Member of Parliament for Sissala West, Mohammed Adams Sukparu, has argued that extending courteous invitations to corruption suspects risks dignifying their alleged wrongdoing, insisting that firm, swift action by state agencies like EOCO is the right approach.
Speaking on Channel One TV’s Breakfast Daily on Tuesday, July 1, he waded into ongoing public commentary following the arrest of the former Managing Director of GIHOC Distilleries, Maxwell Kofi Jumah, stressing that justice should not be compromised under the guise of protocol or politics.
“If you sit and invite them to come at their own time with their lawyers, then it will look like we are trying to dignify the act of corruption,” he stated.
Mr. Sukparu rejected claims that the arrest of Mr. Jumah was politically motivated, insisting that it was not a “political prosecution,” but rather an important step to hold public officers accountable, regardless of their political affiliation.
“I do not see it as the government going after its opponent. I believed if any of President Mahama’s appointees is engaged in any act that is suspected to be corruption, certainly the same way that investigations are being conducted, the same thing will be applied to an NDC appointee.”
According to him, President John Dramani Mahama’s administration will equally support similar probes if any of his appointees are suspected of corruption, noting that individuals who engage in such acts are “enemies to our progress.”
His comments come in the wake of the arrest of Maxwell Kofi Jumah, who was taken into custody following an official complaint by GIHOC Distilleries. The complaint alleged that Mr. Jumah had unlawfully taken vehicles belonging to the company.
Mr. Jumah was arrested and later granted GHS500,000 bail with two sureties after appearing at the Criminal Investigations Department (CID) headquarters on Monday, June 30.
The Ghana Police Service, during a press briefing led by DCOP Lydia Yaako Donkor, confirmed that three of the vehicles in question had since been retrieved.
