Malik Basintale, the Deputy Communications Officer of the opposition National Democratic Congress (NDC), has stated that President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo and his government have failed woefully in the fight against corruption.
President Akufo-Addo, in his speech during the commissioning of the newly completed office complex for the Attorney-General and Ministry of Justice in Accra on Monday, stated, amongst other things, that the fight against corruption has been the cornerstone of his administration.
Moreover, President Akufo-Addo underscored his administration’s commitment to the fight against corruption, which, according to him, is evident in the completion of “The Law House” to augment the efficient operations of the Justice Ministry.
However, the NDC Communicator disagreed with the President, citing cases of alleged corrupt practices by his appointees, which were poorly handled with no proper investigations.
Basintale said: “COVID-19, there were lots of exposés that COVID funds were misappropriated. The auditor general told us that GH14 million was used to set up a facility at Adaklu, and abandoned it to the mercy of the weather,” he said in an interview on Accra-based Citi FM on Tuesday.
He continued by alleging that “over GHC11m were shared with cronies and they were testimonies from NPP persons. An example is Felicia Tetteh…who admitted that part of the money was given to her to spend and use for the campaign. Yet nothing was done in that investigation. She was left off the hook.”
“So there are series of instances where the president himself was indicted…And so the president, the vice president, together with all their appointees, have been indicted in one way or the other. And it is not even enough to just call Akufo-Addo, the mother’s serpent of corruption.
“In fact, there’s not enough to call Akufo-Addo, the clearing agent. You must call him the clearing agent and he [doubles] as the mother servant of corruption as said by his special prosecutor, Martin Amidu,” Basintale said.
Relatedly, the President of IMANI Africa, Franklin Cudjoe, has taken a swipe at the President over his claims that the core of this administration has been combating corruption.
Mr Cudjoe in a post on Facebook on Tuesday, wrote, “It is a lie! My dear friend please stop boasting about fighting corruption.
“All those investments you speak of are mere do-little efforts that have had ZERO impact on Ghana’s ranking on the Global Corruption Perception Index.”
“Your best record is your predecessor’s worst! The theatrical comedy of errors engineered in the case of the missing millions of $$ some appointees stash away feed into the grand theft of Africa’s resources, estimated at $4700 per second using 2005 AU statistics. Please let us meet and go over our notes,” the governance commentator stated.
Source: 3news.com
