PRESS STATEMENT

The recent revelations by the Daily Searchlight newspaper that President Mills has expanded his financial and property grabbing empire by collecting a so called token in the form of property from Regimanuel Estate, is not a surprise to us members of NPP UK and Ireland. We have been consistent on our views that President Mills, as a human being and as a person is a very corrupt individual. From his time as Commissioner of Taxes during which 15 billion cedis disappeared into thin air and as Vice President when 22 million dollars was given to Juliet Cotton for a wedding, Professor Mills has always been at the centre of greed ,avarice and covetousness in modern Ghana politics. In fact he is now seeking to overtake former Zairean dictator Mobutu Sese Seko who stripped his country naked in the property grabbing stakes.

It is typical of Mr Mills and his Ministers to run the government along the lines of the Mafia . From galamsey mining to 10% oil proceeds for the Western Region, to reducing petrol drastically and putting money in our pockets, President Mills has backtracked on every single election promise he has made to Ghanaians. While he does this he has set himself on a personal mission to amass wealth at the expense of the suffering masses before he leaves office. If this is not breathtaking hypocrisy then what is it?

This is not the first time the President Mills has failed to respond properly to corruption and embezzlement allegations. Last year, a think thank calling itself the Centre for Truth and Social Justice in the United Kingdom made serious allegations that President Mills had deposited 3 million Dollars in a Bank Account in Switzerland during his visit to Geneva last year. We were told the police were investigating this allegation. Since then everything has gone quiet. Is it not telling that President Mills will keep quiet about 3 million dollars deposited in an alleged personal account?

The Chronicle Newspaper also published that President Mills, in strange circumstances, had purchased 24,000 hectares of land in the Karaga District for personal use. Ghanaians have till date still not got a satisfactory explanation from President Mills himself as to why he is using his office to authorise such personal transactions .We challenge the President to come out and tell Ghanaians how much he paid for these lands and where he got the money from.

The President has still not adequately responded to Mr Herbert Mensah and other members of his party who have accused him of spending 90 million Ghana cedis on his party’s presidential primaries. Where are all these monies coming from when our road projects are at a standstill and our country is facing 65% unemployment?

The supersonic speed at which President Mills committed himself to accept a property from Regimanuel Estate, in addition to one that he already owns with the same Regimanuel Estate, smacks of a gross abuse of office , naked corruption and a severe conflict of interest under Article 284 of our national constitution which is clear on the conduct of public officers. President Mills has also not responded to allegations of similar houses he owns in Ofankor, a hotel he is building near Wesley Girls High School allegedly fronted by Allotey Jacobs, and another house at Dome Pillar 2 in Accra. At a time that our country is experiencing severe gas shortages, cement shortages, teachers and nurses not being paid for 2 years, President Mills continues to laugh at Ghanaians by engaging in a property grabbing spree. We now know why he cannot discipline his own ministers and party officials who are building mansions, Vice President John Mahama, Johnson Aseidu Nketia, Hannah Bissiw, Samuel Ofousu Bamfo, Ama Bernyiwa Doe, Eric Opoku and Alfred Sugri Tia, who is building a 20 billion Cedi Mansion on a waterway in Tema. We have also read about allegations concerning Samuel Okudzeto Ablakwa’s alleged purchase of a house in the USA. How can he exercise authority over his government and who will listen to his sermons on corruption when he himself is engaging in serious corrupt behaviour?

We call on the Commission for Human Rights and Administrative Justice to investigate this conflict of interest and other questionable property acquisitions by the President. We call for an emergency recall of parliament to investigate this scandal. President Mills must ask himself if he is fit to be holding office as President of Ghana. This corrupt scandal stinks to the heavens! What else is he doing that we don’t know yet about?

Ghanaians must be resilient and vote out this man and his corrupt Party in 2012.

Nana Yaw Sarpong

Communications Officer

NPP UK and Ireland

07983302369