Mahama has failed in corruption fight – NPP

The opposition New Patriotic Party (NPP) says President John Mahama has failed to tackle corruption in his government and so does not deserve a second term in office.

Speaking to journalists at a news conference in Accra on Wednesday September 14, NPP’s Communication Director referred to a publication in the October 6, 2008 edition of the Daily Graphic in which Mr Mahama, who was at the time the NDC’s vice-presidential candidate, “described corruption as one of the constraints of the country’s development and said that as part of the moves to fight corruption, the NDC would establish the office of Independent Fraud Investigator, which will be independent of the Attorney General’s office and the Ministry of Justice but with powers to initiate prosecution on its own”.

Additionally, he said Mr Mahama indicated that his party “will amend the 1992 Constitution to review the authority of CHRAJ (Commission on Human Rights and Administrative Justice) for the commission not to require complaints before initiating investigations and also have the power to investigate allegations of corruption without requesting for evidence from the complainer”.

Mr Akomea stressed that this promise was “in 2008 but we are in 2016, till now, where is that office?”

“We have not also seen anything about the review of CHRAJ’s powers,” he underscored.

He said Mr Mahama’s failure to honour these promises has made corruption the bane of the country.

Mr Akomea held the view that the actions of Mr Mahama proved that he was not ready to lead the country, to hold people accountable, and take punitive measures against corrupt officials.

Mr Mahama himself has been cited in a petition presented to CHRAJ for investigations to be conducted in connection with his acceptance of a Ford Expedition SUV as a gift from a Burkinabe contractor Djibril Kanazoe who also got contracts from the Republic of Ghana in return. The case is still under investigation by CHRAJ.