His recommended institutions are ones that have the capacity to deal with both the privileged and the under-privileged in order to get rid of all cankers we are struggling with.

Publicly forcing Jacob Zuma to resign as the President of South Africa is definitely not the right way of hunting out corruption effectively. This approach, I believe is rather encouraging others to aspire to be more corrupt since they will always have the option of resigning and going scot-free regardless of the financial losses they may have caused the state.

Elsewhere, people resign from their positions on the dictates of their conscience and subsequently apologize for wrongdoing. Notwithstanding their apologies, they are held before the law if they are found guilty of any of those. From his speech, it is clear that Zuma never resigned because of the heap of allegations against him. Rather, for the sake of peace in South Africa.

It is tempting to assume that kicking Zuma out of the presidency is worth it and South Africans must be okay. Yes, politically it is important for the ANC because getting him out will help clean the slate to enable them win the 2019 elections. For me, the longer-term damage of presidents resigning from office with impunity is in my view very much incalculable.

No good comes of Zuma’s resignation if there are no laws to deal with him as a private citizen now that he is out of office. Since there is no deterrent to prevent other presidents from following Zuma’s catastrophic example, knowing well that at the end he has gotten everything he wanted including the title, “His Excellency, Former President ………”

Cracking down on corruption without any clear intention to hold a resigned Zuma and subsequent presidents who misconduct themselves accountable could suggest that once elected president, one is immune from the law, despite the South African Constitution’s provision that “all are equal before the law”.

It is time African countries made laws that can bite hard at presidents who rape the coffers of their states and misconduct themselves. These laws must be accompanied by institutions that will implement them effectively and yield good results for the interest of the public.

I agree that presidents and their deputies must be accorded some privileges, but those privileges must not be inclusive of corruption. If they are involved in bribery and corruption, the option must not be the public forcing them to resign. Rather, they must be made to pay the monies they may have stolen to the nation with calculated interests.

This will certainly serve as a deterrent to others who aspire to occupy the seat of the presidency.

The euphoria among many on the heels of Zuma’s resignation is totally okay. But it is unfortunate to only rejoice over the present without raising our heads up to look at what is ahead. In countries like Brazil and the Republic of Korea, there are laws and effective institutions that hand down criminal inquiries and even prison sentences to deserving presidents and prime ministers who engage in bribery and corruption, abuse of power, coercion and disclosures of confidential information.

In South Korea for instance, aside the immediate past president who has been made to face the laws after her impeachment, two other former leaders, Chun Doo-hwan and his successor, Roh Tae-woo, were charged in the mid-1990s after they left office and it had been legally established that they improperly collected millions of dollars from businesses during their tenures.

Going forward, the South African public and the entire African populace must not only be loud in calling for presidents to resign but must also be insistent on the enactment of laws and the establishment of strong institutions that will deal with the likes of Zuma who are suspected of misconducts.

As a people, we Africans must learn lessons from countries like Brazil, South Korea and others that have systems in place to deal with top-hierarchies that engage in corrupt practices. Until then, the Zuma exit comes with no important lessons to other corrupt leaders in Africa.

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By: Ebenezer Azamati/citifmonline.com/Ghana
The Author is a student of International Politics at School of Oriental and African Studies, University of London.

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It took less than 60 seconds for Michael Bates to arrive late, apologize profusely, offer his resignation and then leave the House of Lords on Wednesday.

“I want to offer my sincere apologies to Baroness Lister for my discourtesy in not being in my place to answer her question on a very important matter at the beginning of questions,” the international development minister said, standing up in front of his peers.

“During the five years in which it’s been my privilege to answer questions from this dispatch box on behalf of the government, I’ve always believed that we should rise to the highest possible standards of courtesy and respect in responding on behalf of the government to the legitimate questions of the legislature,” he continued.

Although he was just a couple of minutes late, Bates went on to say: “I am thoroughly ashamed at not being in my place and therefore I shall be offering my resignation to the prime minister … with immediate effect.”

“I do apologize,” said Bates as he gathered his belongings and swiftly exited the chamber.

Witnessing an apology turn into a resignation in a matter of seconds was simply too much for Bates’s stunned peers.

In the dramatic video, other politicians can be heard exclaiming “No!” from their seats. While some laughed in disbelief, others attempted to reach out and pull Bates back to the chamber.

