NDC cannot preach accountability and resist scrutiny — Afenyo-Markin

Minority Leader Alexander Afenyo-Markin has accused the governing National Democratic Congress (NDC) of adopting double standards on accountability, insisting that the party must accept the same scrutiny it demanded of the previous New Patriotic Party (NPP) administration. He said criticism of government decisions was a legitimate part of democratic governance and should not be dismissed as political hostility simply because the NDC was now in power. In a Facebook post on Friday, October 30, the Effutu MP questioned what he described as the party’s changing attitude towards public scrutiny after spending eight years in opposition challenging the policies, appointments, contracts and expenditure of the Akufo-Addo administration. “The NDC spent eight years teaching Ghanaians that questioning government was patriotism.

Today, the same people appear offended that Ghanaians have taken those lessons seriously,” he wrote. Mr Afenyo-Markin argued that the NDC had previously maintained that no government should be above scrutiny and that public officials must account for their decisions. He questioned whether the party’s return to government had changed its position on those principles. “So what has changed? Have the standards of accountability changed because the political party in power has changed? Or was scrutiny only acceptable when it was directed at the NPP? ” he asked. Criticism is not persecution The Minority Leader accused some members of the governing party of responding to criticism by questioning the motives of those raising concerns, rather than addressing the issues themselves. He said the NDC’s past public statements, interviews and press conferences remained available for Ghanaians to assess its position on accountability while in opposition. “It is unreasonable…