Corruption and bribery has led Ghana into the Highly Indebted Poor Countries (HIPC) Initiative, Mrs Stella Ankomah Boakye-Boateng, former Member of Parliament for Mpohor Wassa East in the Western Region, boldly told the Parliamentary Privileges Committee on Wednesday.

Stella Ankumah, who was before the Committee in Parliament to answer allegations of bribery and corruption she allegedly levelled against MPs, as reported in the Ghanaian Times of 11 March, this year, denied saying MPs take bribes as the publication implied.

According to her what shed did say was that there is bribery and corruption at the District Assembly Tender Board of which she herself was a victim and that was what had led the nation to declare itself HIPC. “I never said MPs take bribes, what I did say was that there is a great deal of bribery and corruption at the District Assembly levels and I also did indicate that as a woman and an ex-MP over there I was a victim of bribery and corruption several times,” the outspoken former MP asserted.

Stella Ankomah contended that though being an MP in the district did automatically, by law, qualify her as a member of the District Assembly Tender Board Committee, she never had the opportunity to attend a single meeting of the Board because of the bribery and corruption that went on there.

She further submitted that during her tenure as MP in the district, she had the opportunity to bring these allegations against her District Tender Board before the Public Accounts Committee in Parliament. She pointed out that not only is there bribery and corruption in government, but this is extended even to the private sector and this has led the nation into HIPC.

When pushed by Hon Ken Ohene Agyapong, MP for Assin North, to explain what she meant by being a victim of bribery and corruption herself, the firebrand said what she meant was that she was tempted on several occasions by desperate bidders to use her influence on the tender board to enable them win contracts of some sorts.

When asked whether this did not go to mean that there is lobbying at the Tender Boards, Stella Ankomah maintained that she did not use the word lobby as reported by the paper, adding “I was bold enough to have pointed this out on the very floor of this Parliament and I did give so many examples.”

She, however, pointed out that she had been badly paraphrased because what she was just trying to do was to give reasons why women should go into politics, especially, why they should take advantage of the upcoming district assembly elections.

But, according to the editor of the paper, Mr Tom Dorkenoo, who appeared before the Committee earlier, what his reporter filed were the exact words of the former MP. The newspaper editor explained that as such he had no reason to verify the truth of the statement because, according to him, the statement came from a former MP and this gave him reason to believe that she was speaking on authority.

It would be recalled that Stella Ankomah, who was said to be speaking as a resource person at a seminar organized by the Christian Mothers’ Association, an NGO in Ho, Volta Region to encourage women to take up the initiative to go into politics and other public activities, was reported by the paper to have said that MPs take bribes. The publication has since embarrassed the Parliamentarians, who are seeking the truth of the report. Hearing was adjourned to Thursday.