"Without GTV, We'll Not Sit Over CP Judgement Debt Case"

A member of the Public Accounts Committee has stated that until the state broadcaster, Ghana Television, decides to broadcast its sittings live, they will not meet the Attorney General and Minister of Justice over the controversy surrounding the payment of judgement debts to CP Construction. Mr. Isaac Asiamah, Member of Parliament for Atwima Mponua in the Ashanti Region told XYZ News in an interview that members of the committee were surprised that GTV failed to turn up to telecast the proceedings live without any explanation. �Anytime GTV is ready to broadcast we will do [it]. In their absence, we will never do [it]. That one is a promise. We are not going to do this in secrecy� We pay the taxes for them to be there,� he intimated. Dr. Ben Kumbour, Attorney General and Minister of Justice met the PAC on Wednesday morning but was unable answer questions pertaining to the � 94 million judgement debt paid to CP Construction because members of the PAC protested the absence of GTV. Mr. Asiamah said the PAC�s sittings are very important to the public and cannot be held in camera. �Since GTV has always carried the public hearings live, it is important that they should be there and members also agreed with me. So if there was any reason, we would have been told, [but] from all indications there was no reason.� He said �these public hearings are meant for Ghanaians to understand and appreciate the fact that when we give money to government to spend through the MMDAs, they will be more accountable and transparent to Ghanaians.� Another member of the committee, Alhaji Ibrahim Dey, Member of Parliament for the Salaga Constituency in the Northern Region, who agreed with his colleague said �in public accounting, there must be alive coverage so that those far away and all over the world can know what is happening.� He said the matter is of high interest to many people and that Ghanaians and non-Ghanaians alike were expecting to witness the proceedings from far and near before the disapointing decision by GTV. �We were expecting a live coverage which is a usual practice whenever we sit in public. Unfortunately Ghana TV were not able to provide that live coverage and looking at the interest that the public has in this case, we thought it wise that we should have a live coverage hence we had to postpone the hearing.