Mr. Casely Hayford contends that that levels of corruption in Ghana merited a much steeper fall in the index.

[contextly_sidebar id=”IKv8ISxI69u4iCbDcdJGZWxMDm4d2gWX”]”The Perception Index is incorrect. We should be lower down the scale. We should be far lower down the scale. I think this is a very good [rating],” he stated on The Big Issue.

Ghana dropped 11 places from the 2016 ranking to place 81 out of 180 countries in the 2017 Corruption Perception index.

The report, put together by Transparency International, ranks countries annually by their perceived levels of corruption, as determined by expert assessments and opinion surveys.

The mark was out of a total of 100 was 40, down from 43, which the country attained in the 2016 index.

But the drop by just three points did not reflect the state of Ghana which has so many unpardonable ills, according to Mr. Casely Hayford.

“If you got 43 percent one year and the following year you go 40 percent in an examination, you haven’t done too badly. Maybe some other people worked a little harder and therefore they pipped you but you don’t fall down dramatically. I have reached a point where everywhere I turn in this country, everything I look at seems to be wrong and they seem to be easily correctable.”

He, however, opined that the 2018 score could see some improvement following improved attempts by the Akufo-Addo administration to fight corruption that may not have reflected in the 2017 index.

“A lot of things that have been done by this current government would not have made a significant impact on the perception index. It needs time for the data sets to be complete and comparable before you can actually go ahead so we will probably see a little bit more next year.”

Index factored in Mahama government

Though critics have cited the index as proof of the government’s inability to fight corruption effectively, the government has countered by saying the index also took into account corruption cases recorded under the John Mahama administration, which left power in January 2017.

The Ghana Integrity Initiative’s (GII) also noted that Ghana’s score of 40 points was likely a reflection of the insufficient investigations, prosecutions and sanctioning of corrupt acts, per data sources from 2016.

“It is important to remind ourselves of the plethora of corruption exposés during the period in question which might have influenced the perception of the respondents to the surveys as well as the business experts – examples include the 2016 election-related corruption issues, Bus Branding scandal, Ghana Standards Authority $1.2m Corruption Scandal, Central Medical Stores Arson Saga, National Lottery Authority bribery and numerous adverse findings in annual Audit Reports on the Public Sector,” the statement accompanying the current index stated.

It should be noted that only two of nine data sources used were from 2016; the Global Insight Country Risk Ratings and the African Development Bank Country Policy and Institutional Assessment.

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By: Delali Adogla-Bessa/citifmonline.com/Ghana

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Speaking on The Big Issue, he said the issues that have come under the public spotlight at the Ministry could more accurately be described as acts of incompetence from the parties concerned.

[contextly_sidebar id=”NjtTsSXL9c30RisgB5kM9LzRkH70IMiN”]”A lot of the stuff that we talk about is alleged corruption and unproved corruption. But because of the political swing that you put into it, it becomes so dominating on the media,” Mr. Caseley Hayford opined.

The relevance of the Ministry of Special Development Initiatives has been questioned after its 2018 budget allocation was found to be at least five times bigger than other key ministries like Works and Housing and Sanitation,

The Ministry also came under fire over its allocation of GHc800,000 for the creation of a website.

It has since clarified that the amount was a typographical error, but not before the Minority in Parliament raised concerns that it was an attempt to fleece the state of funds.

However controversial, Mr. Caseley Hayford is of the view that mistakes cannot be described as acts of corruption.

“There are many items like that in there. Some of the more popular ones have been echoed, but a situation like that is not corruption. It is incompetence and a lack of attention to detail, so you do not start off suddenly making noise about someone being more corrupt because they have put a piece of paper together saying they intend to spend money.”

“Saying you intend to spend money and putting a  piece of paper together is not corruption. It does start a process that might lead to corruption if we are not careful, and we are not vigilant enough, but it is definitely not corruption,” he added.

Mr. Casely-Hayford also cautioned that over-blowing such issues is ultimately detrimental to Ghana’s development.

“I want to make it very clear that if we keep jumping the gun like the way we are doing out of political expediency, which is what we do all the time, especially the two major political parties, this country will never move forward.”

Nana Addo fires back at false corruption claims

President Nana Akufo-Addo recently fired at the National Democratic Congress saying his government would not be distracted by baseless accusations of corruption.

