The Ghana Integrity Initiative (GII) has questioned President Nana Akufo-Addo’s claims that his administration has protected the public purse and made significant strides in the fight against corruption.
Speaking on Eyewitness News, Mary Adda, Programmes Officer at the GII, said there were still no significant positive outcomes in the anti-corruption fight.
She was responding to comments made by President Akufo-Addo at a national conference on corruption and human rights in Accra where the President said he had fought corruption better than his predecessors.
As an example, Mary Adda said repetitive infractions cited in the Auditor General’s Report over the course of the Akufo-Addo administration make it “difficult for anyone to accept wholly and totally what the president has indicated.”
She also noted challenges with single-source procurement during the COVID-19 pandemic, particularly the Sputnik V procurement scandal, where the government botched the purchase of 3.4 million doses of Russia’s Sputnik-V vaccines at inflated prices.
Mrs. Adda also questioned the lack of evidence of purported outcomes in the fight against corruption.
“Where exactly is that data that we can have access to and this is a question that Civil Society has asked before,” she said.
Also, on Eyewitness News, the New Patriotic Party Communications Director, Yaw Buaben Asamoa, back the remarks of the President.
He cited the setting up of the Special Prosecutor’s office as evidence of strides made under the Akufo-Addo administration.
Though the Special Prosecutor’s office has faced some growing pains, notably the scandal that enveloped the resignation of the first Special Prosecutor, Martin Amidu, Mr. Buaben said this was merely part of the process of fighting corruption.
“In the anti-corruption fight, everybody will be blamed left, right and centre, but it is not an event. It is a process.”
Mr. Asamoa also said Ghanaians should be demanding more from institutions like the Economic and Organised Crime Office and the Commission on Human Rights and Administrative Justice as far as fighting graft is concerned.
“You cannot expect the president of the republic to be the micromanager of anti-corruption efforts,” he said.
