The Centre for Democracy and Development (CDD) and the Office of Accountability at the presidency are on a collision course.
The CDD is accusing the Office of failing in its duty to check corruption; while the Office is defending itself against the claims and counteracting with accusations of its own against the CDD.
In one of its publications, ‘Democracy Watch’ the CDD accused the Office which was set up by the Kufuor Administration in 2003 to regulate the conduct of ministers and other government appointees of failing to demonstrate transparency in its operations.
The CDD said the Office does not issue annual or periodic reports, and its activities are not accessible to the public, claiming they are shrouded in secrecy. The CDD further accused the Office of protecting government instead of checking corruption.
The publication also said that the Office further injured its credibility by venturing into matters outside its remit, such as publicly condemning strike actions by doctors and teachers and applauding certain District Chief Executives for initiating projects on their own before they get support from government.
The Office organized a press conference to respond to the accusations.
At the press conference the Office said the CDD report on its work contain factual inaccuracies.
The statement by the Office argued that the accusation by the CDD that it has added little value to the fight against corruption is evidence of the fact that the CDD is naïve about the mandates of the Office.
Prof. Kwabena Konadu Oduro, chairman of the Office, said their job is to monitor government appointees and not specifically stop corruption.
The Prof. questioned why the CDD should fault him for commenting on the Commission on Human Rights and Administrative Justice’s (CHRAJ), handling of Dr. Richard Anane’s conflict of interest and abuse of office case, as well as doctors' and teachers' strikes.
Prof. Oduro challenged the intellectual capabilities of the CDD and wondered aloud on why the CDD said that his Office was only protecting the government.
