We’ll show more commitment in corruption fight - Mahama

Former President Mahama has assured that the National Democratic Congress (NDC) government will show more commitment and determination in the fight against corruption when it assumes the governance of the country in 2021.

He has urged the Nana Akufo-Addo-led administration to stop making excuses as a cover up when it comes to fighting corruption and show commitment and determination to fight the canker which had lost interest in the corruption fight.

In a statement to mark International Anti-Corruption Day, the former president gave assurance that “the NDC will show more commitment and determination in the corruption fight if it comes into government in 2021 because recent surveys are confirming that we are losing the fight against corruption.

“We will strengthen and make the anti-corruption agencies work without fear or favour, if we are to win the fight against corruption, the government must stop making excuses as a cover up for the increasing cases of corruption, President Akufo-Addo’s practice of “clearing” corrupt appointees and ministers to hamper investigations must stop.

“We shall protect the rights of the citizenry to expose corruption and undertake to investigate credible allegations that come to our attention, no journalist will be killed, live in fear or flee the country because of their investigative reportage,” former President Mahama pointed out.

Ghana’s performance on the Transparency International Corruption Perception Index increased by a point to 41 in 2018, from its 2017 score of 40 which left Ghana with a ranking of 78 out of 180 countries, an improvement from 2017’s rank of 81.

Ghana has averaged 38.75 points from 1998 until 2017, reaching an all-time high of 48 points in 2014 and a record low of 33 points in 1999 which allowed civil society organisations to petition in 2018, the government demanding more radical measures in the fight against corruption since the fight against corruption had stalled in the last decade.

They, however, noted that the adoption of the National Anti-Corruption Action Plan (NACAP 2015-2024) and the establishment of the Office of the Special Prosecutor were steps in the right direction and the groups in the petition urged the government to continue investing substantially in the interventions and intensify their implementation.