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News, Politics

SONA 24: Akufo-Addo’s silence on corruption means he isn’t proud of his work done on graft – Wilson Jnr

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The Chief Crusader for Think Tank, Crusaders Against Corruption, Mr Emmanuel Wilson Jnr, says he believes President Nana Akufo-Addo is not proud of his own corruption fight after 7 years of being in government.

The anti corruption campaigner, who was speaking on the Good Afternoon Ghana programme on Accra-based Metro TV, contended that he is convinced that Akufo-Addo did not touch on corruption matters while delivering the State of the Nation Address in Parliament last Wednesday because his fight against graft has been unsuccessful.

President Akufo-Addo has come under a barrage of criticism from the Minority in Parliament and anti corruption campaigners for not mentioning corruption related issues during his address

Wilson Jnr argued that tax payers’ funds pumped into the institutions responsible for fighting corruption such as Economic and Organized Crime Office (EOCO), Office of the Special Prosecutor, the Criminal Investigations Department (CID) of the Ghana Police Service and others have been wasted over the years because Ghana has maintained its position on the Corruption Perception Index (CPI) for the last four years.

“Sad to say, for the past 4 years, we have ran 43 consistently as far as the CPI is concerned, ” he said.

Wilson Jnr who is also the host of Politics and Beyond programme on TV XYZ asserted that he expected to hear the president talk about the state of the Asset Declaration Act (Amended) and the Conduct of Public Officers Bill “that have been on his table for 2 years.”

To him, President Akufo-Addo has failed the corruption fight contrary to what he promised Ghanaians in 2016.

The anti corruption crusader’s comments come a month after the Corruption Perceptions Index (CPI) 2023 released by Transparency International (TI) scored Ghana zero for the fourth consecutive year in fighting corruption.

The report that was released on January 30, 2024 by Ghana Integrity Initiative (GII), the local chapter of Transparency International in its report indicated that 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.

The position of the country for 2023 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 said was reducing the accountability of public officials and therefore allowing corruption to thrive.

 

Source: Myxyzonline.com

News, Politics, Topstory

The state of our nation is hopeless; Ghanaians won’t miss Akufo-Addo – Ato Forson

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Minority Leader Dr Cassiel Ato Forson has said the country under President Akufo-Addo is a hopeless one where youth unemployment has skyrocketed and pushed Ghanaians into severe poverty.

Reacting to President Nana Akufo-Addo’s final State of the Nation address on Tuesday, February 27,2024, in Parliament, the MP for Ejumako Enyan Essiam said unemployment had soared to a point that “two out of three Ghanaians are jobless.”

“In a country of 33 million, only 11 million are employed,” he stated while criticising Akufo-Addo for neglecting policies that would have created sustainable jobs for the people of Ghana.

“Mr. Speaker, the state of our nation is hopeless. No wonder that ordinary Ghanaians including professionals are leaving our shores in droves, in search of greener pastures. Finally, Mr. Speaker, I am scandalized, I am shocked to the marrow to notice that our president following the recent ministerial reshuffle has increased the size of his government. Mr. Speaker, today we have a Minister of Finance International and Minister of Finance domestic.”

“Mr. Speaker, 1 dollar is today GH¢13. Mr. Speaker, under President Mahama, 1 dollar was 3 cedis, 80 pesewas. Mr. Speaker, a vote for Alhaji Mahamudu Bawumia is a vote for President Akufo-Addo. Mr. Speaker, to conclude on the matter, Ghanaians voted for the President and appealed to the vice president to support him to succeed. Mr. Speaker, the president cannot fail alone. The President will have to fail together with the Vice-President so Mr. President, you have failed with your Vice President. Mr. Speaker, to conclude, Ghanaians will not miss Akufo-Addo and Alhaji Bawumia. We know you are going, and we can only wish you bye-bye.”

Meanwhile, President Akufo-Addo in his address said he had taken responsibility for his governance but hastened that the economy would do well.

He also revealed that his government has fulfilled  its pledge of settling the last coupons owed bondholders who signed up to the Domestic Debt Exchange Programme (DDEP).

He stated, “For the last leg of the domestic debt exchange on September 5, 2023, a week ago last Tuesday, on February 20, 2024, the second coupon of GH¢5.8 billion was paid to domestic bondholders. This is the largest coupon paid in a day in Ghana’s history.”

Touching on the external debt side, the president said his government has achieved a significant milestone by reaching an agreement with Ghana’s bilateral creditors.

“I will use this occasion to thank the Republic of China and France, co-chairs of the official creditors committee for their positive roles in this achievement.

“We have also intensified our engagement with our external bondholders on the principles of transparency, fair treatment consistent with the IMF debt sustainability analysis and good faith. We are focused and committed to accelerating the process,” he stated.

 

Source: Myxyzonline.com