The opposition National Democratic Congress (NDC) has appealed to political parties, civil society and progressive Ghanaians to join its Probity and Accountability March to honour former President Flt. Lt. Jerry John Rawlings.
Well-meaning Ghanaians, the party said, must participate in the walk to also register their protest against the stinking corruption being supervised by President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo.
According to the NDC, President Rawlings was a man who stood for the undying flame and principles of probity and accountability, values that are being bastardized and trampled upon in careless abundance by the Akufo-Addo government.
National Communications Officer of the party, Sammy Gyamfi who addressed the media at its 18th edition of the NDC Weekly Press Briefing on Thursday 26th November 2020 noted that one key issue that will inform the choice of Ghanaians in the 2020 elections is the subject of corruption.
“This is so because Ghanaians have seen the true record of the two leading contenders in this election, relative to their commitment to fighting corruption,” he said.
He pointed out that in the 2016 general elections President Akufo-Addo mounted a moral high ground of so-called incorruptibility and projected angelic piety to the Ghanaian people on the subject of corruption.
“Today his true credentials on the corruption fight have been laid bare before the Ghanaian electorate. No one is left with an iota of doubt that President Akufo-Addo has failed the integrity test.”
“President Akufo-Addo’s ‘incorruptibility’ tag is now a thing of ridicule, trampled upon with utter disdain by all fair-minded Ghanaians who have observed events unfold over the past four years. Indeed, he and his henchmen no longer entertain any discussion whatsoever on corruption,” he said.
Sammy Gyamfi warned that the days of mere rhetoric grounded on nothing are long gone and stressed the NDC will be comparing the anti-corruption credentials of the two leading contenders in the election in order to establish who is truly committed to the corruption fight.
The NDC National Communication Officer enumerated ten corruption scandals of the Akufo-Addo government that he warned Ghanaians must not forget on 7th December as they go out to cast their ballots.
One of the standout corruption scandals under the Akufo-Addo government, he said, is the PDS scandal where Ghana lost about US$2 billion.
The others, he said, include the BOST contaminated fuel scandal; the galamsey fraud and 500 missing excavators; the bloated COVID-19 food relief expenditure scandal; the Ameri Novation deal scandal; Australian visa fraud scandal; the over-bloated government foreign travels; the PPA “Contracts for Sale” (Donkomi) scandal; and the Agyapa Scandal among other numerous fraudulent deals exposed under this government.
He averred that one worrying trend that further accentuates the corrupt behaviour of President Akufo-Addo is his recent vote-buying activities in a bid to hold on to power in the face of such abysmal performance in government.
According to him, having realized that defeat is staring him in the face, President Akufo-Addo has resorted to trying to buy the votes of the Ghanaian people through various tricks that seek to insult the intelligence of the discerning electorate.
The NDC, he said, is aware of the desperate attempt by the President to hoodwink teachers, officers of the security agencies, trainee nurses, market women and NABCO beneficiaries and others through vote-buying.
He appealed to Ghanaians to reject this gimmick and kick President Akoufo-Addo out and vote in John Mahama for jobs, development, leadership of truth and integrity and prosperity for all.