Former Minister of Sports, Elvis Afriyie Ankrah, has defended his credibility over embezzlement allegations leveled against him by the President of the Central University College, Professor Kwesi Yankah.<\/p>\n
[contextly_sidebar id=”oaqUF6JO6fZBKYSMxqGA4OnGIOjGrrYU”]Prof. Yankah during an Institute of Economic Affairs\u2019 Corruption Conference on Tuesday insisted that the Presidency has become a safe haven for embattled Ministers and political appointees<\/a><\/strong><\/span> often soiled in corruption scandals.<\/p>\n He observed such political appointees are usually given new positions at the Presidency adding that \u201cwhen government appointees are cited for embezzlement or corruption, no machine is set in motion for investigation, prosecution and indictment.\u201d<\/p>\n Prof. Yankah among other things cited Ghana\u2019s shambolic performance at the 2014 World Cup tournament in Brazil, which was supervised by then Sports Minister, Elvis Afriyie Ankrah.<\/p>\n Afriyie Ankrah who is now a Minister of State at the Presidency in a statement lambasted the Professor for making such remarks.<\/p>\n “In my moments of silence for the past nine (9) months, I have personally suffered abuse, naked insults and misrepresentations from all kinds of pundits, faceless and identifiable social media activists and commentator who have fed the public with nothing but deliberate distorted facts and outright falsehood. I did not expect a respected keynote speaker at an anti-corruption conference to also liaise his speech with innuendos and anecdotes without any factual basis,” he said.<\/p>\n Mr. Ankrah further clarified that “accepting responsibility for the team\u2019s poor showing does not, and can never mean that I was culpable of any malfeasance.”<\/p>\n According to him, \u201cProf. Yankah erred in his remarks directed at me. I take his comments in my stride just like the many indiscreet commentaries that have emanated from many other people.\u201d<\/p>\n He went on to say that \u201cIt is extremely regrettable and disappointing that combating corruption has been unfairly reduced to the heavy use of conjecture without any genuine effort to recognize the efforts of government officials.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cIt is even more worrying to find respectable people in academia such as Prof. Kwesi Yankah who have whether by design or coincidence, fallen to this rather obstructive terrain. This kind of conduct and attitude where every politician is labelled as corrupt and it is further embellished by some anti-graft campaigners so it sticks for a desired effect is counterproductive and a disincentive to fighting corruption.\u201d<\/p>\n The Minister stated that \u201cthe fight against corruption is a collective goal which demands partnership between government and civil society groups and not outright condemnation.”<\/p>\n “We owe a duty to our nation and generations unborn to ruthlessly weed out corruption. I strongly believe we are more than capable of winning this war provided we can focus and consolidate the gains we have made while discounting the unnecessary suspicion of every government official or politician as being corrupt,\u201d Afriyie Ankrah added.<\/p>\n I didn\u2019t embezzle World Cup money\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n On allegations of embezzlement during the 2014 World Cup, the Minister rejected claims saying\u00a0\u201cI have NEVER and DID NOT engage in any act of embezzlement or misappropriation of public funds in and outside the Brazil World Cup saga.”<\/p>\n He said he “rendered full accounts of my stewardship to the relevant authorities with respect to both the funds allocated to the team by government and the funds which I together with my team solicited through an innovative corporate sponsorship drive.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cFor the first time in the history of Ghana\u2019s preparation for the World Cup, there was no seed money due to budgetary constraints. I, together with the organizers, devised creative means to raise more than Four and Half Million Ghana Cedis (GHC 4,500,000) to send supporters to Brazil.\u201d<\/p>\n The Minister further warned his critics to desist from it since it will serve the country no good.<\/p>\n