Osafo Maafo 'most corrupt politician' I have ever seen - Murtala Mohammed

Senior Minister Yaw Osafo Maafo has been described as the "most corrupt politician" ever, in the annals of the country's political history, by a former Deputy Minister in the John Mahama-led NDC administration.

"Why? Because he (Osafo Maafo) has allegedly managed to construct a building a few months after his appointment as Senior Minister".

Murtala Mohammed therefore wants him (Osafo) to tell Ghanaians how he managed to complete the said building which was at a foundation level for years.

“Go to Pillar two (Dome, a suburb in Accra), there is a building there and my understanding is that the building belongs to Mr Osafo Maafo; it was just foundation for over ten years. Mr Osafo Maafo didn’t even have a dime to buy blocks to raise it. Go and see that building today in less than a year.

"Mr Osafo Maafo should tell us where he got that money to do that…and let no one tell me that oh he had money. If he had money, is it not curious that he didn’t see the need to raise that building for almost ten years or more and he has suddenly raised that building from foundation to completion?” he quizzed.

Osafo Maafo’s Ministry an illegal entity

Parliament recently rejected the 2018 budgetary allocation of GH?6 million for the office of the Senior Minister for its planned programmes and policies.

The parliamentarians argued that the office was not a legal creation and therefore could not be allocated any funds from the national budget.

According to the Minority Leader, Haruna Iddrisu, an Executive Instrument (EI28) containing a list of ministries signed by President Nana Akufo-Addo and gazetted on 28th February, 2017 did not include the office of the Senior Minister as a ministry. Thus, he said, without any legal backing, the Ministry cannot be allocated funds.

Superfluous Portfolio?

The creation of the Senior Minister’s office has widely condemned by sections of the public who argue that it is a superfluous portfolio with no proper designation.

Apart from the Minority Leader, Member of Parliament for Bawku Central, Mahama Ayariga is on record to have claimed that the office was unconstitutional.

According to Mr. Ayariga, the “nomination of any person to be vetted for the post of a ‘Senior Minister’ constitutes a constitutional aberration”, adding that “nowhere in the Constitution does the office of ‘Senior Minister’ exist.”

Aside the unconstitutionality of the office, Hon Murtala alluded to the issue of the Macmillan scandal which involved the printing of some books for Ghanaian schools supervised by Mr Osafo Maafo, when he was then Education Minister.

It is against this backdrop that the former MP and deputy minister levelled such allegations of corruption against the senior minister.

The former Deputy Trades Minister, who was speaking during a panel discussion on Radio Gold’s Alhaji and Alhaji programme, added: “I can’t see any corrupt politician than Osafo Maafo. Perhaps, within the NPP he may not be the most corrupt but I say that he is the most corrupt politician that I have ever seen…he has to explain to us how that building was completed only when he was appointed a senior minister…”