After Bates’s resignation, Baroness Smith of Basildon interrupted the beginning of another speech to say: “An apology from Lord Bates is perfectly sufficient. It was a minor discourtesy of which any of us can be guilty of on occasion.”

Talking to the Guardian, Baroness Lister said she has asked Bates to reconsider his decision.

“Of all the ministers I’d want to cause to resign, he’d be the last,” she said.

Some hours after the spectacular resignation, a spokesperson for British Prime Minister Theresa May (who is on a trip to China) said: “With typical sincerity, Lord Bates today offered to tender his resignation, but his resignation was refused as it was judged this was unnecessary.

“As a hard-working and diligent minister, it is typical of his approach that he takes his responsibilities to Parliament so seriously.”

On social media, puzzled and amused Twitter users celebrated Bates’s decision to remain in his role.

“Glad to see Lord Bates has been persuaded to remain!” read one tweet.

“Late Lord Bates has dramatically unresigned!” said another.

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Source: Washington Post

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He argued that, while giving the Special Prosecutor a free hand in investigations, the law establishing the position also gives the Attorney General some authority over the cases pursued by the Office.

[contextly_sidebar id=”WEzHkgJny2D4qgQC9awwVxR8IueI4Uc0″]“Now, there is a position which says the Special Prosecutor is accountable to the Board. The Special Prosecutor is simply a Managing Director and I do not think that the Managing Director can overrule the decisions of the Board. What is going to be problematic is that another sub section says that notwithstanding that accountability provision, the Special Prosecutor shall have full control over investigations so it creates a conflict situation and my position is that Martin Amidu as I know him, will insist that the law has made him independent and that he is in full control.

“The Board is likely to insist that they are the Board and they call the final shots and so if it happens like that [I know the person I am talking about, one case it happens, another case it happens, I am not sure it will even get to a third case] Martin Amidu will definitely walk out of the place like he walked out of President Mills,” said the lawyer.

President Nana Addo’s decision to appoint Mr. Amidu as Special Prosecutor has been commended by many, except some members of the National Democratic Congress (NDC) who have expressed fears of a possible witch-hunt.

The man Amidu

Mr. Amidu earned the nickname ‘Citizen Vigilante’ for his no-nonsense attitude to corruption, particularly in the NDC administration, under which he served.

He was eventually relieved of his post on Thursday, January 19, 2012, by President John Evans Atta Mills for alleged misconduct.

Ahead of his sacking, Mr. Amidu had made allegations relating to alleged financial impropriety on the part of another cabinet minister.

The former Attorney General, single-handedly challenged the legality of the payments after being relieved of his post at the Supreme Court.

The Supreme Court in 2014 ordered Mr. Woyome to pay back the money as Supreme Court judges unanimously granted the Attorney-General clearance to execute the court’s judgment, ordering Mr. Woyome to refund the cash to the state.

Following the delays in retrieving the money, Mr. Amidu in 2016, filed an application at the Supreme Court seeking to examine Alfred Woyome, on how he would pay back the money, after the Attorney General’s office under the Mahama Administration, led by the former Minister for Justice, Marietta Brew Appiah-Oppong, discontinued a similar application.

In February 2017 however, Mr. Amidu withdrew his suit seeking an oral examination, explaining that the change of government under the New Patriotic Party under His Excellency the President, Nana Addo Dankwah Akuffo Addo and his Attorney General, Miss Gloria Akuffo’s assurance to retrieve all judgment debts wrongfully paid to individuals Mr. Woyome in response prayed the Supreme Court to stay proceedings on the oral examination since he had filed for a review on the case.
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By: Marian Ansah & Bobbie Osei/citifmonline.com/Ghana

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Henry Kalaba said his decision was prompted by the “swelling” levels of corruption “perpetrated by those who are expected to be the solution”.

Analysts suspect the move is an attempt to pressure President Edgar Lungu, who is considering seeking a third term.

There is currently a two-term limit in the Zambian constitution.

Mr Lungu, who has been accused of being increasingly authoritarian by his critics, is arguing in the courts that he could stand for a third term, as he only served part of his first term following the death of his predecessor, Michael Sata.

Mr Kalaba, an MP for the governing Patriotic Front (PF), is said to be a possible candidate for the 2021 presidential election, should Mr Lungu step aside, Reuters news agency reports.

“People have started realising that they will not get nominated as long as Lungu insists on standing.” Lee Habasonda, an analyst from the University of Zambia, told Reuters.

