There are two main environments in which a leader cannot bring
perpetrators to book even when corruption is rampant enough for the
blind to see. In the first environment, the leader is aware of the
rampant corruption and abuse of power, but he is so helpless and
incapacitated that he is physically unable to stop the looting. Now
after the passing of President Mills we know he was so ill and so
physically weak that he could not be effective in stopping the
looting.
In the second environment the leader has his hands so dirty and is
himself so deep in the corruption that he loses the moral authority to
control his subordinates when they visibly loot the nation’s coffers.
In the last four years, leadership of our dear nation has gone from
the first environment to the second and we are currently witnessing a
leader in President John Dramani Mahama who has lost the moral
authority to control the looting of our nation’s coffers.
But before delving into what makes President Mahama unworthy of the
highest office in Ghana due to his dirty hands, a little examination
of a statement he made during his speech at his party’s manifesto
launch in Ho is necessary. “I am prepared to submit myself to any
investigation,” he pronounced for the cameras. Of course that
statement aroused cheers from maybe five or so people from the rain
drenched crowd, some watching the speech at home may be tempted to
think that he really meant what he said.
However we all know the one former president from his party, who
moments earlier had chastised him for failing to see “the evil dwarfs
around him,” had made sure two decades ago to insert an indemnity
clause in the 1992 constitution to insulate presidents from any
investigation in or out of office. So what investigation exactly was
Dramani talking about? And whom did he think he was fooling?
NPP-USA can report that one highly placed member of his administration
has pocketed over $100 million on the purchase of the gas processing
plant, which he himself admits is of inferior quality. Thus a quarter
of the $1 billion sent to Ghana as the first batch of the $3 billion
Chinese loan has been wasted already on an inferior plant for which
the Canadian manufacturer originally quoted $106 million.
National Security Cordinator Gbevlo Lartey took exception to this
thievery and was bent on bringing in this senior officer who was also
implicated in the Mabey and Johnson bribery case. But after a meeting
between President Mahama and the Western Regional House of Chiefs,
Gbevlo Lartey was asked to drop his pursuit. Of course mindful of the
firing of former Attorney General Hamidu when he failed to back off
from investigating the Woyome scandal, Gbevlo Lartey kept his mouth
shut and Ghana lost another $100 million or so to corruption under
this NDC government.
Who can forget the profound statement by President Mahama when his
experience or lack thereof was called into question at the onset of
his post-Mills presidency? To show that he was virtual in charge when
President Mills was incapacitated, President Mills announced to the
nation that he was fully aware of everything that went on when Mills
was president. And indeed then vice president Mahama led a few
noteworthy projects. The only problem is that unlike King Midas,
everything Mahama touched turned to dust.
The STX housing deal with the Koreans was his first major deal. We all
know what happened to it. In the end, not a single house was built yet
the Koreans are demanding $17 million from Ghana as money they lost in
the deal. To whose pocket did that money go? Next was the Brazillian
Embraer jet deal. That deal fell through because the Brazillians
backed off due to excessive demands for bribes by their Ghanaian
counterparts – led by John Dramani Mahama. Then there was the Cuban
schorlaship scheme that has been free to 250 Ghanaian students since
1983. Mysteriously Mahama wanted to charge the nation $75 million for
it. It took the Cuban Embassy posting on its website that the program
is still free to prevent the looting of our nation’s coffers.
Today in a clear case of conflict of interest, the government led by
John Dramani Mahama has decided to absorb bad loans worth some GHC350
million of which his brother Ibrahim Mahama owes GHC57.2 million.
Never mind that the brother is rich enough to afford a private jet – a
first in Ghana, but cannot repay his loan to Merchant Bank. Further,
SSNIT’s ownership of Merchant Bank means the pensions of millions of
Ghanaians may be in jeopardy.
One never wants to say where there is smoke there is fire. But in this
case president Mahama has been too close to too many corruption-laden
agreements all of which could not take off from the ground as a
result. In addition, it is virtually open season of state assets and
funds by NDC officials in a mad rush to enrich themselves before their
inevitable exit. Why is president Mahama not fuming and unleashing his
Attorney General to protect the public purse?The one and only answer
is that President Mahama himself is knee deep into the thievery such
that he has lost the moral authority to lead a credible fight against
corruption.