The Member of Parliament for Bole Bamboi constituency in the Savannah Region, Mr. Yusif Sulemana has claimed in an interview that the President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo, and his government are corrupt.
Commenting on the recent Corruption Perception Index (CPI) of the country, the member of the Public Accounts Committee of Parliament stated that corruption under the current government is ‘legendary’ and extremely challenging to discuss.
The Member of Parliament for Bole Bamboi further alleged that, over the years the current government has performed abysmally in their corruption rating and posited that the New Patriotic Party administration’s best performance on the CPI, in comparison, is former President John Dramani Mahama’s worst performance.
Likewise, Mr. Yusif Sulemana posited that investigations of corruption cases under the current government, citing the issue of the former Minister of Sanitation Cecilia Dapaah, come out vague.
He alleged that, President Nana Akufo-Addo constantly protects his appointees and alleged that these appointees are ‘puppets’ who does the biddings of President Akufo-Addo. Justifying his position, Mr Sulemana asked, ‘you think those who have been appointed by him, they want a situation where they will go contrary to his thoughts and his?’
Furthermore, the Member of Parliament for Bole Bambio stated that his party’s flagbearer, John Dramani Mahama, unlike President Akufo-Addo is not corrupt by citing instances when Mr Mahama whiles in office refused to engage investigation of issues relating to corruption and instead allowed state institutions to deal with such issues,
Mr Sulemana stated emphatically that Mr. Mahama will never take certain interfering actions, actions he claimed the incumbent President, H.E Nana Akufo-Addo is known for taking.
The Nature Of Corruption Related Matters In The Auditor General’s Reports Are ‘Interesting’
Moreover, the opposition National Democratic Congress member of the Public Accounts Committee (PAC) also revealed that, the nature of corruption related matters that the PAC has discovered in relation to the 2022 Public Boards and Corporations audit in the Auditor General’s reports are ‘very interesting’.
According Mr. Sulemana, these cases of corruption are spread across the various state boards and corporations which include, unlawful variations, procurement infractions and sole sourcing among others.
Consequently, the Member of Parliament accused the NPP and President Akufo-Addo of sole-sourcing. He claimed that the government has specific and shortlisted suppliers who provide government with goods and services.
Mr. Sulemana to give some credence to his allegations, claimed that he is currently gathering up a document that dates from 2017 to 2022 to confirm suppliers that the current government has engaged in sole sources contract with.
In addition, the Member of Parliament also predicted that, taking into consideration the current economic hardship, Ghana’s Corruption Perception Index (CPI), which is currently at 43%, is likely to drop further in the next chapter of Transparency International’s CPI reports.
Mr. Yusif Sulemana asserted that the current NPP government is unable to have discourses on corruption because it has ‘a lot of rot’ within it concerning issues relating to the subject matter. He declared that not a single individual accused of corruption in the current government has been prosecuted despite countless evidence which is available to the public
Mr Sulemana further alleged that states institutions are not autonomous enough to carry out investigations into corruption allegations of public servants. He argued this by cautioning Ghanaians to pay attention to the choice of words of President Akufo-Addo in his address of issues regarding corruption of his appointees.
Also, the Member of Parliament yet again used the case of former Minister of State, Madam Cecilia Dapaah, citing the president’s remark – “I have so much trust in her. I know she will come out clean” and stated that the President’s comment gave a clear call to the institutions handling the issue what the President, expected the outcome to be.
Conclusively, Mr. Yusif Sulemana commented on the issues of new taxes that were proposed by government. He described the taxes as ‘useless’ as he opined that, such taxes cannot be expected to generate any revenue substantial enough to carry out any government intended projects.
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