Open Letter To His Excellency Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo And His Excellency Dr. Mahamudu Bawumiah

Your Excellencies, I greet you in the name of our dear Republic and in the spirit of our national motto, Freedom and Justice. I write this open letter not in anger nor in hatred, but in pain, sincerity, and reflection as a concerned citizen who has watched with disbelief the happenings and revelations emerging from various state investigative agencies concerning the financial misappropriations, diversions, and alleged corruption that took place under your administration. I am deeply troubled as I pen this down, for what is being revealed now is not only damaging to our state institutions but also a dent on the conscience of our beloved country.

It is now clear that from one state institution to another, there have been unaccounted funds, huge sums of public money diverted, and transactions that cannot be justified. The ordinary Ghanaian continues to hear and read about how much of our national resources were mishandled during the years of your administration, and one wonders how you both, as former President and Vice President of the Republic, feel in your quiet hours when such matters are mentioned. Do you feel any sense of sadness, guilt, or moral responsibility for these numerous discoveries that are unfolding through the works of the EOCO, CID, NIB, Auditor-General, and other investigative agencies?

Your Excellency Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo, as the former President of Ghana, you were the head of the Executive, the Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces, and the chief guardian of the Republic’s conscience. Your Excellency Dr. Mahamudu Bawumiah, you were the Vice President and head of the Economic Management Team, the man who was placed in charge of our economic direction and who also chaired the Ghana Police Council, an institution that must be at the forefront of discipline and integrity. How do you both feel now that under your leadership, Ghana is witnessing one of the worst financial accountability crises in recent history?

What is even more surprising to me as a citizen of Ghana is that Mr. Ken Ofori-Atta, who is your close relative, cousin, and confidant, served as the Minister of Finance for eight consecutive years under your administration, managing our money, signing contracts, negotiating debts, and determining the fate of our economy. Nana, you trusted him more than any other person to hold that sacred office, yet today, Ghanaians are hearing disturbing reports about how national resources were managed, bonds issued, and funds allegedly diverted. The question I keep asking is simple: are you not hearing what the man you trusted has done to the citizens of Ghana? Do you not feel concerned that the man who once held our national purse is now being sought after by authorities to account for his stewardship?

Is it not a dent on the image of your own family and on your personal legacy as a former President of Ghana that your own cousin, who you trusted with the nation’s finances, is now being accused of financial crimes against the people of Ghana? Should this become a legal battle as to whether he should come down or not? Or can a simple phone call from you or your cousin Gabby Asare Otchere-Darko not bring him home to face the law, restore sanity, and clear the name of the family and the administration you once led? I believe the people of Okyeman, the Okyenhene, and the traditional authorities must have also heard of this troubling development. Nana, what role are you playing or have you played to bring your subject down to account for his stewardship, since he is highly wanted and must answer to the people’s demand for justice? How can we continue to celebrate you as a distinguished former President when those who worked closely with you have left a legacy of distrust, unaccountability, and moral decay?

Your Excellency Nana Addo, serve the nation and our taxpayers’ money that the state will spend on Ken Ofori-Atta’s return by just talking to him as your cousin to come down and face the charges leveled against him. That will be the best way to cleanse the dent on the family’s name and restore confidence in your legacy as a statesman who values accountability and truth.

It is also disturbing that you, Dr. Bawumiah, who served as Vice President and later as flagbearer for the 2024 elections, have not publicly come out to address these ongoing revelations about how the economy was managed under your watch. You were in charge of the economic management team, and your voice was loud when things seemed fine. But today, your silence in the face of these alarming discoveries speaks volumes. We have also not heard you speak clearly on your much-promised “Gold for Oil” policy, which you presented as a great innovation. Reports circulating indicate that some of the proceeds from that deal were not properly lodged into the Bank of Ghana accounts. If this is true, Ghanaians deserve to know where those funds are, who handled them, and how much was earned from that policy. Leadership is not about making speeches when in power but about accountability after power.

Your Excellencies, as the government continues to discover more of these financial misappropriations, I wish to humbly appeal to you both, especially you, former President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo, while legal tussles continue about Ken Ofori-Atta’s return, to use your moral influence to let him come down and account for his stewardship. It will be a positive step for your legacy and that of your administration. It will also give some level of confidence to Ghanaians that at least you are not protecting wrongdoing but supporting the nation’s desire for accountability. If indeed more discoveries are yet to be made, this is the time to act responsibly, because Ghanaians believe more damage was done to our economy under your tenure than what has so far been revealed. It is a sad reflection that this is happening after all the hopes and promises that your government once represented.

By now, Your Excellencies, you should be speaking less about your achievements and rather reflecting more on what is being uncovered by the investigative agencies. The rate at which post-regime accountability is going on within just nine months of the John Dramani Mahama administration gives your government one of the worst rankings in terms of financial discipline and moral record. Don’t you think, Dr. Bawumiah, that you should have withdrawn from the presidential race in 2024 out of moral conscience, considering the amount of unaccountable corruption that happened under your administration? For if you had won, what would have been the fate of Ghana? Would cases like the SML deal, the Akonta Mining scandal, and the many issues involving Wontumi and other politically connected persons not have been buried under the carpet? Don’t you think so, Mr. Former President Nana Addo?

Your Excellency, don’t you agree with Ghanaians that have called for change have done very well — that their calls for change have really produced positive outcomes and have truly helped us — because this change has opened our eyes to really understand what went on badly under your tenure? This is a true testimony that you can attest to, including your former appointees, that John Dramani Mahama is really in charge and doing exactly what will benefit Ghanaians and that he really has us at heart. I think you should applaud Mahama and his appointees for doing a great job.

I humbly plead that you, as our former President and a senior statesman, advise all your former appointees to cooperate fully with the investigative authorities so that everything can go on smoothly in the spirit of transparency and national healing. You should also, in good conscience, advise Mr. Ken Ofori-Atta to come down to Ghana and face the charges leveled against him, unless, of course, he is acting under your personal instruction not to return. If that is the case, then Ghanaians may have no option but to conclude, painfully, that you, Mr. Former President, are a partner in his alleged crimes against the people of Ghana. It will be a sad day for history if that becomes the case.

Ghana deserves closure, not silence. Ghanaians are looking up to you both not just as politicians but as men of conscience who can guide the national conversation and bring moral decency back into leadership. Your silence, Your Excellencies, is becoming louder than your words. The youth who once believed in you are now disillusioned and disappointed. The nation that once trusted you to deliver on the promise of “a government of integrity” is now gasping for answers. A true statesman is not judged by how he enters power but by how he exits with truth, dignity, and accountability.

This letter is not written to insult or provoke but to awaken conscience, to appeal to morality, and to remind you that leadership is not about political defense but moral courage. It is time to show the people of Ghana that you can still act in the national interest, even after power. Let Ken Ofori-Atta come home and account. Let every appointee under your government cooperate with the law. Let your words and actions reflect the leadership of integrity you once promised.

Respectfully, I submit this as a humble citizen who loves his country and believes in justice. I write this with all sincerity, and I trust that you will treat this as a call to conscience and not a challenge to pride.

May God guide you both to do what is right for the people of Ghana and for posterity to remember you with honour, not with regret.

Respectfully submitted,
Hon. Simon Yaw Awadzi
Citizen from Aborlove Nolopi Electoral Area

Keta Municipal Assembly, Volta Region
November 4th, 2025
Email: awadziyawsimon@gmail.com

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