- “I do not agree that the president himself has done anything to indicate he is corrupt. He as a president is doing his job well and that is what guaranteed him the 500,000 plus votes win in the presidential race."
Ellen Ama Daaku, a member of the national communications team of the New Patriotic Party (NPP), has declared that it is absolutely wrong for Ghanaians to assume, following the latest findings of a post-election survey, that Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo cannot fight corruption.
The survey, conducted by the Ghana Center for Democratic Development (CDD-Ghana), revealed that 62% of the 2,400 Ghanaians interviewed say they do not have confidence in President Akufo-Addo’s ability “to protect the country’s financial resources and curb corruption in the next four years”.
Responding to that on Asaase Radio’s weekend current affairs show The Forum, Daaku said the president has shown commitment through policies and measures to combating corruption since coming to power in 2017.
She acknowledged, however, that President Akufo-Addo’s fight against corruption has been thwarted by the activities of some appointees who have been tainted by allegations of corruption.
“I do not agree that the president himself has done anything to indicate he is corrupt,” Daaku stressed. “He as a president is doing his job well and that is what guaranteed him the 500,000-plus votes win in the presidential race.”
Appointees to blame
She added: “However, a lot of his appointees did not do what they were supposed to do, but to sum it up that the president cannot do his work because 62% of a sample think that it is not possible for him to fight corruption, that I do not agree [with].”
Touching on the reasons why the governing NPP lost parliamentary seats in the 2020 elections, Daaku said it was chiefly because some NPP parliamentary candidates were imposed on the voters. A complicating factor was the inability of elected parliamentarians to stay in touch with their constituents.
“I do agree that we had our internal party issues, and we are still having it. I also do agree that some of our MPs lost touch with their base,“ she said.
“Some of the MPs were practically forced on the people. Some constituents were simply tired of their MPs because they had stayed too long in office. These factors really affected the party in the parliamentary race and it happens mostly with incumbent governments,” Daaku said.
She added that the party will review the post-election survey as genuine feedback from Ghanaians, and take action appropriately.
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