I won’t shield corrupt appointees – Akufo-Addo
President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo has stated unequivocally that
he will not shield any public official found to be engaged in acts of
corruption or malfeasance, but will ensure that the laws of the land are
applied fully, without fear or favour.
According to Akufo-Addo, the recent news of the arrest of some
Customs officials responsible for the loss of some GH¢1.2 billion in
revenue to the state is part of the efforts his government is making to
block revenue leakages at the country’s ports.
“That money was going, not into the government’s coffers, but into
private pockets. We have importers who evade duty because they split the
duty with customs officials. It cannot continue like that in Ghana,”
the President said.
“I want to assure you that, so long as I have the opportunity, and I
have breath and power, I am going to do something about it, so we can
stop the leakages. I know that if we stop the leakages, we will have the
money to do our own development. We are not going to be dependent on
some people coming to say they are going to give us charity or grants.
We will finance our own development ourselves.”
President Akufo-Addo made this known on Wednesday, 24th May, 2017,
when he addressed a meeting of Ghanaians resident in Sierra Leone, as
part of his 1-day working visit to Sierra Leone, marking the
commencement of the third phase of his working visits to the ECOWAS
countries.
The President stressed that “when people get caught up in the net, I
am imploring people not to come to me and say that ‘Oh! Nana, this man
is my relative, so spare him’. That is the problem in Ghana. You find
people going to speak to your wife with the hope of trying to influence
you. I am not going to listen to that, because my concern is Ghana and
not one or two individuals.”
He, therefore, urged Ghanaians to help him in the fight against
corruption, “so that we can put that Ghana behind us, and get a new deal
for our country.”
Reiterating his commitment to depoliticise the prosecution of
corruption in Ghana, as prosecutions carried out by the Attorney General
are described as “witch-hunting” by opponents, President Akufo-Addo
stated that “we are going to create the Office of Special Prosecutor,
who will not be a creature of the government, but will be an independent
person who will have the power to decide who to prosecute. So it will
not be Akufo-Addo, but it is the law that is working.”
In the next meeting of Parliament, the President stated that the
legislation setting up the Office of Special Prosecutor will be laid
before the House, and “hopefully, by the second half of this year, the
office will be up and working.”
President Akufo-Addo stated that “we want to turn a new page in the
history of our country. We are a rich country. I refuse this idea that
Ghana is poor. I will not accept the language that Ghana is poor. Ghana
is not a poor country. Ghana is a rich country, and we want to make it a
rich country once again in our time. We all need to work hard to
realise the wealth of our country.”
Source: Starrfmonline.com
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