I have been exorcised of 'Father for All' syndrome – Mahama on dealing with corruption

Former President of Ghana and flagbearer for the National Democratic Congress (NDC), John Dramani Mahama, says he has been exorcised of the "Father for All" syndrome.

According to him, the times demand that he be exorcised in order to deal with corrupt public officials effectively.

The former President asserts he will not spare any individual in the current government or his own.

"My boss was a special person; he often said he preferred looking forward rather than into the past, and so I'm sure that people got away with the crimes they had committed against the people.

I became president four years later after President Mills had completed his term. I came into office five months before the election. When I became President, it was going to be difficult to investigate things that happened in 2008.

So I said, look, any allegation of corruption, I gave the investigative agencies a free hand to investigate, and so I remember those times the National Service Investigation, the GYEEDA scandal—people forget I was the one who commissioned the committee of inquiry into GYEEDA and all the issues that came up.

The report was presented to me as President, and I gave it to the media, and that is referred back to me as my crime of condoning corruption. The fight against corruption begins with shining sunlight into an area, and that's what I sought to do. So when we gave the GYEEDA report to you guys, we sent it to the Attorney General. People involved went to court to restrain the Attorney General, and the court processes took forever. There were others where there was the prosecution of my colleague and friend Abuga Pele. The Attorney General prosecuted him, and he was jailed. It was recently that President Akufo-Addo granted him amnesty. And so the fight against corruption was there. We retrieved monies close to GHC 50 million. So the track record is there.

He continued, "I will tell you that if indeed I was imbued with the father for all syndrome, it has been exorcised. It has been exorcised because it has been demanded by the people of Ghana. The people of Ghana are asking for accountability. We must create a situation where everybody who agrees to serve must know that they will be held accountable to the people. We've seen something that is happening in other countries.

I can tell you that our young people are becoming so desperate, and if we don't take desperate action and we think it's going to be business as usual, we will be shocked at what will happen in this country. And so it is not my demand, it is not a threat as Naana Jane said, it is a promise that we will hold public office holders accountable. It is not going to be post-regime; it is easy to opponents when they've left office, but the difficult decision of dealing with your own people when they go wrong is what makes you pass the test of the fight against corruption, and we are going to hold our people accountable. I've said it several times, if you get into trouble, I am not going to be a clearing agent to clear you. If the investigative agencies catch up with you, you are on your own," he said.