When he declares that he cannot be compromised and/or corrupted by the power of the presidency, Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo ought to be understood to imply the sort of loose morals that would, for instance, make President John Dramani Mahama accept the “gift” of $100,000-valued Ford Expedition automobile, even while tastelessly claiming that he has absolutely no passion or desire to possess or own American cars. And that his ideal choice of a vehicle is the Japanese-made Toyota.

We need to also promptly add that what makes the acceptance of the aforesaid “gift” questionable is the fact that the giver, Mr. Gibril (or Djibril) Kanazoe, a Burkinabe national, had business dealings with the government of the National Democratic Congress (NDC). Some critics have even questioned whether there were no qualified cost-effective contractors available in the country. This, however, is a subject for another column in the near future.

Of course, as a human being, Akufo-Addo cannot be expected to be infallible or be without any behavioral rough edges. But he can and ought to be expected to manage the financial and human resources and the business of the people with transparency and integrity; else there would be absolutely no need for citizens like Mrs. Linda Ofori-Kwafo to be heading such accountability agencies and civil-society organizations as the Ghana Integrity Initiative (GII), a local branch of Amnesty International (AI).

According to a recent news report, Mrs. Ofori-Kwafo went on record with the quite interesting claim that Nana Akufo-Addo’s “claims of incorruptibility are impossible, since it is in human nature to be corrupt under a given set of circumstances.” Just what set of circumstances, the Executive Director of the GII does not say. Still, the implicit understanding here is that absent those set of circumstances alluded to by Mrs. Ofori-Kwafo, the temptation for any leader to succumb to corruption of the sort widely alleged to have been indulged in by President Mahama can be readily avoided.

If the preceding hypothetical premise has validity, then the three-time presidential candidate of Ghana’s main opposition New Patriotic Party (NPP) ought to be taken at his word until, as aptly opined by his policy advisor, Mr. Boakye-Agyarko, forensically sustainable evidence contradicting the assertion of Ghana’s former Justice Minister is produced. Of course, evidence of leadership corruption ought not to be necessarily as direct as the Ford Expedition payola scam in which President Mahama has been implicated, the occurrence of which both the alleged recipient and his minions and assigns have publicly acknowledged, even while also vehemently protesting that the acceptance of such a questionable “gift,” in the manner in which it was presented constituted a naked act of bribery.

Of course, leadership corruption may also come in the form of the condonation of acts of corruption committed by one’s minions or cabinet and non-cabinet appointees. And so one can expect that some form of executive misdemeanor is bound to occur on the watch of a President Akufo-Addo. What matters is how the latter chooses to respond to such leadership crisis, in terms of how promptly and evenhandedly appointees caught with their fingers in the proverbial cookie jar are dealt with. We need to also highlight the fact that while in of itself it may not amount to much, nevertheless, the ability of a president, or leader, to demonstrate enviable personal integrity can go a long way to ensure that the overwhelming majority of his appointees adopt a lifestyle that is remarkably beyond reproach.

It is within the foregoing context that both the Mahama Ford Expedition Affair and Akufo-Addo’s declaration of his administrative incorruptibility ought to be envisaged.

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