One should have thought that a man’s public admission of culpability and an appeal for the formulation of measures to deal with what he calls, “the corruption canker” in political parties would have been welcome news; but not so with Kwesi Pratt Jnr.
He prefers that the guilty person goes by what the law states and not “sermonize”. He was commenting on a recent statement by flagbearer of the Progressive People’s Party (PPP) in the 2012 general election, Dr Papa Kwesi Nduom, that the perceived corruption among political parties is real.
Dr. Papa Kwesi Ndoum was expressing his disappointment on a joint statement by the general secretaries of four political parties, namely; the National Democratic Congress (NDC), the New Patriotic Party (NPP), the Convention People’s Party (CPP) and the People’s National Convention (PNC), refuting findings in the 2013 Global Corruption Barometer which placed political parties second on the list of perceived corrupt institutions in Ghana.
In disagreeing with the four General Secretaries, Dr Nduom said: “let us get real and serious and deal with the corruption canker rather than the political parties hiding behind public relations gimmicks.”
According to him, most of the political parties were unable to disclose the sources of campaign funds and could not even render accounts internally.
“If members pay dues and the majority cannot answer in the positive. So where do they get the money to pay rent and stage events?” he asked.
In his view, the allegations making the rounds today about party leaders demanding money before they endorsed candidates for chief executive positions did not come from the air, adding, “They are based on reality and that reality did not just start in 2013. So who do these NPP, CPP, NDC and PNC general secretaries want to deceive?”
“There is rot in our body politic, and it is corruption. This has attracted many people to want to use politics as the means of meeting their material needs the quick and illegal way...When we have worrying reports from the Auditor-General year after year, cases such as Mabey & Johnson, judgement debts chop-chop involving politicians and GYEEDA lapses on the part of political heads, Ghana cannot afford to have its political leaders burying their heads in the sand and pretending not to see, smell and hear corruption,” he pointed out.
But despite his candid admission, Kwesi Pratt wants Dr. Nduom to take the next step by doing the right things prescribed by law because “this holier than thou attitude is sometimes worrying”.
According to the Managing Editor of the Insight Newspaper who was speaking on MetroTV’s “Good Morning Ghana” programme, Dr. Papa Kwesi Nduom should have stated if he had “ended his own corruption” before bringing up the topic.
Though Mr. Pratt is of the view that a public admission to a crime such as corruption by the PPP’s 2012 Presidential candidate, is “very honest”, he wondered when it will “stop”.
“He needs to end it……He must set the ball rolling and stop sermonizing…it doesn’t help anybody,” Kwesi Pratt said.
