The New Patriotic Party (NPP) has said many Ghanaians will not be surprised by the Institute of Economic Affairs’(IEA) survey that ranked the Office of the President as the second most corrupt institution in country.
The Socio Economic and Governance survey which was conducted in all the ten regions of Ghana also ranked the Police Service as the most corrupt institution while tax officials and Members of Parliament were ranked as third and fourth most corrupt officials respectively.
Speaking on Eyewitness News, the Director of Communications for the NPP, Nana Akomea said many Ghanaians “will not be surprised[by the survey] because there is a very big perception out there that corruption starts from the head.”
[contextly_sidebar id=”jzR4CgAWpnivFCSu4iZDxtryg2xUw3Bp”]Nana Akomea said though the perception held by Ghanaians about corruption may not be the “reality, it has to be to dealt with” since it is present.
Refering to some corrupt deals under the Mahama- led administration,Nana Akomea noted that about 20 million dollars given to the Savannah Accelerated Development Agency(SADA) for afforestation was wasted, adding that no one was asked to account for that the huge amount of money.
“The very same company that is engaged in this tree planting exercise is given another contract to go and produce guinea fowls. The company has no track record in producing fowls and as we speak we haven’t seen anything out of this,” he remarked.
Provide evidence
In a related development, government has challenged the IEA to provide evidence to back claims that the Office of the President is the second most corrupt institution in Ghana.
A press statement signed by the Minister for Communications, Dr. Omane Boamh further rejected the claims saying the timing of the purported survey just a day before the President presents the State of the Nation Address cannot be lost on the objective-minded members of the public.
“Government strenuously rejects any such suggestion that the Office is corrupt, let alone being the second most corrupt institution in Ghana,” the Minister said.
“The practice where groups or organisations purport to conduct polls and through a visceral approach publish their outcomes in a manner that seeks to create the impression of corruption does little to advance the fight against corruption,” Omane Boamah added.
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By:Marian Efe Ansah/citifmonline.com/Ghana
Follow @EfeAnsah