Council Of State Member Replies Bagbin �Over �Errand Boys� Comment

THE EASTERN regional representative of the Council of State, Nana Kodua Kesse has described as unfortunate calls by political think-thanks, civil society organizations and the majority leader in parliament, Alban Bagbin who are calling for total overhaul of the Council of State. According to him, the Council of State is constitutionally relevant to the governance of the country due to its important role in governance. Mr Bagbin recently argued that the Council of State will never be effective if members allow themselves to be used as �errand boys� by the President. He said members can become relevant if the Council is converted into a Second House. �I don�t support the current Council of State as presently structured and constituted because it�s just an appendage of the Executive arm; you will see often the members of the Council of State acting as representatives of the President at various functions.� �And so you are behaving like errand boys of the President, in fact you are performing some of the roles of the ministers of state; in that position how advisory can that Council be again to the same person who is using you as an errand boy. Let us make sure that structure is composed where you call it a Senate or a Second chamber,� he told Accra-based Citi FM. But, speaking in an interview with the DAILY HERITAGE, the Eastern regional representative of the Council of State, Mr Kesse insisted that the Council as it is presently constituted is relevant to the governance process in the country. He said the Council has, for instance, been fighting corruption and expressed his disgust over what he described as the fast spread of corrupt practices being perpetrated with impunity by some persons entrusted with state resources to work for a better Ghana. He said most of the corrupt practices being committed are perpetrated by persons in the public service since all eyes are on politicians. According to Nana Kesse, the absence of patriotism and the increase in the level of greediness and selfishness among persons appointed to work for the state is responsible for the corrupt activities being witnessed in the country. He explained that, personally, he has dragged some individual senior public servants to their sector ministers over corrupt practices being perpetrated on which investigations are ongoing. The Council of State Member who is also the Chief of Oyoko in the New Juaben Traditional area, stressed that fighting corruption is a collective effort by government and all Ghanaians; therefore, there is the need to encourage whistle blowers to report suspected cases of corruption to the appropriate institutions for immediate action to ensure that such perpetrators are punished to serve as deterrent to others. He also recommended that internal auditors in the various ministries, departments and agencies are equipped to undertake routine auditing to help check on public servants. Nana Kesse stated that the Council of State has also taken firm stance to help the government fight corruption by making a number of recommendations to the President to deal with cases of corruption brought before the Council.