Ghana as a country has over the years experienced corruption cases involving some political figures as well as civil servants.
Though the fight against corruption in Ghana has a rather long way to go and will always spark debate, president Akufo-Addo’s government, like previous ones, has been hit by corruption scandals.
Having assumed office in 2017 with the promise of being an anti-corruption crusader, the Akufo-Addo-led administration has also received its fair share of scandals.
In this article, The Ghana Report outlines four government appointees in the Akufo-Addo government who were caught in the web of corruption allegations.
Rockson Bukari
Minister of State at the Office of the President, Rockson Bukari resigned his post effective Monday, April 29, 2019.
This follows reports of his alleged involvement in an attempt to bribe a journalist to drop a story against a mining firm.
Mr. Bukari has been heard on a leaked tape attempting to bribe the Starr FM journalist, Edward Adeti, to kill a story against a judge and a Chinese mining firm when he was Upper East Regional Minister.
He denied the bribery allegation in a statement, insisting he was only intervening.
“For the avoidance of doubt, the Minister’s approach by way of pleading with Adeti is typical with his peace-making intervention approach to situations, and in this case, sought to avoid what he was informed was a misjudgment which could hurt the reputation of a retiring judge in the region he had superintended as a minister,” a statement from his office said.
The journalist also reacted to the Minister’s statement and called for his head.
Although the Minister denied the allegations, he formally tendered his resignation.
Charles Bissue
In 2019, Charles Bissue, a presidential staffer voluntarily resigned from the Akufo-Addo government after being caught up in a corruption scandal.
As a secretary of the Inter-Ministerial Committee on Illegal Mining (IMCIM), Mr. Bissue was allegedly caught on tape collecting a bribe to facilitate the issuance of a mining license in Anas Aremeyaw Anas’ exposé on illegal mining.
Anas and his TigerEye PI team published the investigative video which showed state officials including Charles Bissue, allegedly taking bribes to sidestep the laid down procedures for the procurement of mining licenses.
In the video, Mr. Bissue was captured accepting money ostensibly to facilitate clearance for a mining company without going through due process.
He is heard instructing his subordinates to fast-track the processing of the company’s documents.
Several others connected to the work of the committee, otherwise known as the Presidential Committee on Environment and Natural Resources, are seen in the video playing “facilitating” roles at negotiated fees.
Despite Mr. Bissue’s denial of any wrongdoing, Anas Aremeyaw Anas insisted that he [Bissue] abused his office.
He later tendered his resignation after the exposé was premiered.
Charles Adu Boahen
In November 2022, President Akufo-Addo terminated the appointment of the Minister of State at the Ministry of Finance, Mr. Charles Adu Boahen, with immediate effect.
The President took the decision after being made aware of the allegations leveled against the Minister in the exposé dubbed, “Galamsey Economy.”
The investigative piece by ace journalist, Anas Aremeyaw Anas, allegedly captures Mr. Adu Boahen, asking an investor to pay an appearance fee of $200,000 to enable a meeting between him and the Vice President.
Mr. Adu Boahen also allegedly told the undercover investor that he should promise the Vice President to employ some of his relatives to enable his investment to kick off early.
But in a Facebook post, Dr. Bawumia, called for the Minister to be summarily dismissed and investigated.
Cecilia Dapaah
The Minister for Sanitation and Water Resources, Cecilia Abena Dapaah is the latest to resign under the Akufo-Addo government.
The Sanitation minister has been in the news, following allegations of large sums and personal properties stolen from her Abelempke home in Accra for which five people are standing trial.
The two house helps, 18-year-old Patience Botwe and 30-year-old Sarah Agyei, along with three others allegedly stole $1 million, €300,000, and a substantial amount of Ghana cedis and personal effects of Abena Dapaah and her husband, between the months of July and October 2022.
Following media reports of the case, there was a wave of calls for the arrest and investigation of Abena Dapaah to ascertain the source of the large sums of money.
She, however, disputes the amounts quoted on prosecution charge sheets as having been stolen in all, saying they are inconsistent with what she reported to the police.
Subsequently, Madam Dapaah tendered her resignation in a letter to President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo on Saturday, July 22, 2023.