Azeem Slams Pratt

Posted: Daily Guide |Thursday, 17 June 2010

By Charles Takyi-Boadu
THE CREDIBILITY of the Committee for Joint Action (CJA) has been brought to question.

Executive Secretary of Transparency International’s (TI) local chapter, the Ghana Integrity Initiative (GII), Vitus Azeem, cannot comprehend why the group, which is often led by Mr. Kwesi Pratt Jnr. and his cohorts, have suddenly become numb about protesting against the very issues they used to fight against with passion and enthusiasm a couple of years ago.

Speaking at a public forum put together by the Ghana Academy of Arts and Sciences (GAAS) in collaboration with the Friedrich Ebert Stiftung (FES) foundation in Accra on Tuesday, under the theme ‘The role of civil society and private institutions in fighting corruption’, Mr. Azeem said “this has reduced in the last two years, for obvious reasons.”

Whilst appreciating the role the CJA used to play in bringing pressure to bear on President Kufuor and his erstwhile New Patriotic Party (NPP) government to take appropriate action against individuals and group of persons perceived to have engaged in corrupt practices, Mr. Azeem wondered whether they would have the moral courage to do same to the present administration. This, he was not sure of.

When asked in a subsequent interview with DAILY GUIDE as to why he thought the CJA has virtually gone into hibernation, the GII boss said “it’s obvious, former President Rawlings and President Atta Mills used to join them.

They were largely supported by the opposition then and now that opposition is in power, so you don’t expect ex-President Rawlings or President Mills to go and join a demonstration.”

Though Mr. Pratt sought to justify the sudden silence of the usually vociferous CJA, Mr. Azeem’s comments affirm the belief that he (Mr. Pratt) and the CJA are now in bed with the incumbent government hence their inability to criticize them.

Some have also questioned why the CJA failed to organize and lead the demonstration against the recent astronomical increases in utility tariffs as it did during the previous administration.

That notwithstanding, the anti-corruption campaigner said Civil Society Organizations (CSOs) have not been satisfactorily vigilant in looking out for individuals who engage in corrupt acts, blowing the whistle on them or taking joint action to bring pressure to bear on government to take action on the culprits.

Also appreciating the effort of the media in carrying out effective investigations and exposing some of these corrupt practices in society, Mr. Azeem indicated “unfortunately, action on many of these allegations, and or revelations has not been satisfactory for various reasons, including lack of commitment on the part of the executive and the judiciary to fighting corruption, sometimes frustrating these journalists.”

Considering the multi-faceted nature of corruption, he believes that no matter how much the private sector and the CSOs do in the fight against it, they cannot succeed without what he described as effective governance.

For that reason, he has stressed the need for the three arms of government, being the executive, legislature and the judiciary, to play their roles effectively and provide Ghanaians with transparent, accountable and participatory governance.

Mr. Azeem noted “We need an executive that will design and implement anti-corruption policies and bring before Parliament bills that will promote transparency and accountability”, emphasizing “we need a Parliament that will enact bold laws without fear of being caught by those laws themselves.”

In the final analysis, Mr. Azeem also spoke about the need for a judiciary that does not allow corruption, politics and personal interest to influence their decisions.