My record in fight against corruption unparalleled — Prez Mahama
President John Dramani Mahama has touted the achievements of his government as far as the fight against corruption is concerned and indicated that his personal commitment to expose corruption is unmatched in the governance history of the country.
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He said unlike some former leaders who indicated that they would not expose corruption to bring down their governments, he had taken the bold decision to expose corruption in his government.
Speaking at the “Evening Encounter with Presidential Candidates” programme on Ghana Television (GTV) last Wednesday, President Mahama denied suggestions that he had failed to deal with public officials accused of corruption.
He answered questions from the audience, including chiefs, captains of industry, teachers, students, journalists, trade unionists and persons with disability from GTV studios in Accra and Cape Coast.
President Mahama said he would have arrested and detained alleged corrupt public officials if Ghana were in a military or dictatorial era but indicated that the country’s constitutional rule would not allow him to act arbitrarily.
“Some of them have pleaded guilty and offered refunds. So we have got back GH¢40 million of taxpayers’ money. Others are under criminal investigations which have been going for the past three years.
“But we cannot eat our cake and have it. People have to go through the process and the process is very slow,” he said.
Despite the challenges, he said, the Attorney General (A-G) and Minister of Justice, Mrs Marietta Brew Appiah-Opong, had recovered GH¢40 million from officers implicated in the malfeasance at the National Service Secretariat three years ago.
No influence on A-G
The anti-corruption crusader, Mr Martin Alamisi Amidu, recently alleged that it was President Mahama who had asked Mrs Appiah-Opong to seek an order to discontinue the application for oral examination of Mr Woyome in relation to the GH¢51 million Woyome owes the state.
But President Mahama rejected that allegation and indicated that the application not to orally cross-examine a person in court was a normal practice exercised by lawyers.
He said the discontinuation of the oral examination would allow the A-G the opportunity to continue to engage Mr Woyome on the settlement and indicated that if the A-G felt not satisfied with the terms of settlement, she had the option to go back to the court to orally cross-examine Mr Woyome.
National honour
President Mahama said Mrs Appiah-Opong deserved a national honour for saving the country close to a billion dollars in judgement debts.
He said unlike some former A-Gs who did not mount any defence against judgement debt claims and allowed the claimants to secure default judgements, Mrs Appiah-Opong had been forceful in dealing with all false claims and contracts.
Referring to the report of the Sole Commissioner who looked into judgement debt payments over the years, he said the report was full of cases of individuals attempting to claim debts they did not deserve and the A-G had fought those claims.
Job creation
President Mahama outlined the major policy thrust of his tenure as continuing with policies to curb the power challenges, setting an economy running at a deficit of 12 per cent on a right footing for accelerated growth, employment creation and restoring social and economic infrastructure with "massive social and economic development".
He said job creation was key in quenching the power keg of unemployment and indicated that the National Democratic Congress (NDC) had the most credible plan for job creation.
The President said for his government, the long-term plan was to change the colonial educational system and make education respond to the needs of industry.
The Youth Enterprises Support (YES) initiative, he said, was on course in the provision of skills and logistics for the youth.
President Mahama said as the government went on with economic and social investments, it behoved the youth to take advantage and sharpen their skills.
He said as the economy grew through the efforts of his government, skills development was the key for the youth to position themselves for opportunities being created in the power, oil and gas industries.
He said that was the reason for his policy on the conversion of polytechnics to tertiary institutions.
Money in pockets
When asked for his response to the claim by some individuals that there was no money in their pockets, President Mahama said: "Nobody is going to put that salary in your pocket unless you work for it!"
He said all had to seize the opportunities being created under his administration, pointing out an intention to accelerate growth to eight per cent for the country.
"If you sit at home and say there is no money in your pocket and do not take advantage of the Accra Digital Centre, no one will put money in your pocket," he said.
He said his government was reviving industry to curb the massive importation and create employment, with a lot of resources going into the productive sectors of the country.
Informal sector
President Mahama said efforts at gradually formalising the informal sector using a government interface to enrol the informal sector were in progress.
In the meantime, he said, indirect taxes, such as the Value Added Tax (VAT), were being applied.
He chided business people who did not file their tax returns, citing it as one of the challenges tax administrators had to grapple with, resulting in forecasts being used in assessments.
Other questions were on bringing those indicted in the Drill Ship saga, providing security for market women and the delay in passing the Right to Information (RTI) bill.
On commissions of enquiry and bringing those indicted to book, President Mahama explained that their basic function was to gather information on issues and not necessarily to prosecute.
Opportunity to serve
Wrapping up, President Mahama asked for the opportunity to serve once again, since he had used his tenure to set a solid foundation for growth in all sectors.
"We have generated a certain momentum that is moving us forward. Voting for this government means an accelerated momentum; voting for another means stoping the momentum," he said.
He said most of what other aspirants were promising were "untried" and "untested" and asked for a second tenure.
