The ruling New Patriotic Party (NPP) has reacted to the assertion by a founding member of the party, Kwaku Ansa-Asare, that the Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo’s government is the most corrupt in Ghana’s 4th Republic.

Speaking in an interview with Citi News on Thursday, May 30, 2024, the Deputy General Secretary of the NPP, Haruna Mohammed, said that he is shocked by the assertion of Ansa-Asare, a former Director-General of the Ghana Law School.

According to him, no government in the 4th Republic has done more to fight corruption than the Akufo-Addo government.

Haruna Mohammed said that the statement made by the NPP founding member had no basis and was wrong.

"I am surprised that this comment is coming from a legal person who knows that before somebody is going to be pronounced to be corrupt, it factually will be grounded in law. And having listened to and read what he has said, he said 'I don't have the statistics but watching the political terrain, the various approaches to the fight against corruption, I would say that this is the worst government we have ever had to combat corruption'.

"And I'm surprised because if he takes his mind back and looks at the policies and interventions that have been put by this government... there was no Office of the Special Prosecutor, there was no Right to Information. There were so many things that were lacking in terms of transparency and accountability. If this government has been able to institute these and you cannot evaluate the institution of these things by His Excellency the President under his government, and to say he's the most corrupt or this is the worst government ever, I am surprised at which hymnbook he is reading from," he said.

The NPP Deputy General Secretary added, "But I'm happy he's saying that he doesn't have the statistics to support that; he cannot just come out and then speak on matters that are not grounded in law and that are factually and statistically inaccurate."

What the former director-general of the Ghana Law School said:

Kwaku Ansa-Asare ranked the John Evans Atta Mills administration as the best in terms of the fight against corruption under the Fourth Republic.

According to him, the Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo’s government is the most corrupt administration over the period.

He lamented the state of affairs, especially because fighting corruption was a major plank in the campaign that brought Akufo-Addo into office in 2017.

In an interview on Citi TV’s 'Face to Face' on May 28, Ansa-Asare said the government has vindicated his stance that the fight against corruption cannot be won by word of mouth.

"I don’t have the statistics, but watching the political terrain and the various approaches to the fight against corruption, I would say that this is the worst government we have ever had to combat corruption.

"I have said it before, I granted an interview and I said any government that will come and shout from the rooftop, 'I’m going to fight corruption' will be the worst in terms of fighting corruption. That will be the most corrupt government. Akufo-Addo’s government is the worst ever, the most corrupt government we have ever had," he said.

He ranked the Fourth Republican presidents in terms of the anti-corruption fight, placing the current government at the bottom.

"At least, I have witnessed [former late President J.J.] Rawlings, [former President J.A.] Kufuor, [former late President J.E.] Mills, and [former President John Dramani] Mahama. If I have to score them and award them marks, the last and worst will be the current government. Followed by John Mahama’s government. Mills will be first, Kufuor second, Rawlings third, Akufo-Addo last, in terms of grade one to four."

The government has serially touted its record in fighting corruption, pointing to budgetary allocations it has given to anti-graft agencies and the institution of probes against officials against whom allegations have been levelled.

The president has been branded a 'clearing agent', a reference to how most of his accused appointees have been exonerated after investigations. Ghana's ranking on the annual corruption perception index has also not been impressive since 2017.

BAI/ ADG



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