Prez Akufo Addo Runs From “Clearing Agent” Tag
President Akufo-Addo is extricating himself from pervasive public opinion that he is actively condoning corruption in his administration. He has put the spotlight on state investigative agencies.
“In a person is cleared of any wrongdoing, the evidence adduced and recommendations made by these agencies, after the investigations are concluded, are what clear the accused persons, not myself. None of these agencies has ever indicated any pressure from the Executive over their investigations,” President Akufo Addo said during the Ghana Bar Conference in Takoradi today, September 9, 2019.
President Akufo Addo’s explanation comes in the wake of widespread reference to him as a “Clearing Agent” of his reportedly corrupt appointees as his actions have often telegraphed to these agencies to steer clear.
For instance, the Special Prosecutor Martin A.B.K Amidu recently clashed with Professor Frimpong Boateng, the Science and Technology Minister and the Chairman of a President Akufo Addo-appointed Inter-Ministerial Committee on Illegal Mining (IMCIM) who was reportedly trying to cover up exposed illegal mining activities involving Presidential Staffer Charles Cromwell Bissue.
Even though the scandal forced Charles Bissue to resign as the Secretary to the IMCIM, he continued to work at the Presidency as a presidential staffer.
According to an angry Special Prosecutor Amidu, while his outfit had the jurisdiction to investigate the allegation against Mr. Bissue and his cartel, however, individuals in the Jubilee House, the IMCIM and the Interior Ministry tried to foil his investigation by ordering a conflicting investigation by the Criminal Investigations Department (CID).
“…I’ve told the CID that they don’t have jurisdiction. I’ve written to the Minister for the Interior, I’ve copied the Jubilee House, and said that we cannot concurrently investigate it. You either want to set up an office to investigate corruption or when it suits you, you send it to the police.
Ghana’s Presidential system places immense power in the hands of the president such that appointments to the top of these investigative agencies are done by the President who enjoys reciprocal loyalty from the agencies.
Critics therefore argue that the President does not need to directly order these agencies around but his telegraphed actions will give the agencies on how to handle particular corruption-related cases.
In the past two years of his administration, there had been over 100 reported cases of corruption, yet all the fingered officials in these cases are currently either walking free or have been reassigned by the President.
For instance, the Deputy Minister of Youth and Sports was fingered in an Australian Visa racket last year, he was initially suspended alongside the board Chairman of the National Sports Authority, but have both been reinstated.
The general public was recently disgusted by acts akin to conflict of interest by Kwame Owusu, the Ghana Maritime Authority (GMA) boss who admitted blowing over GHC 150,000 on feeding of GMA staff at his personal hotel. Mr. Owusu who was forced to resign due to the scandal, has since been assigned as the current Chairman of the Ghana Revenue Authority (GRA).
The latest scandal involves the Chief Executive Officer of the National Youth Authority (NYA) Emmanuel Sin-nyet Asigri who reportedly rewarded a GHC 4.5 million contract to his friend’s company without proper procurement processes. He alongside two deputies were last week sacked by the President, but were asked to claim their juicy end of service benefits.
The Akufo Addo administration is battling damning image as Ghana’s most corrupt administration. A founding member of the Party, Dr. Nyaho Tamakloe a few days ago gave the administration that verdict. This syncs with sentiments of other anti-corruption agencies and individuals such as Vitus Azeem, the former local representative of Transparency International in Ghana.