Some MPs take bribe - Prof. Adei
Some Members of Parliament (MPs) collect bribe before approving projects and policies, a former Rector of the Ghana Institute of Management and Public Administration (GIMPA), Professor Stephen Adei, has alleged.
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According to him, some of them have been going to the extent of demanding favours for their girlfriends.
“The other day somebody asked me a question and I was very shocked. The person asked whether I gave bribe to Parliament for them to pass GIMPA’s bill into law. I know that now if you want Parliament to pass anything, not only do you bribe the committee, but after they have received their share, they ask you where is our laptop’? In other words, you haven’t made provision for our girlfriends,” he said.
Prof Adei, who made these remarks at the 40th Anniversary Celebration and graduation ceremony of SAPS School at Teshie, near Accra, last Saturday also stated that “eight out of 10 politicians in the country are glorified corrupt officials , even though the state caters for almost all their needs.”
Canker
The professor said corruption was a canker that made it difficult for the country to develop and, therefore, called for the swift prosecution of all those found culpable in the recent judiciary bribery scandal.
Professor Adei is the second high-profile public figure to make such allegations against MPs.
Last year, the Majority Leader of Parliament, Mr Alban Bagbin, made a similar allegation at a public forum in Koforidua.
The leadership of Parliament decided to investigate the allegations, but as of now nothing has been heard about the claims made by Mr Bagbin.
In relation to the poor performance of students in public basic schools, Professor Adei blamed the attitude of some basic school teachers.
“Absenteeism is the order of the day. Public basic school teachers are more trained and better paid than most of their counterparts in private schools and yet 80 per cent of students fail during the Basic Education Certificate Examination (BECE) in some schools,” he added.
GES
Professor Adei suggested that the role of the Ghana Education Service (GES) must be restricted to curriculum development, inspection and supervision and that menagement of financial resources and other facilities must be left to the school authorities.
Private schools
With regard to private schools, Professor Adei said what accounted for their good performance was not the innate intelligence of their students but rather their good management structures.
“Private schools have a lot to teach us as to the way forward with regard to the education system in Ghana. When 80 per cent of the nation fails, as a nation we are in trouble,” he said.
Reaction to bribery allegation against Parliament
Reacting to the comments of Prof Adei, the Deputy Ranking Member of Public Accounts Committee of Parliament, Mr George Loh, who is also the Member of Parliament for North Dayi constituency in the Volta Region, expressed disgust at the utterances of the former GIMPA boss.
“I have never thought in my life that I would hear such outrageous statement from a rather respected elder statesman, who I do not think understands how highly he is respected in society.
“By this singular act of engaging in baseless and factless speculations, Prof Adei has done himself and the nation a big disservice and if I were him, I would bow my head in shame,” he stated.
The MP added that having headed a reputable tertiary institution, GIMPA, Prof Adei should have known that the proper thing to do was was to interrogate the source of his allegation and petition the right authorities such as the President, the Speaker of Parliament and the police for the matter to be investigated.
