Lens — Contrary to the widely held misconception of the Citizen Vetting Committee of the PNDC as a kangaroo court, the now editor of the Daily Dispatch, Mr. Ben Ephson, writes that ?the CVC is [was] very fair. Its fairness has been exhibited on many occasions.?
In a report published in the 5th April 1982 edition of the now defunct West Africa magazine, Mr. Ephson writes, ?One thing is clear, the CVC is not on a witch-hunting mission. Once one can prove account for monies in the bank balances and show that requisite taxes have been paid, the Committee has no qualms.?
Mr. Ben Ephson?s article, under the headline Checking Corruption in Ghana, dispels misconceptions that persons who appeared before the CVC were tortured, and that people were not allowed legal representation. ?People are allowed to bring lawyers, accountants, and children to the vetting room, provided they will be of assistance to them?, Mr. Ephson chronicled.
The article quoted an Accra lawyer, Mr. Kwabena Tabi Amponsah, who told the Committee tat somebody had told him that he would be slapped even before being allowed to sit down, as having said, ?There is no iota of truth in what I was told would happen to me?
Mr. Ephson stated quite categorically that, ?the Citizen Vetting Committee is not against people who engage in trade or other economic activities for their livelihood.?
On reading Mr. Ephson?s article, Miss Marian (not her real name), a 25yrs old undergraduate studying in one of the country?s universities had this to say, ?We have been misled and misinformed. I have always believed that the CVC was a kangaroo court where people were tortured and quizzed by inquisitors whose faces they could not see because they had been blindfolded. It is not only me, I know most of my friends have the same view of the CVC. You must publish this to let the people know the truth.?
Below is the full text of Mr. Ephson?s report.
Source: GhanaWeb
