John Dramani Mahama, the leader and flagbearer of the opposition National Democratic Congress (NDC) says the New Patriotic Party (NPP) deliberately painted him corrupt when he was President for political advantage in the 2016 polls.
Mahama says he really suffered from that tag because his government failed to respond appropriately.
He explained that at the time, his administration thought Ghanaians knew the truth.
“Some of the corruption allegations against my administration were throw-factory with some saying I had hotels in Dubai, some also claiming I had ships at the Tokyo Habour and myself and Lordina diverting $100 million World Bank money into our Swiss bank account and all. At the time, we felt that Ghanaians should see through it and there was really no truth in it.”
“So there are sometimes that perception of corruption created deliberately for political advantage and I suffered a lot from what the NPP did, and we didn’t respond appropriately.”
Regardless of the tag, Mr. Mahama insists that his worse score in the corruption fight is better than what President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo had.
He insisted that President Akufo-Addo is currently “swimming in corruption” and must be voted out.
“Let’s use the most scientific means of measuring corruption which is the transparency index. My worse score is better than Akufo-Addo’s best score. That is the most scientific basis. Otherwise, then, it is hearsay. “
“The media has given him (Akufo-Addo) free ticket on corruption. I think Ghanaians are now used to corruption under Akufo-Addo and so nothing is shocking any more.”
He further disclosed that what Ghana needs now is a “regime accountability and not post regime accountability.”
“The easiest way of fighting corruption is by investigating your opponents when you take power which takes no courage to do because they are not members of your party but when you are the president and the people in your party are engaged in corruption and you have the courage to investigate and prosecute them, that is when you are truly fighting the canker.“
John Dramani Mahama made these comments in an interview with GhOne Television on Thursday, December 3, 2020.
