Government’s commitment to fighting corruption will remain a mere rhetoric as most cases of corruption involve financiers of both the National Democratic Congress (NDC) and the New Patriotic Party (NPP).
[contextly_sidebar id=”vPslObxMmahedPHLqHPJxBfDCgrpFGZ0″]This is the assertion of former Youth and Sports Minister, Elvis Afriyie Ankrah.
While addressing a gathering at the National Conference on Rethinking Political Leadership in Ghana, Afriyie Ankrah said the political system in the country makes he fight against corruption virtually impossible for governments.
He said the fight against corruption can also succeed if the political system in the country is reviewed.
“So we have created a system that legitimizes and institutionalizes the corruption and at the same time we say we want to deal with the corruption. The solution is to deal with the system. When you deal with the system, then you will no longer have the awkward situation where you go and collect money from the person when you come into power you would have to investigate or pretend to be investigating the person,” Afriyie Ankrah said.
Elvis Afriyie Ankrah, whose time in government was fraught with many controversies including Ghana’s 2014 World Cup debacle said he nearly lost his life when he attempted to look into some illegalities associated with the Ghana Youth Employment and Entrepreneurial Agency (GYEEDA) in 2013.
He told the gathering at the conference that he was hounded by persons outside government and some members of his party over his attempt to fight the illegality.
“People who have given you T-shirts and money and all kinds of things and now you are dealing with them. It was almost unconscionable but it had to be done. And in the process, some of us almost lost our lives because then there were pressures from within and without because you are cutting off the source of funding of both parties, they will come after you,” Afriyie Ankrah said.
He added that “Check all the corruption-related cases, from BOST to whatever, it is linked to campaign financing. There is always a financier there….Ask yourself which sensible person will sign or agree to this deal, it is because our hands are tied.”
World Cup woes due to my probe into GYEEDA
Mr. Ankrah had earlier indicated that controversies surrounding Ghana’s 2014 World cup preparations and performance, as well as accusations that he was responsible for the mismanagement of funds relating to the tournament, were attempts by some persons to tarnish his image because they were unhappy about his decision to correct wrongs in the Ghana Youth Employment and Entrepreneurial Development Agency (GYEEDA).
Abuga Pele, Assibit jailed over GYEEDA scandal
The eventual outcome of several probes including actions taken by Elvis Afriyie Ankrah while a sector minister resulted in an Accra High Court’s decision to sentence the former National Coordinator of GYEEDA, Abuga Pele, and the Chief Executive Officer of Goodwill International Group, Philip Assibit, to a combined jail-term of eighteen years on various counts, including willfully causing financial loss to the state.
Originally, the two were handed jail terms of ten (10) and sixteen (16) respectively.
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By: Jonas Nyabor/citienwsroom.com/Ghana
