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‘Pay or Die’ documentary: We need a system overhaul – Dr Asiedu Sarpong

A Fellow at the Center for Democratic Development (CDD-Ghana), Dr Kwame Asiedu Sarpong has called for an immediate system overhaul in the health sector of the country.

Reacting to the shocking details of a Corruption Watch documentary, “Pay or Die; The agony of pregnant women” the UK-based Pharmacist stated on Super Morning Show Wednesday, that rigorous education, revitalization, and other initiatives need to be introduced to halt the extortion of money from pregnant women.

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CSOs urge Supreme Court to deal with two suits

…Encourage Domelevo to go to CHRAJ

The Coalition of Civil Society Organisations Against Corruption has requested the Supreme Court of Ghana to determine two cases pending before it on the constitutionality of the Auditor General’s forced ‘accumulated leave’ by President Akufo-Addo.

The group contends that the crux of the issues raised in the two suits are relevant regardless of the current state of affairs; that is the forced retirement of Auditor General Daniel Yaw Domelevo. 

“The suits border on the broader issues of whether or not a President could exercise administrative authority over Independent Constitutional Bodies (ICBs). Therefore, it is important for the Supreme Court to deal with these suits expeditiously to prevent any such actions by a future President,” said Dr. Kojo Pumpuni Asante, Director, Advocacy and Policy Engagement at the Ghana Centre for Democratic Development (CDD-Ghana).

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Agyapa deal: We’ve had very little pay from prosecutions in corruption fight – H.K Prempeh

Executive Director of the Centre for Democratic Development (CDD) Ghana says it’s about time the country explores other anti-corruption procedures as investments in prosecutions and prosecutorial bodies have not really paid off.

Professor Henry Kwasi Prempeh said Ghana’s over dependence on prosecutorial processes as a means of fighting corruption have not been satisfactory and thus has called for a review to include other anti-corruption procedures as well.

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Private citizens should be allowed to prosecute corruption cases – Prempeh

Private citizens in Ghana should be permitted to prosecute corruption cases in Ghana, Professor Henry Kwesi Prempeh, the Director of the Centre for Democratic Development-Ghana (CDD-Ghana), has said.

He noted that this will help in the fight against corruption especially when the institutions tasked to fight corruption seem not be to be doing enough on this development.

In most advanced countries with best practices, he said, private individuals are allowed to prosecute corrupt officials.

“Why can’t I take my case to court prosecute the case myself. It happens in other country,” Professor Prempeh said during the Ghana National Forum on Political Party Manifesto, organized by Media General in partnership with Penplusbytes on Wednesday October, 14.

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Ghana’s legal system overprotects corrupt officials – Akwetey

Ghana’s legal system shields corrupt officials, a situation that is making the fight against corruption difficult, Dr Emmanuel Akwetey, Executive Director at the Institute for Democratic Governance (IDEG), has said.

He noted that the legal regime at the moment gives very little room to effectively tackle the problems.

“Our legal culture overprotects  the corrupt, he said during the Ghana National Forum on Political Party Manifesto, organized by Media General in partnership with Penplusbytes on Wednesday, October 14.

He added “There is a lot of shelter the system gives them and is allowing us very little room”

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CHRAJ urges Domelevo to file complaint over forced proceed-on-leave directive

Commissioner for Human Rights and Administrative Justice has described as unfortunate the Executive directive to the Auditor-General, Daniel Domelevo, to proceed on leave.

The comments by Joseph Whittal on the sidelines of the launch of the Citizens Anti-Corruption Manifesto last week adds to the plethora of criticisms that has hit the presidential directive forcing the Auditor-General to take his accumulated 167 days’ leave.

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Ghana has failed woefully in its fight against corruption – Kojo Asante

The Director of Advocacy and Policy Engagement at the Ghana Center for Democratic Development (CDD-Ghana) says that Ghana’s fight against corruption has failed so far.

Dr Kojo Pumpuni Asante said corruption in Ghana is very prevalent and is pervasive such that people have accepted it as a way of life.

