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Opinions of Thursday, 11 March 2021

Columnist: Rockson Adofo

Why did President Nana Akufo-Addo fall in his fight against corruption?

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Many Ghanaians including myself, do believe that His Excellency the President, Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo, did not, and has not, lived up to the expectation in regards of his avowed extermination of official corruption in Ghana. It is an undenying fact only able to be disputed by someone living in cloud cuckoo land.

However, he must be acknowledged and praised for doing his best to wage his determined fight against that beast called official corruption that has been devastating the economic development of Ghana since time immemorial.

His best to fighting corruption was rendered not good enough by certain people in the society in whom we had absolute trust to assist him achieve his objective hence recommending them to him to be appointed.

The number one among them is Martin Amidu (Honourable). He was appointed as Special Prosecutor in the hope that he would do a selfless credible job of investigating and prosecuting suspected corrupt officials.

Nonetheless, he was finally discovered to be sabotaging the President's efforts and determination to fight official corruption. He had only to resign in disgrace when in the end, as unwitty as he was, he had made a noose of the long rope thrown to him to hang himself.

The facts are there for all discerning Ghanaians to see following his report of the risk assessment and anti-corruption on the Agyapa Investment deal.

He made the report appear as though, a crime of corruption has already been committed, culminating in the country losing money. It was only a risk assessment to establish potential problems and how they will be resolved prior to the commencement of a project.

The second of such persons entrusted with the fight against corruption was the Auditor General Daniel Yao Domelevo. He was the one able to provide the President with documental evidence on corrupt officials and institutions.

Nevertheless, he chose to shield them, as arrogant, malicious, partisan and corrupt as he was himself.

He became a law onto himself. He had no respect for the law, the Audit Service Board and the President but probably, his NDC leadership whom he was secretly in contact with and doing their bid.

The President is noted to have referred any allegations of corruption against any official or institution as were conveyed to his attention to the appropriate corruption-fighting agencies for investigation to be conducted. Never on any occasion did the President sit on a case of corruption against any official or institution as was brought to his attention without passing it on to the Office of the Special Prosecutor, CHRAJ and or EOCO.

He could not do more than that. He could not have personally ruthlessly dealt with the situations in line with his determination to fighting corrupt officials as he would were Ghana a dictatorship. He had only to rely on appointed individuals and institutions entrusted with the powers to fight corruption.

However, as things turned out, such entrusted persons were rather secretly fighting against the President and his good intentions instead of fighting corruption.

From what l have come to hear, read and researched to ascertain, President Nana Akufo-Addo has until now failed in his fight against official corruption because of people like Martin Amidu and Daniel Domelevo but not per his own weaknesses of some sort.

No wonder that William Shakespeare has King Duncan say in his book titled Macbeth that "there is no art to find the mind's construction in the face"

Martin Amidu and Daniel Domelevo were entrusted to do a good job of helping fight official corruption, the bane of Ghana's economy, only for them to sabotage it because of their selfish and partisan interests.

By their outward appearances, one could take them for honest guys but inwardly, they were different persons altogether.

If the President has until now failed to successfully fight corruption contrary to his promise and determination, it is due to the behaviours of certain persons and institutions but not himself.