In a speech at the opening of this year’s conference of the Ghana Bar Association (GBA) in Cape Coast on Monday, President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo affirmed his commitment to not set aside due process in the fight against corruption in the country.
In other words, his administration is committed to enforcing the law on corruption and that his job is to act on allegation of corruption by referring the issue or issues to proper investigative agencies for the relevant enquiry or action, including, if necessary, the suspension of the affected official, pending the conclusion of investigations.
He asserts that this is exactly what he has done since he took office in January 2017 and that it is not his job to clear or convict any person accused of wrongdoing or engaging in acts of corruption as it is the courts and law enforcement agencies which do so.
President Akufo-Addo goes further to maintain that none of the accountability institutions of state, including the Office of Special Prosecutor, has given any indication of pressure from the Executive over their investigations.
What the President has said is weighty and we do not intend to question him on any of his assertions except to say that we are happy he is aware of the public opinion of his performance in the fight against corruption.
Most of the time, leaders in the country, not only those in the political office, tend to ignore or rubbish public opinion or perception about them, particularly when it concerns the unpalatable.
We think such opinion or perception must not be overlooked but must be addressed at the opportune time just as President Akufo-Addo has addressed his “clearing agent” tagging.
This is important because unaddressed perception will eventually be deemed as the truth.
But the truth is that members of the public can judge from the spending or acquisitions of even shop-floor workers that they are involved in some corruption and ought to be checked.
Thus, it is easier for them to conclude that political officeholders are deeply involved in corruption based on the speed with which they get rich and therefore deserve some check.
If this does not happen and clearly, it is not happening, the public can come to certain conclusions because it appears to them that the system does not encourage them to raise such issues with the relevant institutions.
Therefore, the blame will always be put on the President and so it is heart-warming that the Ghana Bar Association (GBA) has affirmed its commitment to hold President Akufo-Addo to his undertaking to fight against corruption as the leader of the country.
We fully support the GBA in its stand to remind President Akufo-Addo of his public undertaking in December 2016 regarding his fight against corruption.
We, however, want to prompt the GBA that by its stand to hold Akufo-Addo accountable, it has in a way promised Ghanaians that it will forever hold successive presidents of the country equally accountable.
We are particularly delighted at the GBA stance because its members are at the centre of the country’s justice system, which is often perceived as being one of the stumbling blocks in the fight against corruption.
Thus, we hope to see renewed commitment among them to change the narrative about the fight against corruption henceforth.
