In spite of his claim that President John Dramani Mahama is not corrupt, anti-corruption Campaigner, P.C Appiah Ofori, has stated that the President has not fought corruption effectively in his administration.
Speaking to Citi News, the former New Patriotic Party (NPP) Member of Parliament indicated that per what he knows of the President, he is convinced that he is not corrupt.
[contextly_sidebar id=”3JF78bSYktdN4ULwFvYRS96VlcW0bg0y”]He however intimated that the President had failed to translate his seemingly noble character traits to tackling corruption in his government.
P.C. Appiah cited the many corruption scandals, including the ones exposed in the Auditor-General’s annual reports, as evidence of the President Mahama’s failure in the fight against corruption in his government.
According to the former MP, he has known the President since their days in Parliament. He noted however that he does not approve of his posture in the fight against corruption.
“Going by the Auditor’s General report that has been coming out, covering these areas; the massive fraudulent deals the Public Accounts Committee (PAC) has been hearing I can’t say the President has fought corruption, “the former MP for Asikuma-Odoben Brakwa stated.
I’m fighting corruption better than other regimes – Mahama
P.C Appiah’s sentiment is however in sharp contrast to President Mahama’s assertion that his administration has fought corruption better than previous regimes.
After boldly declaring to the BBC in an interview that he has never accepted a bribe, President Mahama further stated on Thursday that, unlike his predecessors who felt exposing corruption would bring down their governments; his administration is fighting the canker head-on.
President Mahama, who was speaking to the BBC on the side-lines of the Anti-corruption Summit ongoing in London, said dealing with corruption in Ghana which has a high perception of the canker, is an uphill task.
“You know corruption is not ended. It’s a tough fight. We have an uphill battle but we need a partnership of the willing to be able to do it. In a country like ours, you have a heightened perception of corruption because people are able to discuss it more freely but to move the next step where you expose it, investigate and sanction it, then you need evidence to bring it before a judge or something like that; and that’s what we are doing. I’ve the political will to fight corruption.”
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By: Delali Adogla-Bessa/citifmonline.com/Ghana