A member of the government’s communications team, Felix Ofosu-Kwakye says the Institute of Economic Affairs' (IEA) attitude over the years shows that it is “prepared to shred their credibility in order to save the blushes of the NPP”. Kwakye-Ofosu was commenting on the ruling National Democratic Congress’ decision to not to allow President Mills and Vice President John Mahama to participate in the IEA’s upcoming debates and encounters with the Presidential candidates ahead of this year's elections. Speaking on Peace FM’s Kokrokoo Tuesday, the government communication team member explained that the ruling NDC’s mistrust for IEA arose when an article indicting the NPP administration mysteriously disappeared from their website. He said the sudden disappearance of the report from the IEA’s website after it had been reproduced by the Ghana News Agency shows that the IEA could no longer pride itself as a neutral institution. Kwakye-Ofosu added that the disappearance of the report was not only enough grounds but their denial of their publication of the report casts doubts on the integrity of IEA and clearly shows their bias to the NPP. Nevertheless, the official explanation given by the NDC says: “The NDC government has previously drawn the IEA’s attention to the fact that no sitting president or vice president in the 4th Republic has participated in these debates. It is the party’s position to uphold that convention”. Abdul Malik Kweku Baako who also spoke on the same programme however said, the absence of President Mills from the IEA debates and encounters should be a surprise as members of the presidential debate committee have all been tagged by the NDC as being fanatics of the NPP. The Editor-In-Chief of the New Crusading Guide added that just like any organization, the IEA could not claim to be perfect hence the NDC cannot use the supposed publication to cast slur on the integrity of the organization.