Resign like Gen. Ankrah did, Ghanaians will forgive you – Kpebu to Akufo-Addo

GSS, partners release maiden corruption report

Government serially accused of failing to fight corruption

Lawyer martin Kpebu has advised President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo to resign citing his failure to combat corruption.

He said on the July 23 edition of Joy News’ Newsfile programme that all promises the then opposition leader made about fighting corruption and making it unattractive have not materialized after six years in office.

“Akufo-Addo promised to make corruption unattractive and here is the case he is not doing anything about it. We want to try somebody else because he has shown, he is not able to and [Vice President] Bawumia has also shown he is not able to.

“The President can voluntarily go and that will be the best,” he said.

Kpebu said Akufo-Addo resigning will not be a first in Ghana’s history because in 1969, the then Head of State, General Ankrah also resigned over a bribery allegation.

He stressed that if Akufo-Addo and his Vice President Mahamudu Bawumia accept the route of resignation, they will be forgiven for the rot that they have superintended over this far.

“If Akufo-Addo and Dr Bawumia step down today, they will get the best applause and history will forgive them for all the rots they have superintended. And Ghanaians will get a new opportunity to try someone else to deal with corruption,” he added.

The lawyer had earlier in his submissions tagged the President as a member of a criminal syndicate, which comments did not go own well with Information Minister Kojo Oppong-Nkrumah.

“Akufo-Addo is part of the criminal syndicate at the Jubilee House. The president is definitely part. This corruption cannot happen without his involvement.

“Manasseh did this thing about Zoomlion, the spraying. When schools were being shut down, you know the corona period, schools were being closed and they were going to come back after 3 months, what was the need for the spraying?

“You follow Manasseh’s story, it lands on the president’s desk. Other stories land on their desks. The president; we have to say with all our energy, is part of that criminal syndicate and that we will not take this from you, you have to just step down,” Kpebu said.

Kpebu was contributing to a recent report on corruption carried out by two state institutions and a United Nations office in Accra.

About the Corruption in Ghana survey – GNA report

The maiden national survey, titled: “Corruption in Ghana – people’s experiences and views” also disclosed that more than 17.4 million bribes were paid in the same period.

The survey was conducted by the Commission for Human Rights and Administrative Justice (CHRAJ) in collaboration with the Ghana Statistical Service (GSS) and the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC).

It collected evidence-based information from 15,000 households across the country involving people who were 18 years and older on the forms of corruption affecting the population of Ghana.

This is to determine the prevalence of the situation and its prevailing typologies, give benchmark indicators that can be used to inform relevant policies to curb administrative corruption in various public institutions in the country.

Apart from the cash payment, which contributed 84.8 per cent of the forms of bribe paid, 13.3 per cent of the bribes paid were food and drinks; 9.7 per cent, exchange for other services; 5 per cent valuables, and 2.2 per cent animals.

The bribes were paid by 33.6 per cent citizens to speed up procedures; 15.8 per cent, as a sign of appreciation; 13.8 per cent, to avoid the payment of fine; 10.8 per cent to avoid problems, and 3.1 per cent, to avoid the cancellation of public utilities.

Ghana drops on Corruption Perception ranking

According to the 2021 edition of the annual corruption ranking chart by Transparency International, Ghana ranked 73rd out of 180 countries on the Corruption Perception Index, CPI, report released on April 4.

“Ghana’s current performance is still below 50 which is the expected average, thus leaves much to be desired,” the report noted.

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Out of 49 African countries ranked, Ghana placed 9th with Senegal, each bagging a score of 43.