[ 2012-07-13 ]

Alfred Agbesi Woyome

Commission of Enquiry is no panacea to judgement debts-Advocacy group
Advocacy group Center for National Affairs says
establishing a commission of enquiry to look into
the recent spate of judgement debts would not
solve the problem.

The issues of judgement debt attained prominence
after Gh¢ 51.2 million was paid to businessman
Alfred Agbesi Woyome and since then several
payments made to individuals and some
organizations like Isofoton SA, Waterville and
African Automobile Limited have raised eye brows.

Speaking to Joy FM Friday, the Senior Policy
Analyst at the Center for National Affairs, Rocky
Obeng said the Ghana Criminal Code 1960 Act 29 as
amended by Act 458 has made provisions on how to
deal with persons and institutions who are
negligent in disbursing the tax payers money.

Mr Obeng added that the courts are competent
enough to handle cases of public officials whose
actions have been tainted with corruption.

According to the Senior Policy Analyst, the report
of a commission of enquiry itself is not a
panacea, adding neither is the white paper that
would accompany the report.

Rather, Mr. Obeng posited that what is of
importance is the will of the person issuing the
white paper to enforce the content or
recommendations of the commission.

He said, government must ensure that whichever
step it takes on this matter does not cast doubts
on the integrity of the courts.

The Senior Policy Analyst was however of the
opinion that should a commission of enquiry be set
up, it would add onto to the numerous commissions
of enquiries established which did not yield the
desired results.

However Kojo Asante, the Legal Officer at the
Center for Democratic Development in an interview
with Joy FM stated that a commission of enquiry
into the judgement debt saga has become necessary
because there is the need to create a different
platform that would look into the matter devoid of
the usual partisanship.

According to Mr Asante, the judgment debt saga has
become a “national crisis” and there is the need
to establish a commission that would strive at
fixing the loopholes that exist in the public
sector in order to prevent a reoccurrence of the
situation.

Source - MyjoyOnline

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