Former Communications Director of the New Patriotic Party (NPP) Nana Akomea says contrary to the oft-cited references to PDS and Agyapa by the opposition as scandals that indict the Akufo-Addo government, they have rather proof of the president’s willpower to fight the corruption menace.

Speaking on The Key Points on TV3/3FM on Saturday, December 5, the Managing Director of the State Transport Company (STC) Ghana Limited said President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo’s determination to fight corruption led him to cancel the Power Distribution Services (PDS) agreement in 2019 even in the face of threats by the US government to withdraw the Millennium Challenge Agreement funding.

He said same of the recent Agyapa Minerals Royalties transaction, maintaining that the President, after being informed about the corruption risks associated with the deal, directed the Minister of Finance to return it to Parliament for review.

The former Member of Parliament for Okaikoi South Constituency also cited the recent dismissal of the Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of the Public Procurement Authority (PPA), Adjenim Boateng Adjei, after a report from the Commission on Human Rights and Administrative Justice (CHRAJ) found him guilty, as enough evidence of President Akufo-Addo’s fight against graft.

He said such scenarios could not be cited during the presidency of John Dramani Mahama, whom he accuses of reassigning some of his appointees to the Presidency despite they being found guilty of corruption.

Nana Akomea believes due process is often followed by President Akufo-Addo anytime allegations of corruption against any of his appointees is brought before him.

He said the setting up of the Office of Special Prosecutor (OSP) is a major step in the determination by the government to fight corruption in the country.

He was speaking after host Abena Tabi wondered why corruption has not been in the front burner in this year’s electioneering campaign unlike previous years’.

Nana Akomea summed up: “So, if corruption is not a big issue it is not because somebody has done Free SHS. It is because really that is what it is.”

Earlier, Ghana’s former Ambassador to the Netherlands, Dr Tony Aidoo, had said the incumbent government has managed to obscure the numerous corruption cases with the Free SHS mantra.

“NPP has been remarkable in getting these matters obscure with the propagation of Free SHS.

“The number of corruption cases that have characterised this government far outweigh the number that characterised previous administrations.”

‘Deep-seated corruption’

Adding to this, aide to former President John Dramani Mahama Joyce Bawa Mogtari, who was also on the show, insisted that there is “deep-seated” corruption in the current government.

“There is extreme wastage. There is enormous consumption and personally, I have no doubt in my mind that even the matter he mentioned about [former president John Mahama’s] brother and $5 million pales in comparison to the graft and corruption and stealing of Agyapa by a few people not many [and] in PDS, by few people not many.”

She censured the media for allowing themselves to be censored, to an extent, by the current government as they seem not to use the same benchmark in measurement like they did during the Mahama era.