John Mahama better than Kufuor

Deputy Minister of Interior, James Agalga, says President John Mahama must be commended for his commitment towards the fight against corruption in Ghana.

President Mahama has been heavily criticized following the numerous corruption scandals recorded in his administration. His critics say he has been relaxed in his approach in dealing with the culprits.

These include alleged corruption deals in the GYEEDA contract, Subah Contract, embezzlement at the National Service Secretariat, the Woyome Judgement debt payment among others, and the recent use of Ghc 3.6 million of Ghana’s oil revenue to brand buses.

Arguing his point on Citi FM’s news analysis and current affairs programme, ‘The Big Issue’, the Deputy Minister said President Mahama’s fight against the canker cannot be compared to what was done under the erstwhile Kufuor administration.

“I think we should score the President high marks, maybe 90 percent. I have stated before that when it comes to President Mahama’s resolve to fight corruption, it is not comparable to what we saw under the eight years administration of Kufuor.”

“You have a President [Mahama] who appears before journalists of this country and says that I have assumed the mantle of leadership in this country and I have said that we will not shield anybody from corrupt practices. He gives you numerous examples of how he has tackled the issue of corruption. Besides, with the issue of the National Service Secretariat scandal, he personally authorized the BNI to commence investigations; hey they have concluded with their investigations and the outcome is that the Boss and a lot of his lieutenants were sacked and are now facing trial. How else could a President fight corruption,” he argued.

Citing examples to support his claim that former President Kufuor’s fight against corruption was weak, James Agalga said Kufuor’s response to questions at a similar press conference on his resolve to fight corruption during his tenure, was nothing to write home about.

“You have the same President Kufuor who spoke on corruption at a similar conference; we all saw how President Kufuor responded to the issues. It was at the castle gardens or so where he said that corruption was as old as Adam and Eve and that if he President Kufuor was to face the issue head-on his government will collapse.”