Akufo-Addo’s silence on corruption worrying – Gizella Tetteh

Member of Parliament for Awutu Senya West, Gizella Tetteh Agbotui has criticized President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo for failing to talk about corruption in the country during his first state of the nation address in his second term he delivered on Tuesday March 9.

Madam Gizella who is a sister of former Foreign Affairs Minister Hannah Tetteh said that corruption is a serious matter in the country hence it would have been prudent for the president to have mentioned a words or two on it especially how he is dealing with the menace.

Speaking to TV3 after the president’s address, she said “He didn’t talk about corruption and he himself remembers unless he has forgotten that corruption was a big issue.”

Mr Akufo-Addo said among other things in his address that “Ours is not a government that shies away from public scrutiny. Far from it. That is not the NPP way.

“That is why, in 2001, under the outstanding leadership of the 2nd President of the 4th Republic, His Excellency John Agyekum Kufuor, and with me as his Attorney General, the Criminal Libel Law was repealed to protect and expand media freedoms in the country, and, in 2003, the Public Procurement Act was introduced to protect the public purse.

“That is why it was my government that took the bold steps in 2018 to bring about the establishment of an independent prosecutor, with the setting up of the Office of Special Prosecutor. That is why it was my government that, in 2019, enacted the Right to Information Act, which had been shirked by previous administrations, despite decades of agitation by journalists and civil society groups.

“That is why, within two years of being in office, we more than doubled funding for accountability institutions of state, like CHRAJ, EOCO, the Judiciary and the Auditor General. Government and the people expect those in charge of our governance institutions to do their work with professionalism and good faith.

“Indeed, the institutions of our nation, whether the Executive, Legislature or Judiciary, are working.

“The Supreme Court, for example, last week determined the challenge to the validity of the 2020 presidential election, and affirmed its validity in a unanimous decision. The Court has spoken. It is time for all of us to move on, and, in a united manner, confront the problems of post-COVID Ghana.

“Let me, in conclusion, Mr Speaker, recall the following statement I made in my very first Message on the State of the Nation on the Ghana I hoped to help construct, a statement which is at the heart of everything Government has sought to do since I took office in 2017.”