Politicians are certainly not the most corrupt– Hackman, Rashid Pelpuo

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Deputy Majority Leader, Rashid Pelpuo Leading MPs have vehemently disagreed with the Ghana Integrity Initiative’s Voice of The Peoplesurvey which indicates politicians have overtaken the police as the most corrupt in Ghana. Former Works and Housing Minister Hackman Owusu Agyemang and Deputy Majority Leader Rashid Pelpuo were unanimous in their disagreement with the report which said 72.7 Ghanaians surveyed believe politicians are the most corrupt, followed by the police. Mr Owusu Agyemang, who is the Member of Parliament for New Juaben said he had evidence that civil servants in Ghana were far more corrupt than politicians. “I can tell you – I’ve said it on the floor of the House - for every politician that is fingered there are more than a thousand non-politicians who engage in corruption.” He said whilst as minister, a director under his ministry awarded a 40 billion cedis contract without due process and without recourse to the board or the minister. “The technical people do the vetting of all the projects, the loading up…and they bring it to you at the ministry…and most of the time, you won’t believe it that, when they bring you [requests] for procurement they have tailored the specifications so much so that it can fit only one particular, say vehicle or equipment.” Mr Owusu Agyemang claimed that 75% of properties at the Airport Residential area were owned by civil servants with 80 percent of properties at East Legon belonging to civil servants as well. “How did it happen”? he asked. “Once in a while you will get some issues regarding either the negotiation for a loan and then what have you and the issue is blown up. Politicians are also corrupt to some extent but they are not the most corrupt in the society as I know it. There were instances, when I was a minister, that civil servants were trying to take bribes from my wife and my family,” he asserted. The former Foreign Minister tasked the media to help root out the cancerous corruption from the Ghanaian society by constantly shedding light on the canker. He said corruption had permeated the society so much that dealing with it has become difficult, stressing the need for an investigative agency which can point to who owns which property for purposes of accountability. Agreeing largely with the submissions of Mr Owusu Ayemang, MP for Wa Central, Rashid Pelpuo said the politician can’t be corrupt without the public being corrupt. He said the mentality and thinking of the average Ghanaian must change if the situation is going to see any significant improvement. Generally, Ghanaians, Mr Pelpuo said, think the politician must be rich and therefore people line up for gifts. “I think that we need to work on the populace of Ghana, the mentality of the Ghanaian, the thinking of the ordinary person on the street that the politician must be rich; he is the one everybody will line up to ask for money from; he is the one when he ends his tenure of office and can’t have a house he is really insulted and maligned; he is the one who is seen as an object of exploitation by the people who he wants support from,” he stated. In addition, he said the civil service had evolved some entrenched corrupt mechanisms that the politicians were virtually helpless and were often prone to manipulation by the civil servants. The fight against corruption, according to Mr Pelpuo must be taken seriously. He said audit reports considered by the Public Accounts Committee of Parliament must provoke recommendations that are fully implemented. The situation will change if people found to have engaged in financial malfeasance are prosecuted, he noted.