Prez Mahama's fight against corruption false notion to score political points - PPP

The Progressive People's Party (PPP) has described President Mahama's efforts towards fighting corruption in the country as “a false notion to score cheap political points”.

The Party's chairman Nii Allotey Brew-Hammond at a news conference today that measures President Mahama claims to have put in place will not amount to much because “many of our past leaders have shown a certain talkative posture similar to President Mahama's when it comes to the issue corruption.

“We say it is mere rhetoric because all their talk to fight corruption have only proven to be cosmetic posture said only to score cheap political points on the false notion that they are or were doing something about it”, he continued.

The President in his state of the nation address last Thursday outlined measures his government has put in place to curb corruption.

In the PPP's view, however,  the most important thing the President should have done was to tell the nation how he will deal with the menace because all he said is nothing new.

“The President in his state of the nation address only needed to have told us how he intended to concentrate his energies on how he will pragmatically deal with corruption and all other problems we believe would have been properly taken care of.”  

The party also questioned President Mahama's willingness to really deal with the problem saying “anyone advocating for equity must first come with clean hands. We must raise a question on the sincerity of the President to decisively deal with corruption.”

Mr Brew-Hammond said the failure of the President to prosecute persons who have been indicted in various corruption allegations.

He mentioned the failure of Government to make public state officials who were purportedly involved in assisting Nayele Ametefeh to export 12.5 kilogrammes of cocaine to the United Kingdom and the failure to prosecute persons involved in the GYEEDA and SADA scandals as one of the indications that it is not ready to deal with the situation.

“Our standpoint is influenced by the apparent lack of political will on the part of the President to deal with some corrupt officials and companies on whose cases the court has ruled in favour of the State”.

However, earlier today we heard the Presidential Advisor on corruption Daniel Batidam say on Joy FM's Super Morning Show that President Mahama can do little to fight corruption.

He said the President should not be compelled to judge a case and determine the punishment for people otherwise he will be usurping the role of another role of Government.