We won’t take advice from corrupt Mahama whose regime was engaged in several scandals – Owusu-Bempah

A Deputy Director of Communications of the New Patriotic Party (NPP), Ernest Owusu-Bempah, has told former President John Dramani Mahama that he does not have any moral right to advise the Akufo-Addo administration on corruption.

This was after he described Mr Mahama as ‘corrupt’, and a person whose administration was engaged in several scandals.

Owusu-Bempah was responding to the flagbearer of the National Democratic Congress (NDC) who has heaped the blame on the Akufo-Addo government following reports of the closure of Ghana’s Millennium Challenge Compact by the United States.

Mr Mahama described the closure of Ghana’s Millennium Challenge Compact as unacceptable and further assured that he would work diligently to enhance private sector efficiency in the electricity distribution system, including metering, revenue management, and fault response.

In a post on his X platform, he said “It’s disheartening to learn that the $190 million we negotiated for private sector participation in electricity distribution under the US Millennium Compact has been lost due to Nana Addo and Bawumia’s corrupt, ‘yenkyendi’, and cronyistic governance practices. This is unacceptable, and we deserve better as a people.

“As I gear up to assume the presidency in January 2025, thanks to your votes and endorsement in this year’s election, I want to assure you that I will work diligently to enhance private sector efficiency in the electricity distribution system, including metering, revenue management, and fault response.”

But responding to him in a statement, Mr Owusu-Bempah said ” The long view of history will count a broader catalogue of corruption under Mahama’s presidency.

“Power doesn’t get much more entrusted than that. His regime was buffered by several corruption scandals that cost the state huge sums of money in lost revenue and, some cases embarrassed the country.

“Mahama supervised a corrosive culture of corruption. Talk of the bus branding corruption, where investigations into the branding of 116 Metro Mass Transit Buses involving Ghc3.6million revealed that the company contracted, Smarthys, over-billed the government to the tune of Ghc1.9million.

“The owner of the company, who later returned Ghc 1.548,608.04 to the government chest happened to be a close associate of Mahama. Again, the GYEEDA scandal which cost the state millions of cedis. There was also the SADA corruption, where over Ghc32million paid to ACICL to plant five million trees in the Savannah zone were never accounted for.”

Below is his full statement…

We will take morality and corruption advise from anywhere but certainly not Mahama’s brothel
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Guys, what would you say if Osama Bin Laden called someone a “terrorist”, if a prostitute called another woman a “whore”, or if North Korean’s Kim Jong Un called another leader a “dictator?” No doubt you would probable die laughing at the irony. Yet we in Ghana have tolerated a character that epitomizes irony to the extent that his utterances have now gone beyond the pale.

It all began in late 2007 when the then NDC flagbearer, Prof John Atta-Mills asked him to be on the ticket with him for the 2008 presidential elections.

Well, it came to pass that Mills won and that was the beginning of a different brand of political corruption spearheaded by John Mahama.

President Mills couldn’t finish his term of office and the baton was handed over to John Mahama. When this corrupt politician took over an unplanned leadership of the country, corruption blossomed like never before.

The long view of history will count a broader catalogue of corruption under Mahama’s presidency.

Power doesn’t get much more entrusted than that. His regime was buffered by several corruption scandals that cost the state huge sums of money in lost revenue and, some cases embarrassed the country.

Mahama supervised a corrosive culture of corruption. Talk of the bus branding corruption, where investigations into the branding of 116 Metro Mass Transit Buses involving Ghc3.6million revealed that the company contracted, Smarthys, over-billed the government to the tune of Ghc1.9million.

The owner of the company, who later returned Ghc 1.548,608.04 to the government chest happened to be a close associate of Mahama.

Again, the GYEEDA scandal which cost the state millions of cedis. There was also the SADA corruption, where over Ghc32million paid to ACICL to plant five million trees in the Savannah zone were never accounted for.

The same SADA report found out that SADA spent Ghc 15million on guinea fowls, but could only account for a few birds.

There was also a bribery scandal involving Mahama and a Burkinabe businessman,Djibril Kanazoe who was said to have won two major contracts worth over Ghc 100million.

In fact, the recent court ruling where two former Mahama appointees were found guilty on 78 counts relating to causing financial loss to the state, theft, conspiracy to steal, money laundering, and contravening public procurement laws, and we’re jailed 10 and 5 years respectively speaks volume.

And so, what exactly was Mahama up to when he talks about the fact that he will not protect Akufo-Addo’s legacy of Corruption and Misgovernance?

I fear lots of Ghanaians still labour under the delusion that Mahama is an option, but there comes a time in a nation’s journey to prosperity when distractions must not be tolerated, when we stand up and look the devil in the eyes and say there’s no place here for you.

Mahama can’t talk about corruption because the man himself is an embodiment of corruption.

Ernest Kofi Owusu Bempah Bonsu
Deputy Director of Operations, NPP