SONA 2024: Akufo-Addo couldn’t talk of corruption because his govt is neck-deep in it – Adjei Mensah

The Member of Parliament for Wassa East, Isaac Adjei Mensah, has criticised President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo for failing to address corruption and its related issues when he addressed the country on the state of the nation last Tuesday.

During the State of the Nation Address in parliament, the president, who pledged to tackle corruption drastically before assuming power, did not touch on what his government has done about corruption in the past year.

Critics have chastised him for failing to talk about such a serious issue that has been hindering development in the country for decades.

Speaking on Ideas Exchange programme on TV XYZ on Wednesday night, Adjei Mensah, who also doubles as the Ranking Member for the Committee for Roads and Transport in Parliament, averred that it was disappointing that Akufo-Addo failed to speak on the canker that has caused the country billions under his administration.

“I was thinking that he [Akufo-Addo] was going to say something about corruption because his administration has been dirtied by corruption….In the history of this country, we have never registered the level of corruption [like we see] under Nana Akufo-Addo,” the MP stated.

According to him, Akufo-Addo has superintended over a bloated government filled with family members and friends who are not delivering on their mandate but keep drawing from the public purse.

“I think Nana Akufo-Addo has failed; I think this government has failed and they should apologise to the people,” he stated.

Ghana’s Corruption Position

In January 2024, the Corruption Perceptions Index (CPI) 2023 released by Transparency International (TI) saw Ghana scoring zero for the fourth consecutive year in fighting corruption.

The report that was released on January 30, 2024, by Ghana Integrity Initiative (GII), the local chapter of Transparency International in its report indicated that Ghana scored 43 out of a clean score of 100 and ranked 70th out of 180 countries and territories included in the Corruption Perceptions Index (CPI) 2023.

The position of the country for 2023 marks the fourth consecutive year of stagnation in Ghana’s anti-corruption efforts, as indicated by the CPI.

Transparency International attributed Ghana’s stagnation to the deteriorating justice system, which it said was reducing the accountability of public officials and therefore allowing corruption to thrive.