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28.04.2015 General News

We can't spend $1.8m on luxury cars and later grope in darkness- Yankah

By Myjoyonline.com|Nathan Gadugah
We can't spend 1.8m on luxury cars and later grope in darkness- Yankah
28.04.2015 LISTEN

The President of the Central University College has questioned the propriety of sinking $1.8 million dollars into luxury cars only for the country to grope in darkness few years later.

In a no-holds-barred address at an Institute of Economic Affairs-organised Corruption conference Tuesday, Prof Kwasi Yankah said we can't "foolishly" spend $1.8 million of a budget meant to extend electricity into rural areas on luxury vehicles, only to have children study in the dark because there is load shedding.

The Ministry of Energy had between 2010-2012 bought 38 luxury cars under the $350 million Exim bank loan for rural electrification.

Close to two million dollars was expended on the luxury cars, the Auditor General revealed in a report released this year.

Prof Yankah pointed out that expenditure can only be unconscionable.

Side-by-side he projected a picture of one of the luxury cars and another picture of poor school pupils using lanterns to study at night because there is no electricity to demonstrate the country's lack of foresight and failure to prioritize its needs.

He said government's lack of priority and sometimes blatant corruption is "unleashing misery and terror" on the citizenry.

The corruption conference which was under the theme: "Purging the nation of corruption-Demanding accountability from Public Institutions" was to discuss the thorny issue of corruption and to proffer solutions to the problem.

Representatives of Key institutions, including, Parliament, Judiciary, Government, Police, Civil Society Groups, faith-based organisations, came brought together to brainstorm on the issue.

Prof Yankah in his keynote address said the perception of corruption has grown over the last few years because presidents over time have demonstrated a total lack of political will to fight the canker.

He said cliches like "as for the president he is not corrupt, it is his appointees who are; corruption started from Adam" etc have only served to reinforce the point of weak leadership in the fight against corruption.

He charged the president and future presidents to lead the fight against corruption by taking a cue from the newly elected Nigerian president, Muhammadu Buhari by publicly declaring their assets so their appointees will follow.

Director of the IEA, Jean Mensah, in her welcome address, said "Ghana's tolerance for corruption has grown to alarming heights."

She said corruption only continues to "adapt, transform and mutate" with "harmful consequences" and charging it is about time heads of institutions were held accountable.

Some of the eminent personalities who attended the conference included former CHRAJ Commissioner, Justice Emile Short, educationist, KB Asante, former GBA President, Sam Okudzeto, CPP Chair, Samia Nkrumah, NDC scribe, Asiedu Nketia, Archbishop Palmer Buckle, Ahmed Ramadan, Albert Kan Dapaah, Obed Yao Asamoah, Brig Gen Nunoo-Mensah etc.

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