The chronicle of Mahama's Corruption Part 2

President John Mahama on Monday November 4 had an opportunity to address Ghanaians on the worrisome issue of corruption in his government. When the opportunity was offered him at the three-day orientation programme, on the theme; “Re-energising Local Governance for the Attainment of the Better Ghana Agenda,” to prepare the MMDCEs for their new and critical responsibility as managers of communities at the grassroots where corruption begins, John Mahama danced around the issue and offered no concrete plan. He merely bragged and said his plan has not changed without telling us what is plan is in the first place.

The amazing thing about Mahama's corruption is that while most corruption allegations are perceptive, his personal corruption and that of his government is so real and backed with facts and empirical figures making it "copious and unsurpassed" according to a recent comment.

What also makes it so different is that the crusade to expose it comes from forces from within such as Former Attorney General Martin Amidu, Dr. Tony Aidoo and Hon. Alban Bagbin. These persons have either been crowded out by the wall of corruption and the gatekeepers like former football pundit and TV host Randy Abbey and Staffer Dogbe Stan feel the spoils must be hand-covered and guarded like a school child preventing others from copying them.

What makes this corruption canker so dangerous is also that the government seem to put its hands up to say we are not prepared to do anything about it and we dig our heel in until 2016. "The Live and Let Die until 2016" has become so inscribed in their brains that they have now been schooled to chorus it like the Twenty froggies who went to school down beside the rushing pool. "We will chop until 2016 and if you want to kick us out wait till then," they all chorus.

Most of Mahama's corruption comes from the way contracts are handed out. A government that is bent on using the very institutions of governance to steal and plunder has decided to throw The Procurement Act into a dust bin and are now relying on the "gospel" according to Single Sourcing. What this "gospel" preaches is simply that the government official creates a contract, and irrespective of whether the contract exists or not, looks out for the person, company or group that will give them the necessary cut when the contract is handed out. This then creates a cycle of creating, looting and sharing. A typical example is the Asontaba Guinea Fowl Project.

The actual beef of Dr. Tony Aidoo, the Head of Policy, Evaluation and Oversight Unit at the Presidency is that his outfit is supposed to monitor the ins and outs of these policies or projects but because the entire procurement system has been murkied into a corruption mirage, he cannot find or monitor anything. His office is starved and virtually has been rendered redundant and dormant with non-payment of salaries in the last six months.

One of the "Three wise men" of Mahama's administration, Hon Alban Bagbin, Nadowli-Kaleo MP, has also openly poured out his profound irk about the president’s apparent lack of commitment to fight corruption and the behaviour of his corrupt gatekeepers making Mahama look like and Emperor with no clothes. His "Go tell in on the mountain" bandwagon has been necessitated by this lack of internal attention to fighting this corruption.

The hard working Ghanaian who has not been paid wages for the last six months and who goes into the Christmas season facing an 87% utility rise bills looks at issues of corruption highlighted in the GYEEDA, SADA and Subah Infosolutions Limited saga and thinks whether our democracy is serving the interest of the majority or the chosen few.

Look out for more concrete revelations in Part 3.

Kwesi Atta-Krufi Hayford.