John Mahama
Former President John Dramani Mahama’s recent declaration that his family and politically exposed individuals will be barred from purchasing state assets if he’s elected in 2024 has raised eyebrows.
“We will embark on a ruthless war against corruption. We will prohibit politically exposed persons, political appointees, and public officials from purchasing state assets. So, it’s not only me who cannot buy state assets, my wife and children cannot buy state assets because they are political persons,” John Mahama stated at the NDC’s Manifesto launch in Winneba, Central Region.
However, this move is hard to take seriously when considering the NDC’s checkered past when it comes to state capture and asset acquisition.
During former President John Mahama’s presidency, several state assets were sold to cronies and family members at suspiciously low prices.
For instance, the Ghana Airport Company’s $18 million contract with SBMC, a company linked to Mahama’s brother, was widely criticized.
Similarly, the sale of the Merchant Bank to Fortis, a company with ties to Mahama’s appointees, raised questions about conflict of interest.
Former President John Mahama’s pledge to investigate unresolved cases, including the Ayawaso West Wuogon by-election violence and Ahmed Suale’s killing, is commendable.
However, it’s crucial to remember that the NDC’s own hands are not clean when it comes to violence and intimidation.
“We will re-open investigations into major unresolved cases including the Ayawaso West Wuogon by-election violence, 2020, election killings, Ahmed Suale killing,” Mahama promised.
NDC during its tenure from 2009 to 2017, the party’s administration was marred by a series of corruption scandals that eroded public trust and undermined its credibility.
In the early 2000s, the NDC, then in opposition, had campaigned on a platform of transparency and accountability, criticizing the incumbent New Patriotic Party (NPP) for its perceived corruption.
When the NDC came to power in 2009, it soon found itself embroiled in a series of scandals that would haunt it for years to come.
One of the first major scandals to hit the NDC administration was the GYEEDA affair, in which funds meant for youth employment programs were misappropriated with impunity.
This was followed by the SADA scandal, which saw the mismanagement of funds meant for agricultural development in northern Ghana.
Perhaps most infamously, Smartty’s bus branding scandal saw funds meant for rebranding government buses misappropriated in a brazen display of corruption.
-BY Daniel Bampoe