Deputy Sports Minister, Pius Enam Hadzide didn’t have it easy from the National Communication Officer of the opposition National Democratic Congress (NDC), Sammy Gyamfi on Tuesday when he joined him on GHOne TV’s State of Affairs for discussions on the subject of corruption.
Both panelists on the show sought to throw light and scrutinize issues surrounding the subject of corruption in governance and the role of past and present governments as far as fighting the canker is concerned.
Pius was ‘silenced’ by the NDC Communicator who felt he had absolutely no moral rights to talk about the subject particularly because he had been cited as having indulged in some shady activities himself in the past.
Pius Hadzide and Chair of the National Sports Authority, Kwadwo Baah Agyemang, in April 2018 were accused and subsequently suspended for engaging in visa racketeering at the Commonwealth Games held in Australia.
They were accused of having led a delegation including some over 50 persons who had claimed to be Ghanaian journalists but had to be deported after failing the immigration test.
A statement from the Presidency in July that year however exonerated Mr. Hadzide and cleared him from any wrongdoing, after which he was reinstated.
Speaking on the show on Tuesday, however, Sammy Gyamfi expressed disappointment in the fact that the NPP would designate, of all people, an individual who has a history of corruption to speak about the issue.
He believes that is enough evidence to buttress the fact that the sitting President, Akufo-Addo is incapable of fighting corruption.
“President Akufo-Addo cannot fight corruption. Look at Pius Hadzide here, he is a locus classicus of corruption under Akufo-Addo. He supports and promotes corruption, that is why Pius after that reckless, irresponsible conduct, can still get the temerity and audacity to come and sit here and talk about corruption, he is evidence, he is a walking case of corruption”.
“In any other country, you’ll be standing prosecution for now. If you are one who had a flicker of hope that the failing fight of corruption could ever be salvaged under President Akufo-Addo, you must lose that hope because see? This is the person who was sent to come and talk about corruption?”, he quizzed.
Recounting issues regarding Mr. Hadzide’s suspension and clearance, he said processes leading to the clearance of the same were shady and questionable.
“He as Deputy Sports Minister led a Ghanaian delegation, he was not cleared and will not be cleared. Where is the report that cleared him? He is a public official, he is accountable to the people of the country, he is accountable to the people of this country, we appointed him as Deputy Minister and by virtue of that he was heading the Australian Commonwealth Games Committee, he led a delegate of Ghanaians to Australia”.
“It was filed up by the Australian authorities that 60 of these Ghanaians were only masquerading as journalists when they were not. He was the leader of that delegation, his own boss, Isaac Asiamah, Minister for Youth and Sports, compiled a report to the President and indicted him as the one responsible for that crime; Visa racketeering”.
“He was suspended, investigations were conducted into the matter, we are told that he has been exonerated, what is the key element essential to the fight against corruption, is it not transparency? Don’t we all know that opacity breads corruption? And so if he has been cleared and there’s evidence to clear him, why can’t that report be published? We have been calling for the publication of this report for months, President Akufo-Addo has turned a blind eye and has turned a deaf ear to that because there is no report”.
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