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Minister of Information, Hon. Kojo Oppong Nkrumah, has hit back at members of the opposition National Democratic Congress (NDC), who have questioned the Akufo-Addo government's anti-corruption drive. 

According to the NPP MP for Ofoase-Ayirebi Constituency, the recent Corruption Perception Index and Global Corruption Barometer reports, clearly show that the current administration is performing better in the fight against corruption as compared to the John Mahama-led NDC government.

“Anybody who will say that the Corruption Perception Index report is bad for Ghana, then I believe strongly that the person didn’t read the report because nobody after reading the report can say the report is not good for Ghana,” he indicated.

Adding that “it is therefore strange that the NDC has issued a statement that we are losing the fight against corruption when they moved it from 45 points to 40 points and we have moved it to 41 points. If they say so then they have not read the report because after reading the report, you will see the trend analysis clearly”.

Speaking on Okay FM’s Ade Akye Abia Morning Show, Hon. Oppong Nkrumah pointed out that Ghana scored 45 points in the fight against corruption in 2012 under the Mahama led administration, but left it at 40 points when leaving office in 2016; an indication of failure in the fight against corruption.

“When President Akufo-Addo came into power, he had put things in place and so we moved from 40 points to 41 points in the fight against corruption; in 2018, we had 41 points and in 2019 we have maintained the 41 points performance and we are hopeful that due to the things we have put in place and still at them as we have empowered the Auditor-General, Public Account Committee, CHRAJ, and the Ghana Police Service, we are hopeful that all these activities will improve our performance against corruption,” he asserted.

Touching on the Global Corruption Barometer report which is not based on perception but through interactions with state institutions, the Information Minister touted the credentials of the Akufo-Addo led NPP government on its impreesive fight against graft. 

“In 2015, they asked questions on the operations of institutions like Office of the President and out of the 100 people that responded, 47 percent said there is corruption at the Office of the President under President Mahama. In 2019, only 27 percent of the people are saying that there is corruption at the Office of the President under President Akufo-Addo. This has reduced by 20 percent and it is a huge drop over a 4-year period”, he indicated.

He added that even the Ghana Police Service which is touted as the most corrupt institution after scoring 64 percent in 2015 under former President Mahama has dropped to 59 percent as it is a testament that the new IGP has put measures in place to reduce corruption in the service.