He said there were a number of attempts to drag his administration through the mud with corruption allegations during its first year of governance.

The President made reference to a number of corruption scandals that have rocked his government including the bribery scandal involving the Energy Minister, the A-Plus corruption scandal, and the recent extortion allegations levelled against the Trade and Industry Ministry.

But he added that they were all found to be unsubstantiated.

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By: Delali Adogla-Bessa/citifmonline.com/Ghana

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Mr. Casley Hayford made the statement while commenting on the Supreme Court’s judgement on Pressure Group, Occupy Ghana’s suit filed against the Auditor General.

[contextly_sidebar id=”CEIL1OhvDGigsNHJdujqDOPKrTpcWvv4″]Mr. Casley Hayford, who is also a convener for Occupy Ghana , indicated that a “mid time calculation starting from 2008 to 2014 estimated that about 45 to 50 billion cedis had been taken by individuals.”

The Supreme Court on Wednesday, ordered the Auditor General to, with immediate effect, begin surcharging persons found to have misappropriated monies belonging to the state.

The court’s order followed a suit filed by Occupy Ghana in June 2016, seeking an order directing the Auditor-General to issue disallowances and surcharges to and in respect of all persons and entities found in relevant, successive reports to have engaged in misappropriation of state funds.

Occupy Ghana had explained that it sued the Auditor General for refusing to surcharge persons who are said to have misappropriated state funds to the tune of over GHc40 billion.

Speaking on Citi FM’s News Analysis Programme, The Big Issue, Mr. Casley Hayford indicated that “everybody believed to have committed an infraction sizeable enough” will be prosecuted.since the case is “such an important part in the development of anti-corruption .”

“The significant point is that so many people have benefited from the laxity in the system and taken what is not theirs at the expense of national development and it is important that we haul these people before courts and really test the system,” Casley Hayford added.

He however admitted that there will be challenges in prosecuting corrupt officials since “the Auditor General does not have the human resources and the logistical resources to be able to get things done.”

“The Attorney General who is the main prosecutor now has to find the persons and the bodies to assist in getting these things through the court rapidly and the judicial system itself is going to be challenged to do that effectively.”

A number of corruption scandals which involved public officials and private companies benefiting from state monies for less or no work done have been recorded in the country in the last few years .

Some of these scandals include the monies lost to Subah Info Solutions deal, the Ghana Youth Employment and Entrepreneurial Agency (GYEEDA,  the Savannah Accelerated Development Authority (SADA) and the GHc3.6 million bus branding saga.

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By: Marian Ansah/citifmonline.com/Ghana
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Mr. Amaliba believes the governing New Patriotic Party’s (NPP) failure to rebuke Otiko Djaba for criticizing former President Mahama during the elections, created what he calls a “monster”in the Minister, which is now affecting the party.

[contextly_sidebar id=”0rSv62gRdv4ETd2Y13PzTARqDR5ggsdr”]“When she attacked President Mahama and the Minority asked her to retract she refused, and the NPP hailed her as a brave woman. When you create a monster to eat up your opponents after the monster has eaten up your opponents, it will turn to you.”

On the same platform, Mr. Casley Hayford also criticized both the Minister and the Northern Regional Chairman, Bugri Naabu, over the fracas, saying they could have chosen a more dignified approach to resolving their issues.

Casley Hayford believes the development clearly shows the two are “undisciplined.”

“This issue between Bugri Naabu and Otiko Djaba for me is the most distasteful thing that you can have in our social discourse. I cannot understand why two such prominent politicians who should be respected for what they do should go about saying such things about each other in public. These are a pair of undisciplined persons. This is like a Montie three thing. You should respect each other enough to call each other and sort this out.”

Bugri Naabu and Otiko Djaba have been bickering in the past few days, exchanging abusive words on various media platforms in what many have described as a serious blot on the government’s image.

Otiko Afisa Djaba in a media engagement last week, accused the NPP Northern Regional Chairman, Bugri Naabu, of receiving goats and cows from individuals with the promise of securing appointments in public office for them.

