Following his recent accusations of corruption against the Akufo-Addo government, the governing New Patriotic Party (NPP) has taken a swipe at former President John Dramani Mahama, describing him as the “Reigning King of Corruption”.
Speaking at a press conference yesterday, the party’s General Secretary, John Boadu, said Mr Mahama has no moral justification to talk about corruption, let alone accuse the ruling party of same, when his administration was plagued with corruption which cannot be beaten by any party in government.
“Former President Mahama asserts without proof that the NPP has stolen Ghana’s money and that, he can ensure accountability through elections. Extremely rich, coming from a party credited by the Supreme Court of Ghana, with the ability to ‘create, loot and share’ public funds with impunity,” Mr Boadu said.
The NPP reminded Mr Mahama and the NDC of a number of “sweetheart deals which defined the previous administration”.
Corrupt deals
“Is Mahama, of Government Official One infamy and the Ford vehicle from Kanazoe contractors, talking about corruption?” he queried.
“Is that the same Mahama whose government signed onto a half-baked contract of $1.2 billion for the Ghana Retail Payments Systems Infrastructure? Sibton Switch Systems Ltd have just lost an arbitration demand for $478 million from Ghana for revoking that agreement. The Akufo-Addo administration did a far more enhanced project for only $4.5 million: $1.2 billion to $4.5 million,” he added.
According to Mr Boadu, the former President’s friend, Rowland Agambire, was at the centre of being granted unbudgeted contracts without even PPA approval and paid upfront before offering his services.
“Agambire used some of the money to buy homes in Dubai and pay media houses for NDC’s 2012 adverts. His biggest money heist was the Sibton contract. The fallout from the exposé was that the contract was awarded at a cost of GHC4.6 billion under John Mahama,” Mr Boadu further stated.
He added: “John Mahama proved to be so corrupt that during his time as Vice-President, his boss, late President Mills, had cause to set up a committee to investigate the role played by him (John Mahama) in the processes leading to the acquisition of five aircrafts including Embraer 190 Aircraft and a hangar for the Ghana Armed Forces.”
The NPP threw a challenge to Mr Mahama to back his allegations with actions by going to established institutions which deal with corruption and corruption related issues.
