Flagbearer of the National Democratic Congress (NDC), John Dramani Mahama, has stated that he is not responsible for the ‘clearing agent’ label associated with President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo.
President Akufo-Addo has claimed that the numerous accusations of corruption leveled against his administration and family are part of a grand smear campaign orchestrated by John Mahama.
“I’m aware that there’s a deliberate, politically motivated effort to stigmatize my government, my family, and myself as corrupt,” the President remarked at the 2024 Ghana Bar Association (GBA) Conference in Kumasi barely a month ago.
“I suspect this is payback for the damaging allegations of corruption leveled 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 emphasized that the repeated claims that he clears his associates or appointees of corruption allegations will not hold, referencing the high-profile Airbus case in which Mr. Mahama was identified as “Government Official 1.”
However, while 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 inaction in dealing with corrupt appointees earned him the label of “clearing agent.”
“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.
He further explained that when someone is accused of wrongdoing, the President should allow the relevant institutions to investigate the matter thoroughly. He cited a corruption case involving the Australia visa scandal, which was 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).
