I don’t condone my officials’ misconduct; I’m not a ‘clearing agent’

President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo has refuted claims that he absolves his government officials cited in corruption scandals.

The issue of the President clearing his agents alleged to have misconducted themselves came up when the President, as part of his tour of the Greater Accra Region, granted an exclusive interview on Peace FM’s morning show ‘Kokrokoo’.

The President stated categorically that he is not a “clearing agent” adding there’s not a single corruption allegation brought against any of his government officials that he has taken keen interest in investigating it.

Some cases raised on the programme ranged from his Deputy Chief of Staff accused of some corrupt acts, the Trade Minister Alan Kyerematen’s infamous cash-for-seat saga in which he was cited to have extorted $100,000 from expatriates to offer them the chance to sit close to President Nana Akufo-Addo during the Ghana Expatriates Business Awards in December 2017, among other allegations against the President’s appointees and some State institutions like Bulk Oil Storage and Transportation Company (BOST).

“I am not the clearing agent. There’s not one single one of these allegations that were made that I did the clearing. I announced the results. Yes! I announce the results and that is my responsibility because, in many cases, the investigations were initiated by me. If my attitude was to condone and pushing under the table, hiding under the carpet, why would I even begin the investigative process?”, he queried.

With regard to his resolve to curbing corruption, the President clarified; “The reference of my Deputy Chief of Staff to the CID was made by me. I don’t remember the last time a President in this country did that.”

He further stated he refers all the cases of corruption about his officials to the appropriate State institutions and acts on the report he gets from the investigative bodies.

“I cannot conduct investigations from Jubilee House. The ones who can conduct investigations are the institutions on the ground, whether it is the Police, the CID, in some cases the Parliament and those investigative power; the EOCO. These are the institutions that carry out these investigations and then produce a report and it is on the basis of the report that I act.”