Deputy Presidential Spokesperson Shamima Muslim has dismissed suggestions that the discontinuation of prosecutions against some pro-NDC members undermines President John Mahama’s commitment to fighting corruption.
Speaking on Joy News’ PM Express, she insisted that Mahama has demonstrated a stronger resolve to tackle corruption than his predecessors and will not shield anyone involved in wrongdoing.
“We should have confidence that he is not going to cover up any member of his administration,” Shamima Muslim said.
Her remarks come in response to criticisms that Mahama’s decision to drop cases involving some NDC-affiliated individuals signals a lack of commitment to fighting corruption.
However, Shamima Muslim maintains that Mahama’s approach is not about protecting political allies but ensuring that justice is served based on merit rather than political vendettas.
She stated that Mahama has taken concrete steps to operationalize anti-corruption measures, including the operationalisation of Operation Recover All Loot (ORAL) findings under the mandate of Ghana’s Attorney General, Dominic Ayine.
“We are also going to bring on stream Operation Prevent All Loots (OPAL),” she added, highlighting Mahama’s proactive approach to preventing corruption before it occurs.
She dismissed concerns that Mahama’s administration would tolerate state capture or the illegal acquisition of state assets, pointing out that his manifesto explicitly commits to preventing such practices.
“He is the president in recent history who has announced, put in black and white, in his own manifesto, that he is not going to allow any government official to engage in any state capture or illegal acquisition of state assets,” she stressed.
“He is committed to doing it because there’s got to be an end to lamentations. We cannot continue to lament over things that are eroding our democratic gains and show no leadership commitment to halting this deterioration.”
Shamima Muslim also took a swipe at the previous administration, arguing that the New Patriotic Party (NPP) had ample time and resources to prosecute these cases if they had any merit.
“Eight good years the New Patriotic Party had to prosecute some of these cases. Eight good years that they had a very favourable representation in our courts,” she said.
“Excuse me to say, unfortunate, but we all know the perceptions around the packing of the court by former President Nana Akufo-Addo, and sometimes some of what people describe as procured outcomes from our courts.”
She challenged critics to question why the NPP, with its control over the legal system for two terms, failed to secure convictions.
“If they had any case at all against these political opponents that were facing persecution through the instrument of our law courts, they would have secured prosecutions and judgments just as they did in previous tenures and jailed those individuals,” she argued.
Addressing ethical concerns surrounding state property acquisition, she called for a national conversation on policies that allow politicians to obtain state assets at undervalued prices.
“If there was a time when the redevelopment policy had its purpose, is it time for us to really look at it again because of the abuse of it?” she questioned.
“I mean, the ethical and moral arguments around this whole issue of state capture… how, in good conscience, can we justify purchasing property at a fraction of its actual market value using political positions?”
Shamima Muslim assured Ghanaians that the Attorney General will soon disclose the full details behind the discontinuation of these cases.
“In the coming days, the Attorney General will disclose comprehensively the reasons and grounds on which those cases that have been discontinued have been discontinued,” she said.
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