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15.12.2014 Editorial

Mahama’s 300 Corruption Cases And Daniel Batidam’s Untenable Defence

By The Scandal Newspaper
Mahamas 300 Corruption Cases And Daniel Batidams Untenable Defence
15.12.2014 LISTEN

Sometimes we at the SCANDAL get the impression that some people close to President Mahama are deliberately setting him up to fail. How else can one explain the several failed promises that the President has made with regards to the load-shedding exercise in the country? So much so, that President recently had to make a new promise that he will no longer make any promises.

Before any leader makes a public statement, that statement should normally be upon the advice of the technical people in that particular area. For example if the President had to make a statement on security matters it is expected that the President would have to sit with his security experts to get all the relevant information on the subject before he proceeds to make public statements.

And so when a President makes a promise that load shedding will end on a certain date we assume that the promise is based on sound technical advice because the Commander-In-Chief should not and cannot be made to appear to the public as one who does not know what he is talking about or as one whose words are of no value.

Unfortunately this has happened to President Mahama several times especially with the load shedding wahala and we are wondering if the technical advisors got it wrong or they were deliberately misleading the President. Whatever the case may be, the President will have to be careful and double check his facts even if those facts are from his experts.

Last week President Mahama made yet another bold but very doubtful statement when he announced at the launch of the National Anti-Corruption Action Plan that Three Hundred (300) officials are presently being prosecuted in various courts for alleged acts of corruption. Whichever way you look at this statement,one cannot fail to see the baggage with which it comes. If at one point Three Hundred (300) of our compatriots are being prosecuted for corruption then surely what we have on our hands is an epidemic of the canker. Three hundred corruption cases currently going on in our courts? Unbelievable!!! How come no one has declared an epidemic? How many cases of cholera do we usually receive at the hospitals before we declare it as an epidemic?

The commentary that has followed the President's statement clearly puts the President in a bad light once again. Some commentators have argued that the President suffered a slip of tongue and that perhaps what he meant was three (3), thirteen (13,) or thirty (30), but definitely not three hundred. Indeed government communicators have not attempted to defend the figure but one man veered into the controversy in a rather bizarre manner- Mr. Daniel Batidam, former anti-corruption crusader and now Presidential Advisor on Corruption.

Daniel Batidam rejected calls to publish the names of the 300 persons being prosecuted for corruption. He argued that asking for the names to be published will tantamount to asking for the names of all criminals in Ghana to be published. What logic is this; all criminal cases including rape cases, assault, battery and even fraud against private individuals? Ooooh my brother!

The Presidential Advisor on Corruption also said that the President's figure was taken from the records of the Ghana Prisons Service. The Prisons Service does not prosecute offenses so why the Prison Service and not from the Prosecutors?

Assuming without admitting that Three Hundred corruption cases are ongoing in our courts; what is difficult about making the list available or even just pointing us to the courts. If the cases are in court, then it means they are already in the public domain. How come on one seems to know about them? By the way what is the big deal about making the list available to substantiate the President's claims?

If the statement was a slip let us say so and move on. It cannot be true that 300 persons are currently being prosecuted for alleged acts of corruption. If that was true this government will not need any cajoling to publish the names. Whoever wrote the speech for the President and added the figure 300 should be investigated. The President must be careful about whatever is given to him to read. The State of the Nation Address for February next year will be full of such traps so Mr. President beware.

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