By Anny OSABUTEY
‘Ghana Ny3 Ohia Maen’ is a phrase popularised by now former President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo.
Then the opposition leader of the New Patriotic Party, he accused the then John Mahama-led administration of subjecting most Ghanaians to excruciating economic pain, insisting this country is blessed with wealth but hungry.
“Yeti sika so, nso ekom de yen” became a popular anthem for the campaign and drove many, including myself, to call for change in the direction the country was heading.
He said bad governance had contributed to the economic malaise in the country. The truth is, conditions were bad and something had to change. He was the single single most political figure to lead that change.
He said the right things that resonanted with almost everyone, including those who had zero interest in the politics of the country. He wore the anti corruption belt with pride.
He got the change and served eight years in office. He has since retired. Hopefully, he is working on a memoir. His administration was embroiled in endless corruption allegations, most of which were labelled as ‘propaganda’ materials orchestrated by the then opposition.
Typical of the arrogant posturing of sitting governments since 1993 and a bad culture that has to end at some point, corruption allegations are often treated with disdain, and sadly swept under the carpet.
It is impossible to have a regime of angels; but that is often the picture painted for the public to accept. It’s like once a government accepts there is corruption within, it means trouble.
But they forget once they deal with the canker, it gives them leverage in the eyes of the public. Maybe they assume everyone is an idiot, including sympathisers. So, alleged corruption cases come up only when they are out of office and a new administration takes off.
It is then that some amount of accountability is extracted from those who have illegally eaten.
One of the electoral mantra of the now ruling NDC, then in opposition, was Operation Recover All Loot (ORAL). We all love it, don’t we?
President Mahama says he will make corruption a high risk venture, and appointees from his government would not be excluded.
The ORAL committee is said to have gathered corruption-related complaints from the public, including alleged ghost names which found their way onto the National Service Secretariat books. On that one, according to Attorney-General, Dr. Dominic Ayine, some have already started “singing”.
He has promised to offer full briefing to the public in April. At the moment, the name Kwabena Adu Boahene (I hear he has zero relation with the late academic, essayist, rights activist and politician, Prof. Albert Adu Boahen) is trending in the public space.
He is alleged to have acquired more than 20 houses for himself and the family, including two in London. He is currently in custody and pending release and re-arrest. According to the Attorney-General, Mr. Boahene, 43, and his young wife, set up a company via which they used to diverted funds into its account.
Several properties in prime areas in Accra are said to be in their names. The disclosure on Monday shocked most people, and social media became the melting point of utter shock and disgust. How on earth was he able to acquire that much property?
And at that age? The allegation has exhumed past concerns about how corruption allegations were treated by the former government, and the social media bashing of people who called for accountability.
“Sad, but it took change of government for these allegations to be investigated,” a civil society activist posted on X. Young elements of the former government, typical of how these party supporters operate, are desperately trying to piss on the report. They have invented all manner of theories and epistles to try and label the disclosure as a witch-hunt
Meanwhile, on that same evening after the press conference, Mr. Boahene’s lawyers issued a statement and called out Dr. Ayine for publicly lynching their client.
‘The Attorney-General has become the media persecutor of our Clients, a judge in his own court while simultaneously asserting that he is still investigating the case. This is counter-intuitive,” their statement said in part.
That said, the man will have his day in court. It’s funny, but the politicians are often the ones in the spotlight for corruption-related offenses.
But if the net is to be opened, people will come to realise that the SOEs sector is a beehive of fraudulent dealings; and most often than not, those who soil their hands walk free and the politicians are the ones who get skinned alive.
And for those who defend the actions of persons accused of corruption and are quick to label actions to bring them to justice as “witch-hunt”, my theory is that when someone is listed for allegations of coruption and these self-appointed and political party lens-looking elements, not lawyers, mount Kilimanjaro-like defence on behalf of the person(s), know that they dream of aspiring to eat from the state purse.
It is part of the package and long-term plan because they see an “opportunity” and once they get in there, the motive is to cream, or as Michaela Wrong wrote in her book: ‘It is our turn to eat”. They offer epistles with the hope that when the chance comes and their hands are dripping with the harvest, another set of people will come to their assistance.
In the past, folks had assembled party supporters to fight for them while their family relations, especially children, beneficiaries of the loot, sit and chill, though with some apprehension.
Another style is to reduce it to political conversation, but they fail to ask why “Ashimashi” and not another person(s) is/are being questioned. And like somebody says, before you hit on the defence bottom, check your account balance.