However, Mr Kalaba did not refer to his presidential ambitions in the Facebook post, instead focusing on what he says is growing corruption at the highest level, as well as his desire to serve his “country and its people” over “a position, party or person”.

“We need to go back to the original agenda of our party, the PF, where the poor and not the corporates must be at the centre of all our decisions,” Mr Kalaba wrote, going on to blame Zambia’s current financial woes on “collective carelessness and indifference”.

The post, which has prompted thousands of comments, concluded: “When people begin to feel overwhelmed by fear for speaking the truth, it is time to realize that critical fundamentals have shifted. We all have a role to play in making things right. This is my little contribution – Zambia is our country, we need and must reclaim it back.”

The president’s office says it has not yet received an official resignation letter.

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Source: BBC

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The Akim Oda MP tendered in his resignation on Thursday, following pressure from the Minority, and some civil society groups for making ethnocentric comments, which was triggered during a conversation on how government has dealt with the fall army worm invasion in the three regions of the North.

[contextly_sidebar id=”dc8Tm3e3xchdLNv2QerZhh0i8ZuKFXUx”]Speaking to Citi News, Mr. Arhin said the President found the Deputy Minister’s comment disparaging, hence his acceptance of his resignation.

“I am sure if the President was happy about it [comments], he would not have received the resignation of former Deputy Minister for Agriculture. Many Ghanaians deemed his comments to be extremely unfortunate and unwarranted so in light of that, when there was pressure on him to resign he had to accept it.”

Asked why government failed to sanction Mr. Quaitoo just after he made those comments, Mr. Arhin explained that, the President was engaged in other activities in some regions hence could not take an immediate decision.

“The comment happened somewhere on Friday and when that happened, he [President] had to travel to Ekumfi to go and launch the One District, One Factory programme and most of the weekend, there was this NPP delegates conference so yesterday [Tuesday], was virtually the second working day of the week for people to take stock and definitely before you take such a decision, you need to assess so many factors before such a decision will be taken and whatever be the case…”

Mr. Quaitoo, who is also the Member of Parliament for Akim Oda, had come under fire for saying in an interview on Accra-based Starr FM, that northern farmers could not be trusted in their assessment of the damage from the army worm invasion.

He stated that calls on government to pay compensation for farmers who lost their crops in the three regions of the north, were simply a ploy to fleece the state.

 

Our brothers [in northern Ghana], it is so difficult to deal with them. I lived there for 27 years, I speak Dagbani like a Dagomba and all that. They are very difficult people. Nobody can substantiate. If anybody says that his farm was destroyed by armyworm, the person would have to come and prove it. We have no records of that. It’s just a way of taking money from the government; that’s what they do all the time.

Mr. Quaitoo subsequently apologized for his comments in a statement, where he said he meant to imply that “some farmers can be difficult as it is with all regions.”

He also said he saw himself as a Dagomba, having lived in the Northern Region for 27 years, and assured that he would not “consciously spite them.”

Apology not accepted

But the apology would not be enough, with the Minority in Parliament calling for either his resignation or his immediate dismissal from the government for the disparaging comments.

The National Democratic Congress Member of Parliament for Sagnarigu, A. B. A Fuseini, for one, said he would not accept the apology as he felt the damage from Mr. Quaitoo’s “repulsive” comments had already been done to millions of northerners.

“The people of the three northern regions have been grossly insulted… he has painted us a bunch of unreasonable people who cannot even understand and appreciate normal discourse then he goes on on the basis of that to say that we are untrustworthy people for perpetrating fraudulent activities, making false claims and stealing monies from state coffers,” Mr. Fuseini had said in a Citi News interview.

Criticism also came from within the Flagstaff House, with a presidential staffer, Clara Napaga Tia Sulemana, stating that a mere apology would not be enough.

Ms. Suleman, a Dagomba, described the comments as painful and chided him for making the governing New Patriotic Party look bad in northern Ghana.

“Dagombas are Northerners, Ghanaians and are humans as well, who also have blood running through our veins. We deserve far better from your likes. It’s indeed painful. Those sitting unconcerned and making it look like it’s a small issue we are blowing out of proportion, today it’s about the Dagombas, tomorrow it might be you,” she said in a Facebook post condemning his comments.

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By: Marian Anssah/citifmonline.com/Ghana

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