The communications director of the Akufo-Addo campaign team for Election 2008, Dr Arthur Kennedy, has joined in the chorus of calls to punish persons found culpable of financial malfeasance in the management of the Ghana@50 celebrations. He however opined that this must follow the “laid-down constitutional procedures of auditing.” In an interview with Joy FM’s morning show host Kojo Oppong-Nkrumah, Dr Kennedy condemned the Auditor General for making public details of an interim report on the country’s 50th birthday, while many queries remained unanswered. The Auditor General, Edward Dua Agyemang, has over the last two days come under a barrage of criticism for allegedly failing to refer the interim audit report on the Ghana@50 celebrations to persons who needed to supply answers, before making the report public. Details of the report prepared at the instance of the government transition team, was discussed under the cameras of the media, revealing flagrant financial malfeasance in the management of the celebrations. The interim report of the Auditor General revealed a loan of approximately GH¢1.3 million granted by the Ghana@50 Secretariat to the Ghana Trade Fair Company had not been refunded. The Secretariat is said to have overdrawn its bank account with Prudential Bank in the sum of GH¢1.2 million. But Dr Arthur Kennedy said although the government transition team is right in demanding accountability, the country’s laws must be respected. “While there is accountability, there ought to be respect for our laws. We need to grow in our democracy,” he said. The medical doctor stated however that “it is also true that there was corruption and when we find out through our laid-down rules and laws then it must be punished.” The opposition New Patriotic Party (NPP) has suggested that a special committee backed by the constitution should have been set up to investigate the issues and not the transition team of the new government. A former member of the Public Accounts Committee in Parliament, Salas Mensah, has also chided the Auditor General for what he called “incompetence and unprofessional conduct.” Meanwhile human rights activist, Anna Bossman, has called for a proactive media in the fight against corruption. Mrs Bossman, who is the acting Commissioner of the Commission on Human Rights and Administrative Justice (CHRAJ), said the media may have to be more investigative if the campaign for public accountability can work. Story by Fiifi Koomson