IMANI faults Akufo-Addo’s commitment to corruption fight

Founding President of think tank, IMANI Centre for Policy and Education, Franklin Cudjoe, wants President Akufo-Addo to rid his government of festering corruption perception.

Mr Cudjoe warns such heightening corruption perception about the current administration may prove worrisome if pragmatic measures are not put in place immediately to correct it.

He said the impression of corruption against the President and his appointees, especially that the President had promised to protect the public purse, may sink the government eventually.

“I think if care is not taken, in spite of the yet-to-be-proven allegations of corruption within this [NPP] administration, it is the perception of people that may eventually sink the administration if they don’t take care. That has been the trajectory in this country. In instances where they’ve even been proven…you end up having government appointees defending what I call the indefensible. So for me, the perception is what we really need to be dealing with. Unfortunately, with corruption, perception seems to be the reality,” he said.

He made the comments on Accra-based Citi FM, Saturday.

He noted that although the macroeconomic indicators look good, “If they [NPP government] don’t take care, these allegations of corruption which incidentally are mostly emanating from their own camp are the ones that will sink them.”

GHc800,000 website row

There is currently intense pressure from the Minority in Parliament for the Minister of Special Development Initiatives, Mavis Hawa Koomson, to resign following revelations that her ministry intends to blow GHc800,000 on the creation of a website.

Her Ministry had requested for about GHc1 billion to undertake a number of projects including warehouses, boreholes, procurement of ambulances and vehicles, among other things.

But the GHc800, 000 budget request for the creation of a website has caused a public uproar, with the Minority accusing the government of negligence.

False corruption claims will not distract us

Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo in responding to these accusations of corruption which he described as attempts to tarnish his government, said they will not be distracted by the claims.

He feels there has “been systematic efforts to try and tag [his] government with corruption.”

Speaking at Kyebi during his tour of the Eastern Region, the President stressed that attempts to falsely accuse his hardworking officials of corruption will not deter him from carrying out his mandate.

This comes on the back of an observation made by former Moderator of the Presbyterian Church of Ghana, Reverend Professor Emmanuel Martey, who said some officials of the NPP administration, are already showing signs of corruption.

The man, who blatantly criticized officials of the erstwhile Mahama administration for being corrupt and having mismanaged the country, appears to be turning the heat on the Akufo-Addo administration.

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