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09.12.2009 Politics

Kwame Pianim In Hot Waters

By Daily Guide
Jake Obetsebi-LampteyJake Obetsebi-Lamptey
09.12.2009 LISTEN

THREE LEADING members of the New Patriotic Party (NPP), , former Minister of State; Isaac Asiamah, MP for Atwima-Mponua and Owusu Agyapong, youth organizer for the Manhyia Constituency in Kumasi, have expressed surprise at a claim by Kwame Pianim that President Atta Mills is incorruptible because he had personally witnessed him reject envelopes filled with money which were offered to him as bribe.

“If President Atta Mills was truly committed to the fight against corruption, then it seems to me that his reaction to being offered envelopes of money, meant to influence him, should have been to cause the arrest of the person offering these envelopes of money on the charge of attempting to bribe a public official, namely himself; and he obviously had a witness to this act of gross corruption in the person of Mr. Pianim,” Jake noted in a press statement issued yesterday.

Mr. Kwame Pianim, supposedly a leading member of the NPP who has moved out and come back into the party at will, has said Ghana is fortunate to have Prof. Mills as president because he will not steal from the people, stating emphatically that he can stick his neck out that the tax law professor would never stoop so low to accept bribes, a development which constitutes stealing.

Speaking at a Joy FM/Coconut Grove Regency Hotel Debate 2009, on the Ghanaian economy Monday morning, the renowned economist and management consultant indicated that he has been present on at least two occasions when President Mills returned 'brown envelopes' which had been offered him as bribe.

The NPP leading member stressed that he was surprised at the development because he never witnessed such a development happening during the era of ex-Presidents Kufuor and Rawlings.

However, said the examples cited by Mr. Pianim do not support the assertion that President Mills is incorruptible or a fighter for the eradication of corruption.

He stated further that President Mills would have sent a powerful message in the anticorruption campaign if he had made an example of the person who attempted to bribe him.

“That he failed to do so smacks of him probably knowing the 'attempted giver' and doing the weak thing of refusing to properly correct that person.

“It follows the same pattern of President Atta Mills attempting to punish the whistleblower in the case of the improper spending by the former Minister of Sport. He sought to punish the Civil Servant doing his civil duty instead of the one who did the public wrong,” Jake added.

has made public his intentions to contest for the national chairmanship position of the NPP this year while Kwame Pianim is an economist and a bigwig of the NPP and at a point wanted to become the party's presidential candidate.

Mr. Pianim, on Monday told Joy FM in Accra that though he could stick out his neck for the President, he would not do same for his appointees.

“To me, if you go to any country where there is corruption, the head of state is corrupt. If he is not corrupt, it won't happen…and fortunately for Ghana now, we have a president that at least I will put my hand in the fire for that he will not steal from the people.

“I have seen him on two occasions give envelopes back and I didn't see it happen under John the first or John the second, but at least now, we are progressing and we have a president who I think will not steal from the people. How is he going to make sure that the people below him will also not do that – that is the question?” he added.

In the case of Isaac Kwame Asiamah, MP for Atwima-Mponua, he described the statement by his senior colleague as “infantile and childish” showering of praises on President John Evans Atta Mills.

Reacting to the statement in exclusive interview with DAILY GUIDE, Isaac Asiamah said the President's reputation as fighter of corruption has rather been dented if the revelations are to be believed.

“If indeed the two people attempted to bribe President Mills and he did not take any action, then his touted claim to fight corruption under his administration is a joke,” Hon. Asiamah stated, calling on the President to come clean on the issue.

The Atwima-Mponua MP stressed that for the attempted bribe givers to have been left-off the hook by President Mills without any arrest or prosecution, as indicated by Kwame Pianim, the Chief Executive of the land has rather condoned bribery and collection.

According to him, for these people to have walked freely and boldly to President Mills with bribe money meant that they might have been engaged in such practices at the lower levels of government.

“These people might have started their corrupt practices from the District Assemblies, Ministers and now they are bold enough to move to the President to give him bribe and there is no arrest or prosecution,” Hon. Asiamah further asked President Mills to immediately confirm or deny what Mr. Pianim has said.

Commenting on the rationale behind Mr. Pianim's comments, Hon. Asiamah said he was not surprised at the commentary of the renowned economist as he was only praising somebody he had always admired over the years and not because the President was incorruptible.

Asiamah, who is also the Ranking Member of the Parliamentary Select Committee on Youth and Sports, indicated that although he had respected Mr. Pianim over the years, he had not trusted the man's political motives.

“I cannot trust him in terms of politics. For some of us who have followed his political career, his outburst was not news to us,” Hon. Asiamah lashed out at Mr. Pianim.

On his part, Owusu Agyapong has branded Mr. Pianim as a sycophant, accusing him of seeking cheap favours from President Mills, hence his comments.

Reacting to the widely-publicized comments in an interview with DAILY GUIDE, the enraged youth organizer contended that Mr. Pianim was motivated to pass those comments because of his business interests.

“It's crystal clear that Mr. Pianim wants to please President Mills so that he could be favoured for business opportunities, hence the unmeritorious statement,” Mr. Agyapong opined.

He noted that there is no logic in Mr. Pianim's statement because no reasonable person will accept a packaged bribe in the presence of people, how much more about a President who is under the microscope of the public.

“Was Mr. Pianim expecting that Mr. President Mills will accept a packaged bribe in his presence, when he really knows that he (Pianim) is a leading member of the NPP?” Mr. Agyapong rhetorically asked.

He challenged Mr. Pianim, who for the better part of the Rawlings regime was thrown into jail for allegedly attempting to overthrow the PNDC government, to tell Ghanaians what he was doing with President Mills on the two occasions he said the former vice President rejected bribes in his presence.

The Manhyia NPP youth organizer equally challenged Mr. Pianim to disclose the identity of the people who offered the bribes on the two occasions for Ghanaians to really believe what he is saying.

He tasked the security agencies to invite Mr. Pianim for questioning if he fails to mention the names of the people who tried to bribe the President, because according to the law, the giver and the taker of bribes are equally guilty.

Mr. Agyapong was not the only person who was incensed about the comments as several NPP activists also expressed anger at the statement, describing the comments as lacking credibility.

Meanwhile, the NPP has officially issued a statement expressing dismay that President Mills is refusing to expose criminals who have attempted to offer him bribe.

The statement, signed by the party's Communications Director; Kwaku Kwarteng, said, “It is questionable that the President failed to cause the arrest of such criminals when the incident happened. It would appear that President Mills and NDC government he presides over have unhealthy interest in protecting such criminals. It is to diffuse such an impression that the President needs to stop shielding them and offer them to the law without further delay,” the NPP demanded.  

By Halifax Ansah-Addo, Awudu Mahama & Morgan Owusu

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