This clarification follows President Akufo-Addo's remarks at the 2024 Ghana Bar Association (GBA) Conference in Kumasi about a month ago, where he claimed that the numerous corruption allegations against his administration and family were part of a deliberate smear campaign orchestrated by John Mahama.
“I’m aware that there’s a deliberate, politically motivated effort to stigmatise my government, my family, and myself as corrupt,” the President remarked. “I suspect this is payback for the damaging allegations of corruption levelled against members of the erstwhile Mahama administration, some of which have led to criminal convictions, while others are still being prosecuted in court,” he added.
He also referenced the high-profile Airbus scandal, in which Mr Mahama was identified as “Government Official 1,” to counter the claims that he clears his associates or appointees of corruption allegations.
Addressing party supporters at a community durbar in Tunga, Ablekuma West Constituency in Accra on Friday, September 27, 2024, Mahama stated that President Akufo-Addo’s failure to address corruption within his administration earned him the 'clearing agent' label.
“The Akufo-Addo government has decided not to fight corruption. When there is a report that a government official has stolen money or engaged in a corrupt deal, the President himself publicly clears the person. That is why Ghanaians call him a ‘clearing agent.’ When he spoke at the Bar Association conference, he claimed that I call him a clearing agent. I have never called him a clearing agent. I said that due to his actions, Ghanaians have given him that name. I was merely pointing out that Ghanaians are calling him a clearing agent, not me,” Mahama clarified.
Mahama further explained that when someone is accused of wrongdoing, the President should allow the relevant institutions to conduct a thorough investigation. He cited a corruption case involving the Australia visa scandal, which was initially reported to the Special Prosecutor. When the Special Prosecutor began investigating, the President quickly referred the case to the CID, which subsequently cleared the government official involved.
Mahama noted that the same official, Pius Enam Hadzide, was later seen in a video promising his constituents that if elected, he would facilitate their travel abroad to places like Australia and the U.S., activities similar to those he was previously accused of engaging in visa racketeering.