Former President Jerry Rawlings has accused his successor, John Kufuor, of monopolising corruption during his two-term tenure in office between 2001 and 2009.

“The difference between John Mills and Kufuor is that Kufuor was so autocratic; they had used the military and the police to subjugate the spirit of the people that he was the only one who could do corrupt things plus his family and those he would allow, and he would jail anybody else who did not have his permission to be corrupt.

"so there was a way in which his regime looked orderly because nobody else could engage in it except himself or gave you the permission,” Rawlings told XYZ News Monday when he signed a book of condolence in honour of late South African President, Nelson Mandela, at the South African High Commission in Accra.

According to him, “The regime got so corrupt that America had to send the CIA boss…to come and warn Kufuor that ‘if you don’t contain your corruption, there’ll be a coup d’etat and it will be very popular and that’s why America will not be able to help you’”.

He said Parliament should have stepped in to rein in Kufuor’s unbridled corruption but failed to do so.

“…So I’m just saying it to demonstrate to you that he had reached so far…That was the moment when Parliament should have started preparing to impeach him. The world was waiting to hear it, to see it, but multiparty democracy lost that fine opportunity, now we are back to square one. How do we contain corruption? And it is getting out of hand,” Rawlings bemoaned.

Rawlings conceded that though corruption is also festering in the Mahama administration, it was worse in the Kufuor administration.

“There’s also a lot of talk about corruption having gotten out of hand now under the fourth John, it’s true, maybe not in the huge volumes that were happening in Kufuor’s time”.

“He jailed that Northern man with the Sports [Ministry]…Mallam Issa just as an example, so in effect, I’m trying to tell you that he did it in such a way, huge volumes and got away with it because it didn’t look as if there was disorder but by the time John the fourth also got on board and with his nature, he’s not autocratic, he’s an easy going person, I’m not saying it is healthy, being so easy going, everybody was just taking advantage and everybody is doing whatever they want wherever”.