The flag bearer of the opposition National Democratic Congress (NDC), former President John Dramani Mahama has reiterated his commitment to combat corruption when voted to power.
Mr Mahama stated that high level of corruption in the Akufo-Addo administration has resulted in huge wastage, costing the tax payers millions of cedis that could have been used to develop the country.
Commenting on the opaque transaction between the Ghana Revenue Authority (GRA) and Strategic Mobilisation Ghana Ltd (SML) which has raised eye brows in the country, John Mahama said his administration will not accept or recognise the said SML contract.
“For the monies they’ve taken already, we will hold all of them to account,” Mr Mahama said during an interaction with representatives of organised labour, trade associations and the public in Koforidua.
Mahama who is on his ‘Building Ghana Tour’ in the Eastern Region chastised the Akufo-Addo administration for impoverishing Ghanaians and superintending over graft and rot in the country.
“You cannot fleece a country like this… now Ghanaians are not surprised again; reports of corruption does not shock Ghanaians again, because everybody is tired of hearing of the cases and no effort by the government to fight it,” the opposition leader stated.\
Corruption Perception Index
Mr Mahama’s comment comes at a time Ghana has scored zero for the fourth consecutive year in fighting corruption.
Ghana made no progress in the latest Corruption Perceptions Index, which ranks Ghana as 70th out of 180 countries in terms of corruption.
The Ghana Integrity Initiative (GII), the local chapter of Transparency International in its report said, “Ghana scored 43 out of a clean score of 100 and ranked 70th out of 180 countries and territories included in the Corruption Perceptions Index (CPI) 2023 released today, 30th January 2024 by Transparency International (TI). This marks the fourth consecutive year of stagnation in Ghana’s anti-corruption efforts, as indicated by the CPI.”
Transparency International attributed Ghana’s stagnation to the deteriorating justice system, which it says is reducing the accountability of public officials and therefore allowing corruption to thrive.
“Under the theme for the CPI 2023 – Corruption and Justice, Ghana’s stagnated score highlights a global trend of deteriorating justice systems, which is reducing the accountability of public officials and therefore allowing corruption to thrive.”
“The connection is reinforced by Ghana’s performance in the Rule of Law Index produced by the World Justice Project, which demonstrates a concerning decline. In the 2015 Rule of Law Index, Ghana scored 0.60 and ranked 34, but by 2023, Ghana’s score had decreased to 0.55, with a corresponding drop in ranking to 61.”
