Mahama not clean to attack Akufo-Addo - DI Executive Director

Richard Ahiagbah, Executive Director of Danquah Institute (DI) has asked former President John Dramani Mahama to look at the things he had done in the past, before condemning the Akufo-Addo government of wrong-doing in the Power Distribution Services (PDS) matter.

According to Mr Ahiagbah, Ex-President Mahama’s constant condemnation of the cancellation of the concessionaire agreement with the PDS, for Electricity Company of Ghana (ECG) to take back its assets, has no justification because he and his National Democratic Congress (NDC) government did worse while in power.

Speaking in an interview with The Chronicle, the Danquah Institute Executive Director could not fathom why Mr Mahama and the NDC had resorted to the term ‘State Capture’, in reference to what they consider a deliberate attempt by President Akufo Addo to short-change Ghanaians by aiding his cronies to acquire major state assets, like ECG.

According to him, the phrase ‘State Capture’ entails systemic political corruption, in which private individuals and groups clandestinely network to influence a state’s decision-making process in pursuance of their private goals to the detriment of public good.

He argued that former President Mahama and the NDC are rather the foremost culprits and practitioners of the State Capture mantra.

“To understand fully that John Mahama is indeed an epitome of state capture, one would have to subject some of the deals that he superintended over as president, to the test of scrutiny and against the strict definition of state capture,” he said.

According to him, the way and manner the former state owned Merchant Bank was sold leaves much to be desired.

“It is worth noting that First Rand Bank at the time offered 190 million Ghana cedis to acquire 75% stake in the state owned Merchant Bank. Strangely, this offer, which was regarded by seasoned economists and financial consultants as too good to let go, was rejected by the John Mahama administration and the bank offered to Fortiz, who only offered 90 million Ghana cedis for a whopping 90% stake in the bank,” he worriedly stated.

Puzzled over the sale, he said “what would have informed the government at the time to overlook First Rand’s offer in favour of Fortiz? It is imperative to recall that the deciding factor that led to Fortiz winning the bid was their willingness to write off loans owed Merchant Bank by Ibrahim Mahama, the brother of the then president John Mahama.”

Mr Ahiagbah further added that the acquisition became more suspicious when it was revealed that Fortiz had only been incorporated in Ghana just three months to the acquisition of Merchant Bank.

“If former President Mahama has any dignity left, the scandalous revelations surrounding his disgraced Mobile Money Interoperability deal with Sibtom Switch System, gifting of Ghana’s billion-dollar bauxite deposits to Ibrahim Mahama and the fraudulent sale of state owned Merchant Bank should silence him from making any pronouncements on public purse accountability and State Capture”, he asserted.