Celebrated Ghanaian broadcaster, Kwasi Kyei Darkwah, alias KKD has stated that President Nana Akufo-Addo is failing in his pledge to protect the public purse.
President Akufo-Addo it will be recalled, promised to protect the state coffers during his swearing-in ceremony in 2017.
He asked those who wanted to join him in government to venture into the private sector if they intended to loot the state.
“I shall protect the public purse by insisting on value for money in all public transactions. Public service is just that — service and not an avenue for making money. Money is to be made in the private sector, not the public. Measures will be put in place to ensure this,” President Akufo-Addo said.
But almost six years on, KKD believes that promise is yet to materialize. Despite this, he said he will not denounce the president because he has contributed his quota in helping to mentor lawyers in the country.
When asked if the president was defending the public purse, he said “No. The president is someone I have loved for 35 years and I am proud to say it. Some people think I must denounce him. I will never denounce him. When I love you, I love you for life. But my loyalty is not to people. My mother told me this.
“My loyalty is to values so the people who uphold those values will retain my loyalty. But when they trample those values, I withdraw my respect. I withdraw my loyalty but I may still love them. It’s the same way I love the sinner but I may hate the sin.
“I love Nana Addo because he has been a mentor to so many lawyers in this country, for so many legal luminaries in this country. I say so not just about him but also for Tsatsu Tsikata.”
The opposition party has been accusing the president of not protecting the public purse by citing several corruption scandals under his watch.
Former Deputy Minister of Finance, Kweku George Ricketts-Hagan, stated that it was the reason the country was rejecting the E-levy at the time.
“…as I mentioned is the common man’s thinking that this government has not really been the protector of the public purse but rather they have been squandering the public purse.
“All these things were problematic put all together, became the reason why the nation was rejecting the e-levy,” the Cape Coast South Member of Parliament stated.
Source: ghanaweb
