Ibrahim Murtala Mohammed, Representative for Tamale Central Constituency and Member of Parliament
Ibrahim Murtala Mohammed, the Member of Parliament for Tamale Central, has deemed it sad that President Nana Akufo-Addo made comments about Cecilia Dapaah, who served as the Minister of Sanitation and Water Resources in the most recent government.
After a substantial quantity of foreign currency was stolen from Madam Dapaah's residence, which forced her to quit, this comes as a follow-up to the President's assurance that Madam Dapaah's integrity will be restored.
In a letter in which he accepted Cecilia Abena Dapaah's resignation, President Akufo-Addo heaped compliments on her and reaffirmed his faith in her honesty.
In one section of the letter, the following was written: "I am confident, like you, that, at the end of the day, your integrity, whilst in office, will be thoroughly confirmed. I want to wish you the very best of luck in anything you do.
Mr. Mohammed emphasised that even prior to the completion of the probe, the presidency was actively working to clear the Minister.
"I have been saying this since 2017, that the White House is the centre of corruption, and many people assumed I merely detested this administration. I have been saying this for the past three years. You can follow every single instance of corruption back to the Flagstaff House. "I am only shocked that the Special Prosecutor has not yet begun investigating this matter. Perhaps they need to have an official communication because they do not need to be petitioned before they can begin investigation into the matter," he remarked. "I am only shocked that the Special Prosecutor has not yet begun investigating this matter."
The member of parliament claimed that corruption is not only a result of poverty but also of greed, and he touched on certain attempts that communicators for the NPP made to defend the former minister of sanitation.
"The fact that she had the opportunity to resign speaks volumes, and the attempt to defend this woman is appalling." — "The fact that she had the luxury to resign speaks volumes." I have heard communicators from the NPP suggest that she presided over two significant funerals, and that the money from both funerals may represent contribution proceeds. The woman came forward and, in an effort to defend herself, told a lie, asserting that the quantity that was published by the media is not the accurate figure. However, the charge sheet indicates that the media was not in error regarding the entire amount of money that she claimed to have been stolen from her home.
"This morning I was on a show on a sister media organisation, and one of the guests was a member of parliament for the NPP. He suggested that the money might be inheritance.
"There is this mentality among the Ghanaian people that only the poor are corrupt, and I don't know where that is coming from. I don't know where it came from. The argument is that the wife was already rich, and the argument is that the husband was already rich, as though dishonest people can only be found among those who are financially disadvantaged. People are corrupt not because they are in desperate need of the money, but rather because greed is the motivating factor behind their unethical behaviour. He emphasised that it is unfortunate that there are certain people in the media who are justifying this offensive incident.
A member of the Public Accounts Committee of Parliament criticised the Akufo-Addo government for expecting Ghanaians to make sacrifices during the worst of the economic crisis, while appointees such as ministers and deputies continued to enjoy a high standard of living.
This government will have no reason for advising Ghanaians not to hoard money if they elect to remain in office. You may recall that when the value of the cedi dropped, NPP communicators and government appointees argued that the reason why the cedi was losing its value was because of the unpatriotic nature and attitude of some Ghanaians. Their argument was that Ghanaians were hoarding money, changing their cedis into dollars, and stockpiling them. You may also recall that this argument was supported by the fact that Ghanaians were changing their cedis into dollars and stockpiling them. However, it is crystal evident who individuals are hoarding them. When the President and the NPP government were advising Ghanaians to act in a patriotic manner by not changing their money and to stop piling them, they were, in fact, misleading us. During that time, they encouraged Ghanaians to behave in a patriotic manner by not changing their money.
"At the same time that the President was urging all of us to tighten our spending, he instructed all of his appointees and ministers to remove their belts." I explained to the general public that the Public Accounts Committee is responsible for ensuring that state funds are not misappropriated and that those who are taking money illegally return it. Although we have been successful in getting some of it back, I believe that we should stop doing this job and instead start going to the homes of ministers and deputy ministers. If we start doing that, I believe we will collect a lot of money, but if that happens, I may need to resign and apply to be a house boy for one of Nana Addo's ministers. "
Background
It was revealed on Friday, July 21, that two house helps of the immediate past Sanitation Minister were facing charges before an Accra Circuit Court for allegedly stealing an amount that included $1 million, €300,000, and millions of Ghanaian cedis from the former minister's residence at Abelenkpe, Accra, in October of 2022. The residence was located in Accra.
Patience Botwe, who was 18 years old at the time, and Sarah Agyei, who was 30 years old at the time, are accused of stealing the couple's money and personal belongings during the months of July and October of 2022.
Both individuals have been charged with one count of conspiring to conduct a crime as well as five charges of stealing $1 million (US), €300,000 (European), and millions of Ghana cedis together with their accomplices.