The Chief Executive Officer of the defunct Ghana at 50 Secretariat, Dr. Charles Wereko-Brobby, is contesting the appropriateness of subpoenas and memoranda being issued to some former government officials by the commission investigating the operations of the secretariat. The commission is said to have issued an 18-question memo to some former ministers who were members of the National Planning Committee (NPC) for the jubilee celebrations. It is soliciting more information before issuing its final report but Dr. Charles Wereko-Brobby has raised questions about why the commission is fishing for more information long after the end of its public hearings. “I guess the expectation is that they would respond formally to the concerns that we raised and hopefully allay our fears but more importantly, move quickly to issue the report because there is intense public expectation which was fuelled very much by the commission, that soon after it concluded public hearing a report will be issued,” Dr Wereko-Brobby said. The jubilee anniversary CEO said he and the chairman of the National Planning Committee, Mr. Kwadwo Mpiani had, during the public hearings, addressed all the issues which have been printed in the questionnaire from the probing committee. “We have provided copies of the relevant portions of the minutes of the National Planning Committee which took those decisions,” he said, adding, that all information provided the probing committee is authentic. Responding to a question, Dr Wereko-Brobby decried the decision of the jubilee celebrations investigation body to selectively hear some testimonies in public. “Who do you decide should come into public and who do you decide should not come into public? The whole thing about transparency and credibility is that, as much as possible, you conduct these things in public,” he said. “If you need to talk to other people, why move beyond the public domain?” he asked, adding “Bring them also to the public domain, treat everybody the same way [and] give the public the opportunity for them to hear them out, give us the opportunity to cross-examine them, so that everything that involves any member of the public in the process is done under the same terms and conditions and under public scrutiny.” Meanwhile Ato Kobby, a member of the Public Affairs section of the Ghana@50 probing committee has justified the commission’s action describing it as “fact-finding commission of enquiry” which must continue with its mandate beyond the public hearings. Mr Kobby said several questions are emerging after the commissioners had studied “very voluminous documents” submitted by Dr Wereko-Brobbey to the commission during the hearings. “Under these circumstances it will be better to raise these queries and have answers to them in order not to draw any wrongful conclusions or unfounded or unfair conclusions,” he said. For now the commission is looking for more information to corroborate facts gathered during the public hearings, Mr Kobby says. Posted by Fiifi Koomson/Myjoyonline.com/Ghana