Former President John Dramani Mahama, the flagbearer of the opposition National Democratic Congress (NDC) has expressed strong criticism of the current government’s handling of the fight against corruption.
The National Democratic Congress flagbearer referring to the recently released Corruption Perception Index report by Transparency International during a meeting with organized labor in the Eastern Region as part of his Building Ghana Tour emphasized that there has been zero improvement in the country’s efforts to combat corruption over the past four years.
According to Mr Mahama Ghana’s score of 43 out of 100 which was ranked 70th in the global corruption index for 2023 shows the lack of progress and genuine commitment to the fight against corruption under the New Patriotic Party administration led by President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo.
The former President further alleged that the majority of the people who have engaged in corrupt practices under the current administration are individuals closely associated with President Akufo-Addo.
“The Ghana Integrity Initiative just released a report and it says that there has been zero improvement in the past four years in the fight against corruption. It is clear that this government is not interested in the fight against corruption”.
John Dramani Mahama
Mahama Expresses Doubts Over The Efficacy Of The Office Of Special Prosecutor
Furthermore, the former President, John Dramani in his remarks during his meeting with organized labour in the Eastern Region as part of his ‘Building Ghana Tour’ raised concerns about the effectiveness of the Office of Special Prosecutor, pointing to a specific case involving Cecilia Abena Dapaah, the former Minister of Sanitation under the current administration.
The National Democratic Congress flagbearer and leader commenting on the High Court order for the Office of the Special Prosecutor to return Mrs Cecilia Abena Dapaah’s monies to her questioned the rationale behind establishing the Special Prosecutor’s Office.
Mr Mahama also criticized President Akufo-Addo and the New Patriotic Party administration for changing its stance when investigations began to implicate individuals within its ranks.
“This is at the time when we have the Office of Special Prosecutor. Suddenly they said a special prosecutor should return all Cecilia Dapaah’s money to her and then the explanation they gave was that a special prosecutor cannot handle money laundering cases so what was the need to establish the Office of the special prosecutor?
“I know why it was established. It was established to go after political opponents. Unfortunately, a special prosecutor is investigating everybody and now that it is biting their people suddenly the Special Prosecutor cannot do this and that”.
John Dramani Mahama
Expressing disappointment over the current government’s fight against corruption, Mr Mahama argued that Ghanaians have now been overwhelmed by the cases of corruption under the New Patriotic Party administration led by President Akufo-Addo.
He attributed the desensitization of Ghanaians to issues relating to corruption to the numerous corruption scandals that have surfaced without the government taking any stringent measures against the culprits.
Moreover, former President John Dramani Mahama criticized the Minister of Finance, Ken Ofori Atta’s controversial contract with Strategic Mobilization Limited and further stated that a future National Democratic Congress administration under his leadership would not recognize or accept it.
He criticized President Akufo-Addo for hastily commissioning an audit by KPMG, expressing doubt over the possible outcome of the audit and further asserted that regardless of the audit findings, the National Democratic Congress when voted into power in 2025 would not accept or respect such agreement with Strategic Mobilization Limited (SML).
The former President also highlighted the misuse of COVID-19 relief funds, referencing an audit by the Auditor General that reportedly identified financial irregularities.
Mr Mahama characterized the pandemic as both an adversity and an opportunity, noting that despite financial support pouring into the country, the funds meant for COVID-19 relief were misused by the current administration.
Former President Mahama’s statements were part of his ‘Building Ghana Tour’ in the Eastern Region, where he engaged with organized labour to discuss various issues affecting the nation.
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