Presidency a safe haven for corruption - Prof Yankah

The President of the Central University College, Prof Kwesi Yankah says the tendency of government appointees embroiled in corruption scandals to later find work at the presidency is making that office a “comfortable refuge for the corrupt”.

Speaking at a Corruption conference organised by the Institute of Economic Affairs, Prof Kwesi Yankah said "bad nuts" cannot be sent to the presidency.

“When government appointees are cited for embezzlement or corruption, no machine is set in motion for investigation, prosecution and indictment” the professor lamented.

He said Mr. Ankrah, widely believed to have performed poorly as a minister under whose aegis the 2014 World Cup fiasco occurred, now finds himself among the presidential staff at the Flagstaff House.

According to Prof. Yankah, the failure to investigate appointees of government mired in corruption-related matters was fueling the perception there is a lack of will to fight the canker.

The IEA has done research in which the presidency was ranked the second most corrupt institution in Ghana.

Although the perception of corruption is widely held to be a norm in the public service, the professor said the IEA survey shows a case of the “fish getting rotten from the head” and something must be done about it.

He said ultimately, the president must be held responsible for corruption because he “wields so much constitutional power and is responsible for key appointees” in the country.

In an analysis, the professor outlined some reasons which are informing the perception the President tacitly encourages of corruption – a canker he has once described as “mass murder”.

He said the “transfer or promotion of bad nuts to the presidency rather than their demotion or indictment tends to defile the dignity of the presidency”.

He also said the president has “squandered opportunities” to halt a “quicker spread of the virus” of corruption.

In an unrelenting critique, the CUC president added that, often, reports of commissions, probes and investigations have been neglected, entrenching the view that the presidency is “merely a depository for reports” because of the inaction of the president.