(Corrupt ex-government officials must be prosecuted!)

Corruption thrives in a system that is not transparent, unaccountable and unresponsive to the needs and concerns of citizens. To this effect corruption will be defined as monopoly + discretion – accountability. In Ghana, corruption has become very pervasive to the extent that, it has affected the very fabric of our public life rendering the poor poorer. The Anti-corruption Agenda of the NDC as written in the Theme ONE (1), page 24 of the NDC manifesto states explicitly that an NDC government will not make any excuses for corrupt ministers, officials and office holders in general and further goes ahead to say that, we shall promptly investigate allegations of corruption and allow the law to take its course. The constitution must take its course immediately, to prevent the high social sense of responsibility and natural justice that characterized the late 1970’s which offered justice at no cost to the tax payer. To this effect, it is imperative on the part of government, to prevent the recurrence of a “June 4”.

To be emphatic: Ghanaians have well spoken on the degree of disregard and the level of intolerance they give to corruption. This is evident in the various coup d’état that had characterized Ghanaian politics, when individuals and groups took it upon themselves to salvage the corrupt society that existed then.

The continous call to fix the broken and leaking economy and the immediate implementation of the NDC manifesto by the NPP, is a composite request which includes the call for immediate prosecution of corrupt ex-government officials as part of the NDC’s anti-corruption agenda.

The consistent public outflow of corrupt revelations, that have dominated public discourse in the last eight (8) years of the NPP and most especially the last five months of this year have raised impeccable cause for public concern. It is not surprising that most of them have turned to describing any mention of prosecution as witch-haunting, victimization, intimidation and so on. Since when did prosecution and the respect for rule of law become despicable? Eeehh NPP!!! But come to think of it, are witches good? If these witches exist and are “chopping” our money, what do we do to them? Is it not proper we haunt them? ……or what do you suggest? This deliberate attempt by the ex-government officials to sway discerning minds from their unfortunate acts have been clearly identified by Ghanaians and has given credence to what is described as political “PR gimmick”

Hon. P.C Appiah Ofori has made damning revelations on the Vodafone deal. He has given enough evidence to establish that a Cabinet-approved buyer for Ghana Telecom mysteriously got ‘missing’ on the cabinet memo on its way to parliament. THE ENQUIRER revelation of the famous Castle “kick back” involving the then NPP Chairman Haruna Esseku and Ex-president Kuffour is too fresh to be forgotten. The Kuffour era is a scandalous one.

Critical questions have been raised concerning the NPP government spending ¢60,172,251,840 to celebrate Golden jubilee anniversary (dubbed Ghana@50). A whopping ¢19,691,245,200 of the amount was devoted to the construction of public toilets, which in many cases are non-existent. This is unacceptable. As if that was not enough, there are more cut-throat revelations.

What a shock! Foreign Ministry importing rice!! Hon. Osei Agyei (former Foreign Minister) thought the deals at his Ministry were not lucrative enough. He had entered into a rice import transaction of a kind that betrays nothing other than greed. Otherwise we need to explain how the state is tied-up in a $4,000,000.00 debt--or call it a loss or whatever. That is up to the lawyers. Hon. Osei Agyei has questions to answer. PERIOD!!!!!!!!!!

These, together with those cited in part one of this publication emphasize the need for urgent action to be taken to prosecute all those who have found themselves culpable.

Asiedu Nketsiah, Rawlings and CJA have expressed commendable positions on holding ex-government officials accountable. They have called for the immediate prosecution of ex-government officials who have stolen or misappropriated public funds.

The Kuffour government never thought they could lose the December polls; they would have used the money for the presidential palace to rehabilitate the Nsawam Prison into the standards of an international hotel. There is a need for a collective effort to ensure that we hold our leaders accountable for their stewardship. It is the only way we can bridge the gap between the poor and the rich, the strong and the vulnerable, the rural and the urban; and the only way to record progressive economic and infrastructural development in this country.

Long live accountability!! Long live anti-corruption campaigners!!! Long live Ghana!!!!

OTOKUNOR BOAMAH PETER

Former President, Commonwealth hall-UG peter_otokunor@yahoo.com