Nana Addo has a proclivity for corruption - Mahama

Former President John Dramani Mahama has slammed President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo, saying he is shielding his appointees who have been indicted in corruption scandals.

He says some appointees are closely related to him hence his inability to have them prosecuted.

The president, Mahama noted, has not shown any commitment towards the fight against corruption and has failed to allow the institutions in charge of corruption to deal with all cases of corruption.

Speaking on CTV, the presidential candidate of the NDC said President Akufo-Addo has failed the corruption fight.

He mentioned the Agyapa deal, saying the government tied the hands of former Special Prosecutor Martin Amidu when he attempted to deal with the issue.

The scandals under Akufo-Addo, he said, have magnified corruption but the mistake of the president is that he cleared all those who are indicted.

To him, the president has a proclivity for corruption.

Meanwhile, Mr. Mahama has said any government official who made any monetary gain from the Agyapa Royalties deal would be dealt with under his administration.

He assured Ghanaians that his administration will implement recommendations made by the Office of the Special Prosecutor in risk assessment on the deal.

According to him, the Ghana Gold Company that was established by the previous NDC government to monetize our gold royalties was 100 percent owned by Ghanaians.

“The difference is that the proposed Ghana Gold Company was going to be 100 percent owned by the government and the people of Ghana and not the Agyapa one. With the Agyapa deal, Ghana owns only 51 percent and 49 percent held by other people we don’t know. Ghana Gold Company was being registered here in Ghana but Agyapa was registered in an offshore tax haven so that the identities of the shareholders will be hidden. Civil society organizations and right-thinking Ghanaians have all expressed misgivings with this Agyapa deal. And I have said and my advice to president Akufo-Addo is that they should desist immediately from signing that deal because as we have said clearly, we are going to oppose it, and we will do everything legitimate to frustrate that agreement in the interest of Ghanaians.”

“If I become president and by the will of God, I will become president, I will not respect that agreement. They should bring that agreement back and hold a meeting with civil society organizations, the chiefs, and all the stakeholders to whom that gold royalties belong and let us achieve consensus on how we want to monetize our gold royalties and every penny that has gone underhand will be retrieved. I assure you. So they (government officials) should return those monies.”