Prof. Opoku-Agyemang calls for equity in application of law

The running mate of the National Democratic Congress (NDC) presidential candidate, Professor Naana Jane Opoku-Agyemang, has called for equity in the application and the enforcement of laws in the country.

According to her, if the law was not justly and fairly applied, it would become a breeding ground for corruption and favouritism.

At a forum with management and staff of the Ghana Integrity Initiative (GII) as part of her engagement with civil society organisations (CSOs) in Accra on the manifesto of the National Democratic Congress (NDC), Prof. Opoku-Agyemang urged the judiciary and the security agencies to be consistent at all times in the application of the law.

“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.

“Some people scandalised the law court and you allowed the process to go through, the people apologised and did everything yet the law took its course. If they were fined, sentenced and imprisoned, make sure same applies to other offenders after them,” she added.

Montie 3

Prof. Opoku-Agyemang also responded to criticisms regarding her interventions on behalf of the Montie Three.

“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 scandalises the court and he has apologised 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,” she said.

Touching on how corruption would be dealt with under a 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 Corruption Perception Index (CPI), she urged the GII to be specific about the performance of the country in the year under review.

“Please don’t generalise. 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 generalise, that may not result in a healthy competition to improve,” Prof. Opoku-Agyemang said.

Value for money

At the Centre for Democratic Development (CDD), the NDC running mate said inasmuch as the party was committed to implementing policies contained in its manifesto, it would not compromise on the value for money principle.

At Imani Africa, Prof. Opoku-Agyemang answered questions on how the NDC would ensure excellence in Ghana’s education sector.

She said the focus would be on ensuring effective teaching and learning by supporting teachers and putting in place strict supervision and accountability measures, adding “we are not going to do it by buying past questions and I take serious exception  to that”.

Prof. Opoku-Agyemang also visited the Africa Centre for Energy Policy (ACEP) and the Socialist Forum of Ghana, all in Accra.