We Don�t Trust Mahama On Corruption

The Progressive People�s Party (PPP) yesterday staged its much anticipated protest against the growing canker of corruption. The demonstration, which started from the Obra Spot at Kwame Nkrumah Circle through some of the principal streets of Accra, ended at the Hearts Park in Accra central. According to the protestors, the government handling of corruption issues has made them to lose trust in President John Mahama quest to fight corruption. Kofi Asamoah-Siaw, the General Secretary of PPP, said that President Mahama must show his commitment to the fight of corruption in his government. He alleged that the Attorney General (A-G), an appointee of the President, had demonstrated inaction in prosecuting political activists named in corrupt deals. According to the PPP, the A-G was inactive because she is a political person. Addressing demonstrators at the party�s �Ayefe Notse Anti-Corruption Demonstration�, Mr Asamoah-Siaw was emphatic that Ghanaians want an independent state prosecutor. �The Attorney General demonstrates inaction when names of political actors are named in corrupt deals, they waste our money to write a report when they finish, the Attorney General of the Republic of Ghana cannot take action because he/she is a political person,� he said. Mr. Asamoah-Siaw reiterated the PPP�s call for the separation of the Office of Attorney-General from the Ministry of Justice as a measure to step up the fight against corruption. Going forward, he directed �we want to separate the Office of the Attorney-General from the Ministry of Justice, the president can have his Minster of Justice but we the people of Ghana must have our independent state prosecutor�. With reference to recent pronouncements by President Mahama to the effect that he was not so enthused about issues of conflict of interest, the PPP�s General Secretary stated that the President must not look any farther than among his MPs for evidence of conflict of interest. �We in the PPP are sending a message to H.E President Mahama that the first offenders in the conflict of inters are all MPs who are ministers of state, no MP in the Republic of Ghana should be allowed to become a minister of state,� he adds. Nii Allotey Brew- Hammond, National Chairperson of the party, said as a result of massive corruption in the country, people share the same source of drinking water with domestic animals because money expected to be used for the improvement of the lives of the citizens have gone into �individual pockets�. The PPP National Chairperson said �The constitution itself does not lend itself to a corruption-free environment, if we are to be incorruptible; we need to ensure that we transfer power back to our people so that they can vote and elect their own District Chief Executives who will not be holding to the president�. The PPP National Chairperson observes that since 1992, we have not published polling station results, adding that �we had five elections and we still don�t know all the polling stations, that is where corruption lies, if we continue to cover polling satiation results corruption will continue�. Other members of the Anti Corruption Campaign Coalition (ACCC) including William Dowokpor, the convener of the group, Divine Nkrumah, National Youth Organiser of the PPP and Madam Eva Lokko, 2012 vice presidential candidate of the party, took turns to address the demonstrators who were clad in red apparel. They all re-echoed the concerns of corruption in the Mahama administration amid cheers and shouts from demonstrators carrying placards some of which read, Nana Addo Good King Solomon, Long Live the King; Afari-Gyan, Atuguba /Error President Sha, Sha Shaa; Aban Blowing Money Too Much; Sack Corrupt Government Officials; Corruption, Your No Counts, Say No To Corruption; Incorruptible leadership, our goal; Chop, chop go kill Ghana, and Put Our Interest First, among others. Police Disappointment However, Chief Supt Sylvester Boyuo of the Greater Accra police command told DAILY GUIDE on the sidelines of the demonstration that the service prepared adequately to give the expected security to the demonstrators but that was short-lived. He said that they expected a crowd not less than one thousand people as agreed earlier. Chief Supt Boyuo said �Yes, we were expecting a larger crowd because they sat with us and told us that a minimum of one thousand [people were coming], so we tried to deploy men in proportionate with the anticipated crowd. But unfortunately, the crowd was below the 1000, that is why the police men are more than the demonstrators�. �If I assess it well, I think probably they are between four and five hundred,� he stressed.