Parliament at this stage upon mere allegation should embark on a wide-goose chase,? the majority leader said in reaction to Hon. Francis Agbotse?s request for investigation into the perceived corruption in the judiciary. He said without mincing words ?I disagree with the decision,? of the Speaker. Attorney-General, Nana Addo expressed regret that a member can make a statement on the floor of the House that could compel the House to take a major decision as stepping into the domain of the judiciary, which is independent of the executive.

To the A-G, the conduct of the judges has been questioned and so, such a major decision as investigating them should have been taken after an exhaustive debate in the House. The Chief Justice himself is reported to have admitted to some level of corruption in the judiciary and called for measures to curb it. The Public Accounts Committee of Parliament in its report on the Judiciary had also suggested that the judiciary is corrupt especially in the area of procurement.

In its tenth anniversary statement, the NDC said, "with corruption and reports of corruption oozing from the heart of government, it would be worthwhile to turn what it called, "sustained media attention" to happenings at Tema Municipal Assembly, the Ministries and elsewhere."

According to the NDC, no government can succeed by distorting facts and living in a word of make-belief. It said, in the deceptive world of political spin, it is the spinners who lose out in the end when the people find out the truth. It called on the NPP to put a stop to what it called "unhealthy political practices" and work together with the party to move Ghana forward.