Back corruption claims with evidence — Mustapha Hamid
The government has appealed to the public, especially senior citizens, to back their allegations of corruption against government officials with evidence to help it follow up on them.
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In the same vein, it has entreated the former Moderator of the Presbyterian Church of Ghana, Reverend Professor Emmanuel Martey, to assist the government with proof in his recent claim of corruption in order to help the government deal with the issue appropriately.
The Minister of Information, Mr Mustapha Abdul Hamid, who made the call in Accra, said the plea was not to rebuff what Rev. Prof. Martey had said, adding that “even though we appreciate his concerns, making general statements will not help the government to investigate corrupt practices effectively.”
Government and corruption fight
Mr Hamid said the government was committed to dealing with corruption and, therefore, ready to pursue allegations, but was quick to add that such claims of corruption needed to be backed with concrete evidence to facilitate investigations.
“We are, therefore, encouraging members of the public with information on any act of corruption against any official in government to go beyond generalisations and mere speculations to include concrete evidence to help the government deal with corruption head on,” he stated.
He said the appeal was underpinned by the fact that the fight against corruption was of high priority to the President, Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo, and that such allegations would be given weight.
The Information Minister said the President had demonstrated its commitment to confront the menace and that could only be done with evidence and the de-politicisation of all cases or alleged cases of corruption.
“The President is determined that any report that will allegedly accuse any public official or his appointees of corruption, backed with substantial evidence, will be referred to the appropriate authorities for investigation and action taken accordingly,” he stressed.
Mr Hamid said the President had already demonstrated his commitment by how he handled the cases involving his deputy chiefs of staff.
Background
Rev. Prof. Martey at a public lecture on the menace of corruption in Kumasi last week, called on Ghanaians, particularly the clergy, to rise up against corruption in the system.
He said the New Patriotic Party (NPP) administration was already showing signs of corruption.
During the tenure of former President John Mahama, the former Moderator accused the administration’s officials of being corrupt and having mismanaged the country.
Turning the heat on the current administration, Rev. Prof. Martey said the large size of the government contributed to corruption and, therefore, called for a constitutional direction to streamline the size of government in the country.
Rev. Prof. Martey, therefore, urged the government to prioritise issues of corruption and ensure a vigorous fight against the menace if positive results were to be seen.
