I won’t prosecute people without factual evidence - Akufo-Addo

The President, Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo, has reiterated his commitment to the fight against corruption, but will not prosecute people without any factual evidence.

According to the President, it is not enough to condemn people because someone said they were corrupt, a situation, he added, would not inure to good governance.

President Akufo-Addo was reiterating what he had told chief executives and chairpersons of stated enterprises over the weekend that he would not shield anybody when it comes to the fight against corruption.

That, he said, would be a denial of his oath of office. He noted that he should rather be the one to act, something, he said, he was trying to do to make sure that the proper bodies investigate all allegations.

“We can’t be in a situation merely by an allegation condemning people. That one is not right. The matter has to be investigated, and if something is found, then the appropriate remedies will be applied… If we have a situation whereby mere allegations are enough to convict people, then none of us would ever be in a position to form a government.

“All you have to do is to get up and say oh he is corrupt, and then that’s the end of it. There has to be evidence to back it, and that is why you have to have the institutions of the state examining and going into it and finding the things.

“Some people are complaining that some of those against who the accusations are made are cleared. They want them to be convicted merely because people say so? I will not head any government like that. We want to have these things done on the basis of evidence; that there is proof that [an] allegation has been properly laid, then the necessary measures will be taken,” he remarked.

President Akufo-Addo was addressing chiefs and queenmothers from the Dzodze Traditional Area in the Volta Region, who paid a courtesy call on him yesterday at Jubilee House, Accra.

The President told his visitors, who had praised him for appointing natives of Dzodze to serve in his government, that the appointees merited the position, and not because he wanted to appease the people of Dzodze.

The chiefs and queenmothers said the President had made them proud by appointing a number of their people to serve in his government, and commended him for that.

The Akufo-Addo government has the likes of Kofi Dzamesi as the Minister of Chieftaincy and Religious Affairs, Archibald Yao Letsa, Volta Regional Minister, Pius Hadzide, Deputy Minister of Information, Johnson Avuletey, Deputy Volta Regional Minister, among others being natives of Dzodze.

Addressing the President, the spokesperson for the Traditional Council, Torgbui Dey III, expressed gratitude to the government for the numerous interventions to develop their communities, making mention of the Free Senior High School programme, and others.

“As chiefs, we are not oblivious of the fact that we are not politicians, but we have interests in the development of our communities. We are seeing transformation in our communities, in the lives of our people, and we can see a brighter future for the next generation,” he said.

“The act of acknowledging our leaders when they do well is missing in our body politic. Even when your rival is more handsome than you, you have to acknowledge it,” he asserted.

Torgbui Dey III presented a number of petitions to the President, including a new market at Dzodze, upgrading of the Ho-Aflao road which passes through Dzodze, as well as Dzodze town roads.

The President was grateful for such kind words, which, he said, would inspire him and give him the comfort that the work he was doing was having positive impact on people.