Mr. Naabu in a subsequent media interview caused a stir when he reportedly suggested that Otiko Djaba and the current Upper East Regional Chairman, were involved in the murder of the former NPP Upper East Regional Chairman, Adams Mahama.

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By: Marian Ansah/citifmonline.com/Ghana

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Speaking on Citi FM’s news analysis programme, The Big Issue, Mr. Casley-Hayford said: “My theory is that, over the years, the NDC had started, even as far back as Jerry Rawling’s time, manipulating the voters’ register.”

The member of pressure group, Occupy Ghana, revealed that he gathered this information from his “private correspondence” adding that he could “prove it statistically.”

According to him, the “extra numbers that were on the voters’ register and that have been on the voters’ register for decades, were all padded numbers.”

“This is where I believe sincerely that the NDC deceived themselves into thinking that they had those million plus votes,” he added.

Sydney Casley-Hayford said the fact that the NDC won the 2008 elections while the party was out of power, did not necessarily mean they could not have manipulated the register.

“The fact that you are not in power does not mean you cant have somebody who is in a position to change numbers that the people in power don’t know about. If I have a deep throat somewhere in the Electoral Commission who is influential enough and can manipulate numbers well enough, he can do that without the party necessarily being in power.”

He was also livid over what he called the NDC’s constant deception of the citizenry, even after losing the 2016 general elections.

“ I think that the NDC after so many decades of running this country has started believing their own lies. For a long time they kept trumpeting their success stories and we would refuse to listen to whole facts. Even at the time when the economy was slipping and many people were venting, they still wanted you to believe that everything was fine. When they went to the IMF and we commented, they still wouldn’t listen.”

Ahead of the elections, Abu Ramadan and one Evans Nimako went to the Supreme Court to seek an interpretation of the court’s earlier ruling on the validity of the voters’ register.

The Supreme Court subsequently ordered the Electoral Commission to with immediate effect remove the names of about 56,000 people who registered with NHIA cards as proof of Ghanaian citizenship, ahead of the 2012 elections.

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By: Marian Ansah/citifmonline.com/Ghana
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His comment comes in the wake of a recent attack by a vigilante group believed to be affiliated with the New Patriotic Party (NPP) in the Ashanti Region.

[contextly_sidebar id=”Y4605t8HzLnZ6Q5Y2AsnFpXqPbiI6IVn”]The group, Delta Force besieged the premises of the Ashanti Regional Coordinating Council on Friday to demand the removal of the Regional Security Coordinator who was appointed by President Nana Addo.

Many were injured , while government properties were destructed in the process.

Commenting on the development , Mr. Casley Hayford on Citi FM’s News Analysis and Current Affairs Programme, The Big Issue wondered why government had not yet made any arrest in connection with the incident.

“It boggles my mind. I do not understand how something like this should go on. At least someone should be in jail and we should look forward to their prosecution…We are too close now to allowing all of this to continue and I am very disappointed in government that after two , three days of this happening, there doesn’t seem to be any attempt to try and deal with these groups.

“People invading political party headquarters with cutlasses and machetes and fighting among themselves and nobody is arrested? This is where it is all going wrong…Because we think it is politically not going to help us , we will not do the right thing. It is too much. I am tired of it,” Casley Hayford added.

He believes government’s continuous silence on these attacks could gradually draw the country close to what he calls an anarchical situation.

“We are living in a situation where we are allowing lawlessness to simply carry on. We are now dangerously close to an anarchical situation. And the Police do not seem to have any power or simply don’t want to act or someone has instructed them not to act.”

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By: Marian Ansah/citifmonline.com/Ghana
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Otiko Djaba on Tuesday refused to apologize for her comments against the President when she was queried by some Minority members serving on Parliament’s Appointment Committee.

[contextly_sidebar id=”VEoZbJ6BCDcizUgpiQilLz5qXBFtdqYk”]She defended her comments, saying she spoke out of conviction and would therefore neither apologize nor withdraw her comments.

“The President is my brother and I spoke from my convictions. I made the statements that I made as a wake up call for him. We are building the nation.He was running for reelection and I felt that the people who should tell him as it is were not telling him as it was.They decided that because he was my brother , they did not want me to speak and when I talked about him being an embarrassment, I spoke in relation to SADA. SADA is very dear to my heart.My mother is a Northerner, the incidence of poverty is highest in the three Northern Regions and for a President who comes from the Northern Region, who promised to alleviate poverty, what happened to the Guinea fowls? It was an embarrassment to me and to the North. The Chiefs of the North actually made that statement and so I don’t owe him or you any apology. We are developing  and building a nation,” Otiko said.

