Ho, Oct. 31, GNA - The New Patriotic Party (NPP) has said public hearing of the Public Account Committee (PAC) of Parliament demonstrated the true commitment of the party to zero tolerance for corruption. The party said the exercise was a genuine effort by the government to reduce corruption to the barest level.

Nana Ohene Ntow, General Secretary of the party, said this when NPP executive met the media in Ho to clarify the party's stand on the PAC public hearings.

He said the exercise, which had generated a lot of issues, was in the supreme interest of the country and called on the public to show appreciation to the government for the bold decision.

Nana Ohene Ntow said the ultimate aim of the NPP government was to strengthen parliament to better scrutinize the executive and to ensure fairness in government.

He said the exercise constituted a major step in good governance and the promotion of "real probity and accountability" because its success would help reduce corruption substantially and change the character of public administration.

The general secretary expressed disappointment over public perceptions about the exercise and how the opposition National Democratic Congress (NDC) was "deliberately putting a negative spin" to the hearings in the hope of gaining political advantage. Nana Ohene Ntow said the situation had made the exercise to lose its significance to many Ghanaians and was shrouded in misconceptions and misperceptions.

He said it must be clear that the public hearings were made possible by the majority NPP in parliament and deserved commendation from the public more so when government limited the hearings to only the last seven years when the NPP government took over power. Nana Ohene Ntow said though reports revealed that the corrupt system had existed for a long time before the NPP came to power it was the party's decision to overlook corrupt happenings that took place before it took power for the exercise not to be seen as political gimmick.

He expressed the hope that the public would do honest appraisal of the exercise as well as the NPP government's general performance in terms of governance, economic development and the general social transformation and show appreciation by voting massively for the party in the 2008 general elections.