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President of the Central University College (CUC), Professor Kwesi Yankah says the perception of corruption at the seat of government is made real when fingered corrupt appointees are camped at the presidency.

Speaking at a Corruption conference organized by the Institute of Economic Affairs (IEA), Prof. Kwesi Yankah said “transfer or promotion of bad nuts to the presidency rather than their demotion or indictment tends to defile the dignity of the presidency”.

“When government appointees are cited for embezzlement or corruption, no machine is set in motion for investigation, prosecution and indictment” the professor cried out; adding that former Sports Minister, Elvis Afriyie-Ankrah, who is believed to have performed abysmally during the 2014 World Cup, now finds himself among the presidential staff at the Flagstaff House.

A recent IEA finding ranked the presidency as the second most corrupt institution in Ghana; and the CUC President held that the IEA survey is indicative of the “fish getting rotten from the head” and something must be done about it.

To him, President Mahama must be held responsible for corruption since he “wields so much constitutional power and is responsible for key appointees” in the country.

He emphasized that the president has “squandered opportunities to prosecute presidential appointees suspected of embezzling public funds but who have been merely transferred to other portfolios as if with the aim of enabling a quicker spread of the virus.

President Kwesi Yankah added that, often, reports of commissions, probes and investigations have been neglected, entrenching the view that the presidency is “merely a depository for reports” because of the inaction of the first gentleman of the land.

The professor however outlined some reasons which are informing the perception the President implicitly encourages corruption; describing the menace as the lack of government's courage to bring to book key players complicit in the corrupt scandals.