“People get fatigued by hearing about corruption because they feel helpless in tackling it. For me that is the most dangerous thing because it is an acceptance of a certain type of society where basically honesty and integrity are rare. If you are honest and truthful, you are actually at risk, they feel that you are a danger to those who want to be dishonest,” he said.

According to Dr Asante, tackling corruption goes beyond the two major political parties in the country.

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Expand electoral colleges to reduce vote-buying – CDD-Ghana urges political parties

Senior Programmes Officer at the Ghana Center for Democratic Development (CDD-Ghana) Paul Kwabena Aborampah says for Ghana to mitigate the phenomenon of vote-buying in the various electoral process, certain drastic measures would have to be taken including expanding the various electoral colleges.

Speaking on JoyNews’ PM Express, he said the move would make it extremely difficult for aspirants to pay their way through the electoral process.

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Deputy MASLOC CEO denies CDD vote-buying allegations, says report not factual

Hajia Abibata Shanni Mahama Zakaria, the Deputy Chief Executive Officer of Microfinance and Small Loans Centre (MASLOC), has refuted claims by policy think tank Ghana Centre for Democratic Development (CDD-Ghana), that she used MASLOC funds to induce NPP delegates during the June 2020 NPP primary in Yendi which she lost.

In a two-page rejoinder copied to GhanaWeb, Hajia Zacharia indicated that CDD-Ghana’s Corruption Watch report was not factual, and questioned why the reporters used the caveat ‘allegedly’.

“I would like to point out that there is no iota of truth in this statement. If the reporters were truly confident in their ‘findings’, why did they find the need to use the caveat ‘allegedly’? You make a categorical statement in your headline that votes were bought and yet in your opening paragraph, you introduce alleged inducement,” parts of her statement read.

She indicated that the term ‘buying’ connotes the presence of offer and acceptance and ‘inducements’ would imply persuasion.

Hajia Abibata Zakaria stressed that there was no vote-buying on her part and it is false for an organization with a huge stature and capacity such as the CDD to state that MASLOC money was used to induce NPP delegates during the primaries.

“There is no evidence to back this claim. Unless they were purposely excluded, some of the beneficiaries of a transparent loan scheme were always going to be members of various political parties including the NPP and some would-be delegates. The generalization that the beneficiaries were all delegates is unfair and unproven. They were not and I told you so but you chose to call them delegates,” her statement read further.

The CDD-Ghana’s Corruption Watch report stated that, On Thursday, May 21, 2020, Hajia Abibata Zakaria distributed GHC1,000 state cash under the guise of MASLOC loans to NPP delegates of Yendi constituency where she was a parliamentary aspirant for the June contest.

This, she noted that, was “an unfair impression of dolling out state money. I wish to emphasise that it was MASLOC that distributed the loans and not me as an individual. I supervised the process in my capacity as a deputy CEO.

CDD indicted Hajia Abibata Shanni Mahama Zakaria told the NPP delegates in a video that, although MASLOC loans were not yet to be distributed, she had ensured that as deputy CEO of MASLOC, loans to her constituents were not only distributed to them but also the number of recipients had been increased above what was permitted.

“Though this gathering is not a political rally for me, there is no way we will do this without letting you know why we brought [it] here,” Hajia Abibata Shanni Mahama Zakaria told the delegates back in June. “Here is my Northern Regional Manager, he’s aware that MASLOC gives to a maximum of five groups in the Northern Region, but I’ve not regretted the fact that Yendi alone has been honoured with 35 groups. If I’ve not done so, you have the right to blame me because I can’t have such an opportunity and not help you my people.”

Source: ghanaweb.com

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CDD-Ghana to petition CHRAJ over corruption allegations against Deputy MASLOC CEO

The Ghana Centre for Democratic Development (CDD-Ghana) has disclosed that it will petition the Commission on Human Rights and Administrative Justice (CHRAJ) to further probe corruption allegations leveled against Deputy CEO of Masloc, Abibata Shani Mahama Zakaria.

According to the Centre’s Corruption Watch arm and it’s partners, there is evidence following investigations that the Deputy CEO of MASLOC breached the provisions of the Constitution when she distributed public funds to supporters of the governing NPP during the party’s primaries last month.

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