Corruption under the John Mahama-led administration was very high, a situation that cost the country significant progress in its development agenda, Former Rector of the Ghana Institute of Management and Public Administration (GIMPA), Professor Stephen Adei, has said.

He noted that Mr. Mahama eroded all the gains of the John Agyekum Kufuor administration including prospects in the oil sector following the oil find by Mr. Kufuor.

Prof Adei in an interview told Benjamin Akakpo on the Executive Breakfast Show (EBS) on Class 91.3FM that: “Between 2008 and 2011, there was renewed hope. In 2007 the oil was discovered and there has been some systematic progress, some foundations were being laid.

“By 2011, the economy was growing by 14 percent per annum and everybody thought that a new dawn of Ghana had come."

“Unfortunately,” he added, “that hope was totally shuttered and by the time His Excellency President John Mahama was leaving office we were back almost into the ditch or into the doldrums."

“There was so much corruption, there was so much inflation, there was so much debt, the growth has tumbled to less than four percent and every indicator was down."

“I think that it has been one of the pains for those of us who have watched out development. I thought that by 2011, for once, we were not going back but we went back so badly."

“Then the arrogance and the impudence. I have never seen us in that bad state during the fourth republic.”