New Patriotic Party (NPP) firebrand Kennedy Agyapong has strongly condemned public officials who dip their hands into state coffers and invest in other countries.

The Assin Central MP, who has been at the forefront in exposing corruption, averred he is totally against the act but will prefer to have corrupt persons investing within the country to those stashing the loot in foreign bank accounts.

He alleged former National Democratic Congress (NDC) officials looted state funds and have used them to acquire properties in Dubai and other countries.

“Now the safe haven is Dubai. I know all the NDC people with properties in Dubai. Although I’m against corruption, I don’t find a problem with a Ghanaian who has stolen and invest here in Ghana than those who steal and go and keep it in US, Europe and Dubai or wherever,” the maverick politician said in an interview with Nana Aba Anamoah on GHOne TV’s State of Affairs.

According to Mr Agyapong, corruption has eaten into the fibre of the Ghanaian society and will take a lot of concerted effort to address the canker.

“And given opportunity to this government, some of them if they make the money they’ll go and put it there. So I’m not blaming only NDC. It’s our mindset,” the NPP lawmaker noted.

“We don’t think of the nation. We think of ourselves first and that’s dangerous. A lot of the politicians who steal don’t use the money for anything, but save them at the banks.”

Touching on his candid outbursts, Mr Agyapong insisted he is a principled person and will never keep mum over issues that will affect his party and the country as a whole. According to him, he takes his own NPP on publicly because most of the officials fail to listen to him in private.

He promised to continue touching lives, especially those in his constituency in the Central region. Asked whether he has the ambition to become Ghana’s president, he opined: “I don’t have time to run for a president. If I want to I will do it just for four years and you’ll see the difference. I want to make money and help people.”