General News of Friday, 16 December 2016

Source: rainbowradioonline.com

We'll continue to recruit, award contracts - Anita Disoso to NPP

Anita Disoso Anita Disoso

The First Vice Chair of the outgoing National Democratic Congress (NDC), Madam Anita Disoso has slammed the New Patriotic Party (NPP) for raising an alarm over the recruitment and award of contracts to individuals by government.

Former finance minister, Osafo Marfo in the erstwhile Kufour administration and representative on the transitional team for president-elect, Nana Akufo-Addo has raised an alarm that government was awarding last minute contracts and recruiting people into service institutions nationwide.

“We have heard of ongoing recruitment into the security services now which we hope is not true. We have heard of the conversion of temporary staff of political assistants and some of the staff we took on into permanent public servants.”

“We have heard of the awarding of new contracts after the election results were announced on December 9. We’ve heard of the procurement of sales and national assets also after the results,” the former finance Minister added. He said, “We need to be cautious, we need to be transparent, we need to be candid and we need to be factual. We are therefore appealing to our colleagues that within this period, if there is anything that needs to be done, consultation needs to be brought on board.”

However, Madam Anita Disoso has lambasted the NPP stating that government programs cannot grant to a halt because the NPP has won an election. She quizzed whether the NPP were the ones that constructed the various hospitals and schools for them to come and recruit staff into them. She said, "we [NDC] constructed these facilities and so we will recruit staff to work in them before the NPP takes over office."

Speaking in an interview with Rainbow Radio’s Kwame Tutu, Madam Anita Disoso said, "The EC declared you winners of the election, we did not complain… But you are now crying over the recruitment of staff into various service sectors of the country. Why are you complaining? Have you constructed any school for you to come and recruit teachers into them? Have you constructed any hospital for you to come and recruit nurses into them? They should shut up. They did the same thing to us when they were leaving office in 2008. They signed the single spine pay policy before leaving office. Should we wait for them to come and recruit staff into our various projects? They should wait until 7, January, 2017 to take over and stop complaining."

Anita Disoso emphasized that President Mahama was next to Nkrumah regarding projects and infrastructure but was overthrown through the ballot just like Ghana’s first president.

When asked why the party has waited until elections are over before recruiting people she said, the recruitment went through processes hence the NPP have no basis to raise any false alarm. On the recruitment into the security services she said, the recruitment were done before the election. On the issue of contracts, she indicated that they went through various processes before approval.

She quizzed, "should Ghana come to a halt because Nana Addo has won an election? It is impossible. President Mahama is still the President and until 7, January, 2017, he cannot be questioned for discharging his duties as the leader of the country."