President Mahama bans government officials from buying state bungalows, vehicles
President John Dramani Mahama on Friday announced that no government official would be allowed to buy a state bungalow or state vehicle.
He said the government would soon come out with a measure that would enable all government officials to acquire their vehicles on hire purchase basis.
President Mahama said this when he met anti-corruption organisations at the Flagstaff House, Kanda.
The groups included Commission on Human Rights and Administrative Justice and the Anti-Corruption Coalition.
He said the directive would enable the government to stop the practice where Ministers and other public officials were given the option to buy official vehicles and bungalows they were using during their tenure of office.
President Mahama said the government was waiting for the passage of the Rights to Information Bill, Public Officers Code of Conduct Bill and the Whistle Blowers Bill and had abrogated the Subah Info-Solutions contract as investigations were being carried out.
He said the government had also suspended all payments under the Ghana Youth Employment and Entrepreneurial Development Authority (GYEEDA) and a ban had been placed on award of new contracts.
He said the government would take legal action against officials of GYEEDA who would be found to have misconducted themselves.
President Mahama said he had directed the Ministry of Justice and Attorney General to expedite action on the GYEEDA Bill in order to decentralize their projects and programmes.
He said to ensure maximum transparency in the country the government would soon launch an online complaints forum for people to send their concerns and complaints for attention.
President Mahama promised to strengthen the capacity of all anti-corruption organisations to perform their duties creditably and would concentrate on prevention and stiff punishment for culprits of current investigations.
He commended the National Anti-Corruption Action Plan (NACAP) and called on Parliament to expedite action on the passage of the bill.
Madam Loretta Vivian Lamptey, Commissioner of the CHRAJ who spoke on behalf of other groups, appealed to the government to invest in NACAP to enable them to perform their duties to eliminate corrupt practices.
She also appealed to the government to establish a democracy fund and hip the enthusiasm of key government institutions to adequately participate in the fight against corruption in the country.
Source: GNA