But sharing his thoughts on the development that transpired in Parliament for which reason the minority is refusing to approve her nomination, Mr. Casley Hayford  said Otiko Djaba’s comments could be equated to insults.

“They were insulting comments,” he told host of Citi FM’s Big Issue, Umaru Sanda Amadu.

“In the build up to the campaign, everybody says all sorts of things against each other . We seem to have allowed that on our platform …and the citizens seem to appreciate, and we laugh about it and for us it becomes fun,” Casley Hayford added.

Casley Hayford intimated that, Otiko should have apologized for being “sarcastic and cheeky” after being queried by members of the Committee, instead of taking a rather stiff stance.

Meanwhile, Parliament is expected to sit and vote on Otiko Djaba’s approval on Tuesday, 7th February, 2017, since the House could not agree on her nomination by consensus.

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By: Marian Ansah/citifmonline.com/Ghana
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Some documents sighted in some media reports during the week indicated that on July 22, 2016, the Central Bank sent a request to the Public Procurement Authority (PPA) to sole source the procurement of gold watches from a Swiss watch company.

The request letter indicated that the BoG intended to use part of its 2016 budgetary allocation to fund the procurement of 24 units of 18 carat ladies gold watches and 48 units of gents gold watches; all Tissot Gold Watches from a dealer at the price of US$504,000.

The BoG has since come under intense criticism for taking such a decision.

But speaking on Citi FM’s News Analysis Programme , The Big Issue, Mr Casley Hayford said the BoG has every right to pay loyalty rewards to its staff.

“It’s perfectly acceptable…Who pays staff of the Bank of Ghana?Bank of Ghana is not on government budgets. They are not funded and salaries are not paid by the government. Bank of Ghana is an independent institution that makes its own money by buying and selling bills, by trading on behalf of government and by leveraging fees or license by retail banks.

“If you look at the actual mandate of the Bank of Ghana, you will not see anywhere that it is part of the government’s machinery. It is not , so our tax proceeds do no go towards servicing the Central Bank. There is absolutely no reason legally or otherwise that the Bank of Ghana cannot do this,”he intimated.

Casley Hayford further argued that in other institutions, workers are equally rewarded for being loyal to their respective companies.

“Members of Parliament get paid more or even better in their gratuity after they have finished their period of service. Some people get cars, Ford expeditions, etc . It’s a big fuss about nothing.”

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By: Marian Ansah/citifmonline.com/Ghana

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According to him, the fund, together with its managers, only slow down development, and cost the country additional money that could be used for other projects.

Speaking on The Big Issue on Citi FM on Saturday, Mr. Casely-Hayford said it would be prudent for government to employ an electronic system that will enable the transfer of fund directly to the various assemblies rather than distributing it through a central resource pool.

He noted, “you have built a district assembly common fund and administrator and you are spending money on him and a whole lot of staff and all that their job is, is to allocate money to districts. These are the fruitless things that we do and we say that because the money has gone to the district assembly common fund, its done and the districts have got money.”

According to him, an effective approach to allocating resources to the various districts for development was to “scrap the District Assembly Common Fund Secretariat (DACF), and allocate resources [directly] to the districts.”

“You are deciding that you are allocating resources to the districts and you are deciding that you are going to take 5% of all the revenues and it is going to the districts. You don’t need anybody to manage it [independently], it can be managed by the ministry of finance or the ministry of local government. It is just a bank transfer”, he said.

‘Government to increase common fund’

The National Democratic Congress (NDC) government in the highlights of its recently launched manifesto, stated THAT it would increase the common fund allocation for districts to be reserved for the disabled.

A Senior Research Fellow at the Institute for Democratic Governance (IDEG), Dr. Kwesi Jonah, recently called for an increase in the district assembly common fund from 7.5 percent of tax revenue to 15 per cent.

According to him, this would help promote faster development of the local communities.

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By: Jonas Nyabor/Citifmonline.com/Ghana

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