Akufo-Addo Has Fought Corruption Than Anybody …Jubilee House spokesman

Eugene Arhin, Director of Communications at the Presidency is making a controversial claim that Akufo-Addo is the leader who has fought corruption the most in the history of Ghana.

This self-aggrandizing statement is coming shortly after Akufo-Addo’s Jubilee House in a survey by the Center for Democratic Development (CDD) revealed that the majority of Ghanaians have lost faith in President’s willingness and ability to fight corruption.

Eugene Arhin’s boast is also coming on the heels of the recent episode where, for the first time, an independent Special Prosecutor (resigned Martin A.B.k.Amidu) had described President Akufo Addo as the “Mother serpent of corruption” for reportedly attempting to arm-twist him to “shelve” a damning corruption assessment report he had compiled against the dubious Agyapa Royalty deal. 

However, Eugene Arhin is claiming, there is even evidence to show Akufo Addo’s illustrious fight against corruption.

 “The report is not one we can easily dismiss. Yes, they have conducted their survey but we, on the other hand, believe that in the fight against corruption, no President has done more than Nana Akufo-Addo and there are facts to back it,” said Arhin whose wife recently accused him of unexplained wealth.

 “If we are to consider the funds that were sent to the five accountability institutions of states, there was a 25% increase in their funding in 2017. In 2018, there was a 34% increase across the board,” he added.

 According to Arhin, the establishment of the Special Prosecutor’s Office is another proof that the government which has had the highest number of corruption scandals is the most incorrupt.

 “The establishment of an independent institution to fight corruption, that is the office of the Special Prosecutor, was in fulfilment of a campaign result by the President. We thus disagree with the survey results. No President in the history of the country has fought corruption as much as Akufo-Addo has,” Arhin said.

Interestingly, the first-ever Special Prosecutor, Martin Amidu, had to resign from office and flee for his life after his assessment of a mineral royalties deal (Agyapa) showed the whole deal was steeped in massive corruption. 

The hounding out of Amidu had swiftly been followed with the witch-hunting of former Auditor General, Daniel Yaw Domelevo out of office because of Domelevo’s fight to have US$1million that was dubiously paid out by the government to a UK company, Kroll and Associates, returned.

Meanwhile, the latest corruption perception rating of Ghana on the global perception index places Ghana as the 10th most corrupt nation in Africa.

In August, a survey by the Centre of Democratic Development said that majority of Ghanaians do not believe President Akufo-Addo can fight corruption in the country.

The report which sampled the views of over 2000 Ghanaians from all 16 regions of the country between May 23 and June 3 also blamed the reduction of the President’s vote in 2020 polls on his own performance and that of NPP MPs.