Former President John Mahama, has descended heavily on the Akufo-Addo administration, accusing it of plunging Ghana into an uncontrollably corrupt society.
At an end-of-year interaction with sitting Members of Parliament and 2024 NDC parliamentary candidates, Mr Mahama said corruption is one of the main problems impeding the country’s development.
According to him, efforts to stop the canker have yielded no results and have escalated.
“Currently, corruption has broken loose and it is running riot all over the country. Indeed, Ghanaians have developed the syndrome I call scandal fatigue because if you have a scandal every week, you get tired, so everybody is tired of talking about NPP’s corruption.
“Just when you think you have seen the worst of it, they rise to even new levels that you can never imagine. One of those being the recent SML agreement. One wonders how they could have sat and conspired to rip off the nation with such a contract,” he said.
But Mr Mahama’s criticism of the Akufo-Addo administration is coming on the day the President mounted a strong defense of his record in dealing with corruption.
At the launch of the evaluation of Ghana’s maiden national anti-corruption action plan, he rejected the tag of being a clearing agent, a tag that simply means he supports and keeps corrupt officials in his administration.
According to President Akufo-Addo, “Every single alleged act of corruption levelled against any of my appointees has been investigated by individual bodies such as the Commission on Human Rights and Administrative Justice (CHRAJ), Criminal Investigations Department (CID) and some cases by Parliament.”
“It is not my job to clear or convict a person accused of wrongdoing or of engaging in any acts of wrongdoing. Despite the efforts of some to tag me as a clearing agent.
“That is the job of the courts and the law enforcement agencies. My job is to act on allegations of corruption by referring the issues to the proper investigative agency for the relevant inquiry and action including if necessary the suspension of the affected official pending the conclusion of the investigation, that is exactly what has been done since I assumed the mantle of leadership,”he said.
He noted since he assumed office as President, “no evidence or allegation has been forthcoming that the Executive i.e. myself as President has made any attempt to influence the outcome of any of these investigations. The latest episode involving the former Sanitation Minister, Cecilia Abena Dapaah is evident for all to see.”
He also said the country has made remarkable progress in the fight against corruption under his administration.
