President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo has mounted a strong defence of his government’s record in the fight against corruption.
Speaking at the commissioning of The Law House in Accra, president Akufo-Addo insists his government has shown commitment to the fight against the canker.
He cited numerous laws which, he said, have been passed at the instigation of his administration and other administrative measures put in place as an indication of his government’s commitment to tackling rot.
“Despite the ugly noises, the fight against corruption has been a cornerstone of my administration with a clear understanding corruption thrives in the atmosphere conducive to its consumers, that access to information is a vital tool in the fight against corruption”.
He continued, “My government, in its first term, ensured the passage of the right to information act, 2019 (Act 989) in order to give true meaning and effect to Article 21 clauses (1) (f) of the Constitution”.
“Other laws passed by Parliament at the instigation of my administration and which have improved materially the capacity of the state in the fight against corruption are the Revenue Administration Amendment Act 2020 (Act 1029), the fiscal responsibility Act 2018 (Act 982), the State Interest and Governance Authority Act 2019 (Act 990), the anti-money laundering Act, 2020 (Act 1044)”.
Despite vowing to deploy various strategies including undercover investigations to tackle graft while in opposition, not much has been done to deal with corruption in the last 7 years since the NPP has been in power.
Countless corruption scandals have hit the government but none of the government officials involved has been prosecuted.
The president has been accused of clearing most of these officials of wrong doing even before the commencement of investigations, a conduct some say, has impeded probe into such matters.
But reacting to such criticisms particularly by former president John Dramani Mahama, Nana Akufo-Addo argued that he would not set aside due process and hastily condemn allegations of corruption.
