NPP MPs bribery allegation: Investigations will lead nowhere – Anti-graft campaigner

An anti-graft campaigner, Mr Vitus Azeem, has expressed doubts that the country’s institutions will be able to investigate and prosecute the businessman who alleged attempted to induce Members of Parliament to favor the embroiled Finance Minister. His position on the issue follows disclosures made by some New Patriotic Party (NPP) MPs about a meeting held with the said businessman who sought to bribe the members supporting the call for the removal of Mr Ken Ofori Atta from office. According to the Asante Akim North MP who is the spokesperson for the caucus, Andy Appiah Kubi, the businessman whose name has remained anonymous, “got somebody to bring it [money] and we said sorry, we cannot take anything, we returned his money to him and he took it away and it ended there.” But reacting to the development, many have called for investigations into the allegations since some perceive that the Finance Minister and the said businessman may have been benefiting from the economic quagmire. However, Mr Vitus Azeem who is a former Director of the Ghana Integrity Initiative (GII), said it was a good call for investigations to be launched into the development, but was not confident that the outcome will be profitable. “We have seen investigations on parliament and parliamentarians, they have yielded no results. So we can have an investigation but it will lead nowhere,” Mr Azeem stated in an interview with 3fm monitored by Angelonline.com.gh. “But of course, we have state institutions; Commission on Human Rights and Administrative Justice (CHRAJ), the Office of Special Prosecutor (OSP) and Economic and Organised Crime Office (EOCO) but being attempted bribery or corruption which is difficult to establish, and also when it involves politicians…makes the fight against corruption in this country very difficult or impossible.” To him, the suitable option was for the president to listen to the crying public and members of his party and change the Finance Minister Ken Ofori Atta. He said it is “politically inexpedient for the president to continue to indicate that he is keeping the finance minister when virtually the majority of Ghanaians including his own npp people are calling on him to let him go.

An anti-graft campaigner, Mr Vitus Azeem, has expressed doubts that the country’s institutions will be able to investigate and prosecute the businessman who alleged attempted to induce Members of Parliament to favor the embroiled Finance Minister. His position on the issue follows disclosures made by some New Patriotic Party (NPP) MPs about a meeting held with the said businessman who sought to bribe the members supporting the call for the removal of Mr Ken Ofori Atta from office. According to the Asante Akim North MP who is the spokesperson for the caucus, Andy Appiah Kubi, the businessman whose name has remained anonymous, “got somebody to bring it [money] and we said sorry, we cannot take anything, we returned his money to him and he took it away and it ended there.” But reacting to the development, many have called for investigations into the allegations since some perceive that the Finance Minister and the said businessman may have been benefiting from the economic quagmire. However, Mr Vitus Azeem who is a former Director of the Ghana Integrity Initiative (GII), said it was a good call for investigations to be launched into the development, but was not confident that the outcome will be profitable. “We have seen investigations on parliament and parliamentarians, they have yielded no results. So we can have an investigation but it will lead nowhere,” Mr Azeem stated in an interview with 3fm monitored by Angelonline.com.gh. “But of course, we have state institutions; Commission on Human Rights and Administrative Justice (CHRAJ), the Office of Special Prosecutor (OSP) and Economic and Organised Crime Office (EOCO) but being attempted bribery or corruption which is difficult to establish, and also when it involves politicians…makes the fight against corruption in this country very difficult or impossible.” To him, the suitable option was for the president to listen to the crying public and members of his party and change the Finance Minister Ken Ofori Atta. He said it is “politically inexpedient for the president to continue to indicate that he is keeping the finance minister when virtually the majority of Ghanaians including his own npp people are calling on him to let him go.