By Margaret Jackson

June 29, 2012

Anytime I hear NPPs Presidential Candidate, Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo, talking about corruption or making his dreamland administration corruption-free, my jaw always drops. And it does not stop there: I also keep shaking my head in disbelief. Reason being that Akufo-Addo has no credibility when it comes to corruption fighting in the country.

Currently, Akufo-Addo is a man hanging on a thin straw who keeps saying/doing anything just to keep him afloat. As a result, wherever he goes he engages in hanky-panky politics just to get good press and also to cover his past record which stinks to the highest heavens.

Charity, they say always begins at home. And those who are able to take good care of little things entrusted to them stand the chance of being given additional or more responsibilities. I believe Akufo-Addo does not know what corruption mean, otherwise he would not open his mouth wide and talk about having a corruption free government when he did nothing to fight corruption under his nose as a minister of justice and attorney general under the Kufuor’s regime.

Ghanaians are still waiting for answers from mute Akufo-Addo who as attorney general and minister of justice ensured that three NPP women who were arrested for attempting to smuggle narcotics were never prosecuted up to today. And to add insult to injury, under the watchful eyes of “Saint” Akufo-Addo the dockets on the case concerning the NPP narcotic women vanished under mysterious circumstances.

If this is not corruption and incompetence on the part of Akufo-Addo, then I don’t know what else would qualify as corruption. And after keeping mute on this incident for all this while, Akufo-Addo suddenly wants Ghanaians to believe that he is the new anti-corruption crusader on the block, hence his statement at a campaign tour in Wa that if Ghanaians give him nod in the December elections, he will run a government which is honest and not as corrupt as the Mills’ government. Please spare me that crap!

If you are a foreign minister and you claim to be an honest individual, but issue the country’s cherished diplomatic passport to a relative, Raymond Kwame Amankwah, a known drug baron who is currently serving jail time in far away Brazil and you think it is okay then probably you are called Akufo-Addo. And it does not get better when after you have involved yourself in such a high corrupt practice; you walk with your chest out saying you will weed the country of corruption when you assume power.

Or let’s put it this way: if you are running for the highest office of Ghana and you claim to be honest yet one of your personal assistants, Yaw Amfo-Kwakye, who you travel with on campaign tours outside the country, was once jailed in the United Kingdom for exporting cannabis to that country, can you convince voters that you are indeed honest and that you hold the magic wand to sweep the country of corruption when you become president?

Throughout the world, principled and corrupt free individuals who detest the plundering of state resources always register their protest against corruption in various ways. Those individuals usually labeled as anti-corruption crusaders who find themselves in government have mostly resigned their positions to register their protest or send the strongest signals. But did we ever see that from Akufo-Addo who served as head of various ministries under the Kufuor’s regime?

Was Akufo-Addo sleeping when Kufuor and the NPP looting brigade shared prized government lands for peanuts? It is not okay to say that since Akufo-Addo did not participate in the looting of the lands he cannot be blamed. Do we have anything on record to prove that “Saint” Akufo-Addo at least registered his protest against the looting of the state lands? Again, was Akufo-Addo not around when Dr. Wereko-Brobbey and Kwadwo Mpiani virtually misused state funds during the Ghana @ 50 celebrations? It is not cool for Akufo-Addo to assert that since he was not involved in the planning and celebrations of the Ghana @ 50 he is blameless for all the lapses. If you see corruption at your doorstep and you fail to talk about it, you have no business telling people that you will be able to fix it when given the nod. I could go on but do not want to bore readers.

We have wanna-be president Akufo-Addo who does not want to talk about anything concerning his past or his work as a minister in Kufuor’s government. Perhaps Akufo-Addo’s mindset is that to admit to a fault amounts to weakness which is why this man has kept mute on everything concerning him thinking that by making unattainable promises will cut it and see him coast to victory. But I think otherwise: admitting to a fault rather amounts to strength and gives people the impression about how genuine you are.

Akufo-Addo thinks Ghanaians do not know about his hanky-panky politics which is aimed at spilling bigger promises which he himself does not believe in. If we want to talk about Ghanaians who detest corruption and are living examples, Akufo-Addo will never be counted, because this man is deeply involved. You do not pitch camp with a corrupt individual and claim you are just friends with that individual thinking that, that lame excuse will fly with high-level minded people.

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