Opinions of Monday, 26 September 2016

Columnist: P.K Sarpong

Mahama is in a symbiotic relationship with corruption

President John Dramani Mahama President John Dramani Mahama

By P.K Sarpong

President John Mahama has given ample catalyst to the deeply rooted impression that he is in a symbiotic relationship with corruption.

In a video shamefully depicting the president doling out monies to people who had gathered around his car, Ghana's president has consolidated ‘the gains’ he has made with respect to his corruptibility.

Often times, the president has had the occasions to loudly pronounce that he is doing all within his means to disincentivise the act of bribery and corruption in his administration, claims many have had to look at with sheer disdain, as his actions geared towards waging a formidable war against the phenomenon have not been in tandem with his vehement pronouncements.

Various acts of proven corruption cases can be enumerated to give meat to this position. The SADA story is a case study. Millions of the taxpayers' monies were thrown away under the proviso that they were being used to develop the savannah zone.

GYEEDA played a spectacular role in ensuring that our monies were syphoned. Government appointees have been living lavishly, with expenditures far exceeding their incomes.

Our participation in the Brazil World Cup contributed to huge sums of monies leaching out of the taxpayers' funds simply because, corrupt-minded Elvis Afriyie-Ankrah and Kojo Adu-Asare were mantled to head a team of Ghanaians to go to Brazil to watch our matches.

Rowland Agambire was given millions of cedis to rear guinea fowls, and for years, the birds which were supposed to have sojourned to Burkina Faso have failed to retrace their steps.

The same Rowland Agambire was contracted to plant trees in the savannah zone, trees which are yet to spring up from the holes in which they were inserted.

Agambire was, once again, given monies to train Ghanaians in ICT, a project that never saw the light of day, yet he wanders about as though nothing has happened.

All these and those time wouldn't allow me to cite, have together been the obnoxious legacy John Mahama is leaving behind!

It is worrisome, if not tragic, to see government appointees engaging in acts which unlawfully deny the ordinary people their taxes' worth, but it is appalling when a president takes up the responsibility of leading in the wanton dissipation of our resources.

It comes to me as mysterious how a president who has boastfully claimed he has enacted measures which make corruption unattractive to those who choose or may choose to engage in it to be the one leading the charge!

John Mahama represents everything corruption, as his actions have proven! Which leader in his right frame of mind would stop his car in the middle of the road to distribute free cash to the citizenry and still make a case for being the leader with the wherewithal to change this negative status quo?

The onus lies with all of us to ensure that this vulgarly naked exhibition of opulence by John Mahama comes to a jarring standstill, and this can only be achieved if we make conscious efforts to restore the hope that departed from us eight years ago.

We can end this cancerous phenomenon by working like Trojans to bring back the New Patriotic Party with Nana Addo DankwaAkufo-Addo and his able lieutenant, Dr.Mahamudu Bawumia as Ghana's leaders going into 2017.