Anti-corruption campaigner, Vitus Azeem has challenged President Nana Akufo-Addo to back his words against corruption with action.
The President during the New Patriotic Party’s delegates’ conference over the weekend announced he will not preside over a corrupt administration, further directing the security agencies to investigate persons accused of corruption in his administration.
President Akufo-Addo also stated that persons who make allegations of corruption against his officials should also be prepared to give evidence when called upon.
But Mr. Azeem argued that a lot more than words is needed to give meaning to the Akufo-Addo government’s fight against corruption.
“There is no guarantee that investigations will not be interfered with by the government of the day. These pronouncements have been made in the past by previous governments and so it is not new, yet we don’t see [anything].”
Mr. Azeem noted that the changes in the heads of institutions like Economic and Organised Crime Office (EOCO), Commission on Human Rights and Administrative Justice (CHRAJ) and the Police Administration after elections did not bode well.
He explained that such developments were “an indication of [a new government] wanting to have some control over those institutions and so, no matter how genuinely committed some of these heads are, they feel a bit obliged to do what government will like to see, and that is the worry.”
The Akufo-Addo administration has already indicated that will begin the prosecution of officials in the Mahama administration in October.
A deputy Attorney General, Joseph Kpemkpa revealed that the government is currently building cases against such officials.
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By: Eugenia Tenkorang/citifmonline.com/Ghana