The transitional teams of Ghana's
President-Elect John Atta-Mills and outgoing President John Kufuor are
scheduled to meet Monday in the capital Accra. The move is to ensure a smooth
transition from President Kufuor's government to that of President-Elect
Atta-Mills. Some political analysts believe today's meeting needs to be
expedited since the president-elect is supposed be sworn in Wednesday as is
constitutionally mandated. Atta-Mills spokesperson Anna Tetteh tells reporter
Peter Clottey that the new president expects to be fully up to speed with the
issues when he takes office.
"Our
expectations are that we are going to discuss how we are going to transfer
power from one political party to another and how effectively we can take over
the government machinery. And in order to facilitate that process, we have set
up committees dealing with particular sector areas. And we anticipate that the
NPP (New Patriotic Party) is going to do the same. However, if the proposed
structure differs slightly from us or different from us, we can still be
accommodating because the most important thing is to work out an arrangement
that allows us to exchange information and allows us to ask questions to find
out what are the critical areas as quickly as possible," Tetteh pointed out.
She
said today's meeting would focus on the critical areas which need attention.
"The
meetings that we are going to be having today are going to be focused on
understanding what exactly is the situation, what is the status of ongoing
projects and programs, and how best we can take control over those things. So
that as far as Professor Mills is concerned, when he takes office, his
government can hit the ground running," she said.
Tetteh
said although there would be difficulties, the president-elect's team is
prepared to handle any situation.
"There
are bound to be challenges, because we have a very short period for transition.
But we know that in order to have an effective transition, there must be
cooperation, and there must be proper management of information. And we want to
make sure that we do everything within our power to make sure that we don't
have situations where people are embarrassed, where information is leaked. And
where things are not properly handled so that it would create further animosity
and tensions. And so we want to work very hard to make sure that we make this
transition as smooth and as painless as possible," Tetteh noted.
She
said there is hope the information sharing from the outgoing administration
would enhance and expedite the transitional process.
"What
we are anticipating because it is the first meeting, but also because we have a
very short time, is that we are going to meet the team from the other side.
They are going to give us some indication of how they have planned towards this
transition and we also would want to take a cue from that and factor in how we
appropriately respond… it is really about the exchange of information. We ask
questions. We get the facts that we want, and we do all this within the
shortest possible time," she said.
Tetteh
said she hopes there is goodwill from the outgoing administration to ensure a
smooth transition.
"We
are hoping that there would be a spirit of cooperation and goodwill so that we
can get through this business quickly because no matter our political
differences, at the end of the day we are Ghanaians first," Tetteh noted.
She
said there is need to come together as one people to build the nation after a
heated campaign period that pitted the ruling NPP against the main opposition
NDC.
"The
election is over and it is time to use our opponent's language to move forward,
to believe in Ghana and to build a better Ghana. Now, professor Mills has
promised to be a president for all Ghanaians and not just for a few. And we are
committed to making sure that this government makes every Ghanaian feel that
they have a president who looks out for them and so to that extent we are not
interested in going back and raking up the past. We are not interested in
humiliating out opponents," she said.
Tetteh
said the ruling incoming administration is not interested in disgracing the
outgoing administration party.
"We are just interested in taking over the
reins of government, ruling effectively and making sure that people see that
the change that we promised is delivered. And at the end of the day they will
know that their vote was a wise one," Tetteh pointed out.
John
Evans Atta-Mills of the opposition NDC was declared winner of the December 28
election runoff after defeating Nana Addo Dankwa Akufu-Addo of the ruling NPP.
The president-elect received congratulatory messages from around the world, and one
day after being declared winner of the run-off, he named a 12-member transitional team. The team is headed by P.V. Obeng, who served as secretary in former President
Jerry John Rawlings' Provisional National Defense Council (PNDC) military
administration.