REASONS WHY GHANAIANS SHOULD VOTE FOR DR. BAWUMIA AND NOT JOHN MAHAMA – Corruption in Focus

Corruption, particularly among the political class, is said to be the bane of this country. In fighting corruption, the personal ‘incorruptibility or integrity trait’ of the leader is very crucial. In his entire public life spanning over 3 decades, Dr. Bawumia has never been accused of corruption nor investigated for corruption.

Dr. Bawumia’s personal integrity and commitment to fighting corruption is therefore not in doubt. He proved that he cannot even be entrapped to compromise his principles. This was evidenced in Anas Aremeyaw’s “Galamsey Economy Documentary”, featuring Charles Adu Boahen, the former Minister of State at the Finance Ministry.

John Mahama on the other hand has had his entire public life replete with corruption scandals involving his direct personal participation. He has been a subject of many corruption investigations and sometimes findings of impropriety have been made against him. Mention can be made of the following corruption scandals all of which John Mahama was directly involved:

1) Kanazoe bribery scandal:- involving John Mahama, then as Vice President and a Burkinabe road contractor, Djibril Kanazoe, who donated a US $100,000 Ford Expedition to President John Mahama in order to influence the award of road contracts to him. CHRAJ investigated the matter and concluded that John Mahama had breached the “gift policy”, which is essentially a nice way of saying he had engaged himself in corruption.

2) Amajaro corruption scandal:- where John Mahama as Vice President was lobbied by a British Cabinet Minister to get a reprieve for the ban imposed on Amajaro Holdings, an UK based cocoa buying company that was found guilty for smuggling cocoa out of Ghana, as uncovered by investigative journalist, Anas Aremeyawu Anas. This scandal was revealed by a Report in the British media in 2010.

3) Airbus Scandal:- John Mahama was investigated by the Office of the Special Prosecutor which determined that his direct involvement as Government Official 1 in the deal involving his biological brother, had occasioned a breach CONFLICT OF INTEREST RULES. John Mahama was also implicated by US and UK courts in this scandal.

4) Embraer 190 scandal:- According to Martin Amidu, then as Attorney General, President Mills was compelled to set up a Committee of Enquiry to investigate his Vice President, John Mahama, over his suspicious corrupt conduct in the purchase of 5 aircrafts including Embraer 190 and hanger for the Armed Forces. The committee comprised William Aboah, George Amoah and Brig. Gen. Allotey. John Mahama is the ONLY Vice President in Ghana to be investigated by his President for corruption.

5) The botched STX Korea Housing Deal for the security agencies:- Although the deal never materialized, John Mahama, then as Vice President, gave Ghana a bill in excess of US$ 250million.

CONCLUSION

On December 7, Ghanaians will choose between Dr. Bawumia of the NPP and John Mahama of the NDC. Whereas Dr. Bawumia has not yet been given the opportunity to be President, John Mahama has been President before, and his legacies of incompetence, arrogance of power, and corruption are there for all to see. In effect, the choice on December 7 is between the visionary Dr. Bawumia and the tried, failed and rejected John Mahama.

Even if we are going to make a mistake, we are better off making the mistake going forward, not backwards. If John Mahama, (who could not be remembered for any legacy project throughout his tenure as Vice President) was given a chance to be President, why not Dr. Bawumia (who can be remembered for spearheading at least 43 life-transforming initiatives as Vice President)?

This is natural justice. It will thus be unjust and unconscionable for us to go back for the same old John Mahama, who, when given the chance to be President, failed woefully, and was REJECTED not once, but twice.

Iddi Muhayu-Deen ESQ.
#ForGodAndCountry