Ministers on looting spree - Kaku

The former Shama Ahanta East metropolitan chief executive, Col. (Rtd) Kaku Korsah, has accused some of the ministers in the New Patriotic Party (NPP) government and party functionaries of looting state coffers to create wealth among themselves.

He noted that though it was the same NPP members who were accusing National Democratic Congress (NDC) ministers of corruption when they were in the opposition, they are today acquiring wealth in a manner that defied human understanding.

According to him, some of the ministers in the present government and top party functionaries had bought houses at Texaco in Accra which prices ranged between $250,000 and $300,000 US dollars.

He wondered the sort of business these minister are doing to have acquired such a wealth within three years that their party had being in power.

He noted that President Kufuor who declared zero tolerance for corruption when he assumed office was still behaving as if he had not seen or heard of this massive corruption by his ministers after leading the latter in the opposition to make all sorts of allegations against NDC ministers.

Col. Kaku Korsah, who was speaking at the Takoradi constituency primaries of the NDC, where the former regional minister, Mrs. Esther Nkansah, was elected to contest the Takoradi seat, did not however mention any names of ministers who were allegedly looting the state coffers and buying expensive houses at the Texaco in Accra.

He instead urged the media to carry a thorough investigation to ascertain those who bought the Texaco houses and whether they are ministers in the present government or not.

Col. Korsah, who is the NDC parliamentary candidate for the Ellembele constituency, also accused a section of the media of going to bed with the government and did not see anything wrong with the NPP government though worst things are going on that ought to be brought into light.

According to him, when NDC was in power the media scene was full of corrupt allegations and alleged mismanagement but today the same media had not seen the mismanagement and massive corruption that had engulfed the present NPP government.

KK, as he is popularly known in the Sekondi-Takoradi metropolis, further told the large gathering that it was President Kufuor who led the then opposition NPP to protest against the introduction of the Value Added Tax (VAT) but today not only had he refused to abolish the tax but also it was a major source of revenue for his government.

He regretted that upon all these good legacies left behind by the NDC government, the Kufuor-led NPP government had refused to give NDC credit where it was due and rather continued to portray the former government as the worst the country had ever had.

The former metro chief asked Ghanaians to compare prices of goods and services in the country when NDC was in power and what was pertaining in the country at the moment.

He said almost everything had gone out of track yet the government because they came to power through lies had been deceiving Ghanaians that the economy had improved.

“They talk about rule of law but it is applicable to only few people in the country. You were all in this country and you saw or heard about the way Mr. Ibrahim Adam was released from the Kumasi prison and dumped at the Ofankor barrier in Accra after deceiving him that he was being taken to Tamale,” he said.

The Ellembele NDC parliamentary aspirant told the jubilant supporters that the NPP government could continue to import arms and ammunitions into the country but the will of the people would prevail after the December elections.

The Takoradi constituency chairman of the NPP, Mr. Yaw Asante, popularly known as 'Marconi,' in his solidarity message suggested a monthly meeting between NPP and NDC in the constituency to trash out any misunderstanding that might arise in the course of their campaigns.

He noted that both supporters of NPP and NDC are all Ghanaians therefore the two parties should not sit down for politics to divide them through unnecessary fighting.

“Some of us in both NPP and NDC are old and may soon be leaving the scene. Whatever we are doing now is for the betterment of our youths who are the future leaders of this country. It is therefore the responsibility of both of us to make sure that we have left nothing but absolute peace behind for our future leaders to enjoy,” Marconi said amid applause from the NDC supporters.

In the election itself, Mrs. Esther Lily Nkansah polled 131 votes to beat her challenger, Dr. Crosby Mochia, who had 30 votes.

Mr. Fiifi Sangali, the third contestant, had earlier stepped down and asked his supporters to vote for the former regional minister. In her speech, Mrs. Nkansah promised to work hard to win the seat for the NDC, come December, because as a former regional minister she had now gained more experience in politics.

She however warned that her campaign team would not entertain any backbiting within the rank and file of NDC in the constituency.

Present were the regional organizer of the party, Mr. Yaw Gyan and a host of party executives.