Government Spokesperson, Felix Kwakye Ofosu, says the Mahama administration’s decision to publicly update Ghanaians on sensitive petitions against public office holders is a deliberate move to strengthen transparency and accountability.
Speaking on Joy News’ PM Express on Tuesday, the Abura Asebu-Kwamankese MP explained that informing the public about such processes is necessary to maintain trust in government institutions.
His comments follow questions about whether the presidency has officially received a petition from Joseph Blankson Adumadzie, an Electoral Commission staff member who has asked President John Mahama to remove Chairperson Jean Mensa and her two deputies.
According to him, the petition has not yet been confirmed at the Presidency.
“Normally, it will go to the Secretary to the President if it is addressed to the President. I’ve engaged him. He has not sighted it yet, but I’m sure that if he does, there’s a process, a long-standing process, that this goes through, and any information on that will be conveyed to the public before this one,” he said.
He added that he has no information about any other petition of that nature.
“I’m not aware of any other petition. At the very least, I don’t have a briefing that there’s any other such petition. But if such a petition exists, and it comes to the attention of the secretary’s office, the public will know, in the same way that the Chief Justice became a matter of public commentary because we put it out first, of course respecting the constitutional processes, same thing will be done if indeed such a petition has come.”
Host Evans Mensah questioned why the government is taking a more proactive approach to issuing public updates on matters that were previously handled quietly. Kwakye Ofosu insisted that the shift is deliberate and necessary.
“Because, see, there’s a need for transparency and accountability. We hold this office in trust. Ten months ago, I was not the one doing this job. It was somebody else. So it’s not a position that we own. We pass through that position for a brief moment,” he said.
He stressed that since public resources and authority are used in the discharge of their duties, citizens must be kept fully informed.
“Whilst doing that, we use the mandate and resources of the people of Ghana to execute our roles. The same people need to know exactly what we are doing with their mandate and resources.”
He argued that when petitions are filed against key officials, secrecy only fuels suspicion.
“If somebody has slapped in a petition about any public office holder, it’s only fair that we tell the public that this is what we have received. This is the defined process for dealing with this sort of thing, and this is what has been done.”
He pointed to the recent case involving the Chief Justice as an example of the government’s commitment to openness.
“People shouldn’t just wake up one day and find that the Chief Justice has been… when nobody knew how that started in the first place.”
Kwakye Ofosu said the new approach does not break any rules and is anchored in responsible governance.
“It is purely in the interest of transparency and accountability that we keep the people informed, of course, within the confines of the law, so that we don’t do anything that violates the law, because we are not required, or we are not allowed to do that as a government.”