Deal with corruption in a 'colourless' manner- Citizen Watch demands

Corruption has become a social canker and has eaten deeply into the fibre of the country. There has been corruption in every administration prior to signing on to democracy in 1992. Corruption still persist in the current democratic dispensation but the different would be how a leader deals with this corruption perception.

The Citizen Watch, one of the think tank groups in the country is demanding from the Akufo-Addo’s government not to only persecute the National Democratic Congress, (NDC) officials who are found culpable of corrupt activities while in government but to persecute everyone who engaged in corrupt activities.

“It is time for us to drop the party colors and work for Ghana by protecting the public purse. We should not “pick and chose” but rather persecute anyone found culpable”, this was contained in a statement issued in Accra and signed by the Convener, Francis Mensah.

In recent times, there have been so many allege corrupt cases leveled against some government official in the NPP administration which have been referred to investigative bodies like Commission for Human rights and Administrative Justice (CHRAJ) the Office of the Special Prosecutor and the Economic and Organise Crime Office, (EOCO) but according to the Citizen Watch this is not enough.

“We are saying that those found culpable, their properties should be confiscated by the state and should be sold to defray the losses they incurred while in office adding that the approach of fighting corruption should go beyond interdicting and resignation”

“We know the President is doing his best to stem the speed corruption in the country but we think this is not enough and we are asking him to step up his game in this direction”, the statement said.

According to the statement, the Citizen Watch is asking the government to establish a body that would monitor and scrutinize the work of the investigative bodies like the CHRAJ and EOCO. The statement quizzes that “who monitor or scrutinize the work of these investigative bodies to see if they are doing the right thing or not”.

“We are human beings and things are bound to happen but the way you handle them is what makes you a leader. That is why we are saying that the President’s approach to transparency should be furthered “, it said.

President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo has suspended the Chief Executive Officer of the Public Procurement Authority (PPA), Adjenim Boateng Adjei, over allegations of corruption and conflict of interest and referred the allegations involving conflict of interest to the Commission on Human Rights and Administrative Justice (CHRAJ) and those relating to potential acts of corruption to the Office of Special Prosecutor “for their prompt action.

The corruption claims came in an investigative documentary conducted by former Multimedia Journalist, Manasseh Azure Awuni, titled “Contracts for Sale.”

Additionally, the Chief of Staff, Akosua Frema Osei-Opare, directed the chief executive officer of the National Youth Authority (NYA), Emmanuel Sin-nyet Asigri, to resign.

This follows a petition brought to the attention of Chief of Staff regarding a questionable procurement procedure which the Public Procurement Authority (PPA) has been called in to investigate.

The president’s action or swift response to these corruptions could be graded as satisfactory but there is more room for improvement, it said.

The statement also called on the government for the quick implementation of the Right To Information (RTI) law to deepen the democracy and development of Ghana.

The statement reiterated that the Citizen Watch would continue to play its watchdog role for the development of the nation. “We would give praises where it is due and also criticize when the need be.