2016 polls: Failure to deal with graft cost NDC – Kpebu

The New Patriotic Party (NPP) won the December 2016 presidential and parliamentary elections because the then governing National Democratic Congress (NDC) was not seen as doing enough to deal with corruption in the country, Martin Kpebu, a private legal practitioner and lecturer at the Central University College, has said.

Issues of corruption took centre stage in last year’s election campaign, an election the NPP, led by Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo, won with 53.85 percent of total valid votes cast to become Ghana’s fifth president under the Fourth Republic.

His main contender, the then sitting President John Dramani Mahama of the NDC, managed to poll 44.40 per cent of total valid votes cast.

Mr Akufo-Addo accused the then president of failing to tackle corruption in his government, an accusation he trumpeted throughout the electioneering period to eventually win the polls.

He has, therefore, tasked his ministers to be mindful of the fact that the election was fought on issues of corruption, hence they should eschew such immoral acts.

“If you want to make money, then go to the private sector…” he told his ministers.

Speaking on State of Affairs hosted by Nana Aba Anamoah on GhOne on Tuesday February 14, Mr Kpebu said: “Corruption was one of the main reasons why the NPP won because the NDC government was not seen as doing enough to tackle it. That is the number one reason.”