Flagstaff House now monument of corruption – Batidam

Anti-corruption campaigner Daniel Batidam has described the Flagstaff House as a monument of corruption following the expatriate extortion saga that has plagued the government.

According to him, the presidency must purge itself from the issue by coming out to comment on the development.

The call comes on the back of claims contained in a leaked document that business owners were charged as much as $100,000 to sit close to the president at the Ghana Expatriate Business Awards (GEBA). The claim was first made by NDC MP for Asawase Muntaka Mubarak in Parliament.

The Trade Ministry has explained it was not responsible for the supposed charges that expatriate businesses paid. According to the ministry, “the GEBA was the brainchild of the Millennium Excellence Foundation, an entity noted for its prowess and credibility in the organisation of world class events such as the Millennium Excellence Awards and the Accra Marathon.

However, the Minority has described the act as “shameful”.

Verbal exchanges over the development Tuesday resulted in a near-brawl at Parliament between former deputy minister Samuel Okudjeto Ablakwa and deputy minister for trade Carlos Ahenkora, who signed the controversial document.

Commenting on the development, the anti-graft adviser to former President John Mahama told Francis Abban on the Morning Starr Wednesday that the President appears to be losing his anti-corruption personality.

“We must be honest with ourselves to deal with corruption in this country. Corruption allegation when it comes very close to the Presidency is not the best. I don’t know why people say we are embarrassing the President when we talk about this issue. It is the President and the Presidency that must come clean when you want to fight corruption. The flagstaff is now a monument of corruption,” he said.