*NDC RUNNING MATE CALLS FOR EQUALITY IN THE APPLICATION OF THE LAW*
The Vice Presidential Candidate of the National Democratic Congress (NDC) Professor Naana Jane Opoku Agyemang is calling for equality in the application and the enforcement of laws in the country.
According to her if the law is not justly and fairly applied it becomes a breeding ground for corruption and other nefarious activities.
Speaking at a forum with management and staff of the Ghana Integrity Initiative (GII) as part of her tour to engage civil society organizations on the NDC’s manifesto, Professor Opoku-Agyemang urged the judiciary and the security agencies to at all times apply the law consistently.
“If you want to talk about naming and shaming, be consistent. If you are going to apply the law, be consistent. If you are going to apply punishment, be consistent. If somebody has scandalized the law court, and you allow the process to go through, the person has apologized and has done everything, the law took its course. If the person was fined, sentenced and imprisoned make sure same applies to other offenders after him, ‘’ she stressed.
Professor Opoku Agyemang also responded to criticisms regarding her interventions on behalf of the Muntie 3. “Clemency is part of the judiciary system yet people pretend they don’t understand why there should be a remission. Another person does the same thing, also scandalizes the court and he has apologized so it’s okay? I want to see that also highlighted. That is corruption because you are not allowing everyone to comply with the rules.”
Touching on how corruption will be dealt with under the next NDC government, Prof. Opoku-Agyemang said, “When we talk about Operation ‘’STING”, it stems from our previous tenure in government where you saw our President prosecute his own. Has that continued?”
On the Corruption Perception Index (CPI), she urged the GII to be specific about performance of the country in a year under review saying, “Please don’t generalize. Let us know, where we were at what time. Let that be a kind of incentive for parties to compete so they can say that in their time it was high. If you generalize that may not result in healthy competition to improve.”
At Center for Democratic Development (CDD) Professor Opoku Agyemang noted in as much as the NDC is committed to implementing the policies in its manifesto, it would not compromise on the value for money principle.
At Imani Africa, Professor Opoku Agyemang answered questions on how the NDC will ensure excellence in Ghana’s education sector. She hinted that the focus will be on building the students up by supporting the teachers, putting methods in place for strict supervision and accountability.
“We are not going to do it by buying past questions and I take serious exceptions to that”.
In all, the NDC’s Running Mate visited five Civil Society Groups including Africa Center for Energy Policy (ACEP), the Socialist Forum of Ghana, Imani Africa, Center for Democratic Development (CDD) and the Ghana Integrity Initiative (GII).
