A Deputy Director of Communications for the New Patriotic Party (NPP), Ernest Owusu-Bempah, has rebuked former President John Dramani Mahama’s critique of the Akufo-Addo administration’s handling of corruption issues, asserting that Mahama lacks moral authority in such matters.
Mr Owusu-Bempah’s remarks came in response to Mahama’s characterization of him as “corrupt” and his administration as marred by numerous scandals.
Mahama had criticized the Akufo-Addo government for the closure of Ghana’s Millennium Challenge Compact by the United States, deeming it unacceptable and pledging to enhance private sector efficiency in the electricity distribution system.
In a post on his X platform, he said “It’s disheartening to learn that the $190 million we negotiated for private sector participation in electricity distribution under the US Millennium Compact has been lost due to Nana Addo and Bawumia’s corrupt, ‘yenkyendi’, and cronyistic governance practices. This is unacceptable, and we deserve better as a people.
“As I gear up to assume the presidency in January 2025, thanks to your votes and endorsement in this year’s election, I want to assure you that I will work diligently to enhance private sector efficiency in the electricity distribution system, including metering, revenue management, and fault response.”
Mr Owusu-Bempah emphasized that Mahama’s tenure was marked by a culture of corruption, citing various instances of financial impropriety and mismanagement.
“Power doesn’t get much more entrusted than that. His regime was buffered by several corruption scandals that cost the state huge sums of money in lost revenue and, some cases embarrassed the country.
“Mahama supervised a corrosive culture of corruption. Talk of the bus branding corruption, where investigations into the branding of 116 Metro Mass Transit Buses involving Ghc3.6million revealed that the company contracted, Smarthys, over-billed the government to the tune of Ghc1.9million.
“The owner of the company, who later returned Ghc 1.548,608.04 to the government chest happened to be a close associate of Mahama. Again, the GYEEDA scandal which cost the state millions of cedis. There was also the SADA corruption, where over Ghc32million paid to ACICL to plant five million trees in the Savannah zone were never accounted for.”
Below is his full statement…
We will take morality and corruption advise from anywhere but certainly not Mahama’s brothel
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Guys, what would you say if Osama Bin Laden called someone a “terrorist”, if a prostitute called another woman a “whore”, or if North Korean’s Kim Jong Un called another leader a “dictator?” No doubt you would probable die laughing at the irony. Yet we in Ghana have tolerated a character that epitomizes irony to the extent that his utterances have now gone beyond the pale.
It all began in late 2007 when the then NDC flagbearer, Prof John Atta-Mills asked him to be on the ticket with him for the 2008 presidential elections.
Well, it came to pass that Mills won and that was the beginning of a different brand of political corruption spearheaded by John Mahama.
President Mills couldn’t finish his term of office and the baton was handed over to John Mahama. When this corrupt politician took over an unplanned leadership of the country, corruption blossomed like never before.
The long view of history will count a broader catalogue of corruption under Mahama’s presidency.
Power doesn’t get much more entrusted than that. His regime was buffered by several corruption scandals that cost the state huge sums of money in lost revenue and, some cases embarrassed the country.
Mahama supervised a corrosive culture of corruption. Talk of the bus branding corruption, where investigations into the branding of 116 Metro Mass Transit Buses involving Ghc3.6million revealed that the company contracted, Smarthys, over-billed the government to the tune of Ghc1.9million.
The owner of the company, who later returned Ghc 1.548,608.04 to the government chest happened to be a close associate of Mahama.
Again, the GYEEDA scandal which cost the state millions of cedis. There was also the SADA corruption, where over Ghc32million paid to ACICL to plant five million trees in the Savannah zone were never accounted for.
The same SADA report found out that SADA spent Ghc 15million on guinea fowls, but could only account for a few birds.
There was also a bribery scandal involving Mahama and a Burkinabe businessman,Djibril Kanazoe who was said to have won two major contracts worth over Ghc 100million.
In fact, the recent court ruling where two former Mahama appointees were found guilty on 78 counts relating to causing financial loss to the state, theft, conspiracy to steal, money laundering, and contravening public procurement laws, and we’re jailed 10 and 5 years respectively speaks volume.
And so, what exactly was Mahama up to when he talks about the fact that he will not protect Akufo-Addo’s legacy of Corruption and Misgovernance?
I fear lots of Ghanaians still labour under the delusion that Mahama is an option, but there comes a time in a nation’s journey to prosperity when distractions must not be tolerated, when we stand up and look the devil in the eyes and say there’s no place here for you.
Mahama can’t talk about corruption because the man himself is an embodiment of corruption.
Ernest Kofi Owusu Bempah Bonsu
Deputy Director of Operations, NPP