Prof. Emeritus Stephen Adei, economist, administrator, and writer who is a former Director General and Rector of the Ghana Institute of Management and Public Administration (GIMPA) denied being a member of the ruling New Patriotic Party (NPP), or the main opposition, the National Democratic Congress (NDC).
According to Prof. Adei, his appointments in the various administrations, are by dint of his qualification, and not because of his affiliation to any group, or his lobbying.
In a press statement he issued Monday, December 4, Prof. Adei says there have been calculated lies and misinformation directed at tarnishing his credibility and integrity by obvious agents of the present administration parading as journalists, which if not responded to, may pass as truth by the unsuspecting public.
He says the attacks on him started since he made “a statement regarding corruption by public officials, and the let-down of hope of Ghanaians regarding H.E Nana Akufo-Addo’s administration, which was aired on TV3 on 20th October, 2023.”
“First, I have never joined any political party in my life. Thus, I am not a member of the New Patriotic Party or the National Democratic Congress or any other party. Neither have I ever lobbied for any position within any administration. In the same vein, neither have I refused to serve my country when called upon and I think I have the requisite capacity to do so.
“On my return to Ghana after 15 years of international public service and diplomacy, I was appointed Director General of the Ghana Institute of Management and Public Administration (GIMPA) when H.E Jerry Rawlings was President in 2000. I continued as Director General and later First Rector as well as Chairman of the Ghana Broadcasting Corporation during the presidency of H.E J. A. Kufuor. I was made a member of the Advisory Board of the Ministry of Finance when H.E Prof Mills was President. Additionally, I was a member of the Board of the Environmental Protection Council and one of the Co-chairs of the Senchi Consensus during President Mahama’s regime. Similarly, when I was asked to be on the Judicial Council and to Chair the National Development Planning Commission and the Ghana Revenue Authority under H.E Akufo-Addo’s first term I accepted them as a call to service.”
On specific allegations of corrupt practices during his stewardship as Chairman of the Ghana Revenue Authority (GRA), including one that he awarded a lucrative contract to his son, Prof Adei said they are “absolutely false.”
“I never awarded a contract to anybody when I was Chairman of GRA let alone to my son. I have two sons. One works in a medical facility in Australia, and one is an Executive Director of a school. I don’t have any other son out of wedlock to have awarded a contract. In any case, I am hearing for the first time that in Ghana chairmen of public boards can award contracts to their children, which definitely could be happening on our blind side for such an allegation to be contemplated.
“GRA never bought a four-wheel drive vehicle for me as it is being alleged. Neither did I leave the office of Chairman even with a bicycle tire. Rather the Board I chaired sought unsuccessfully to end the naked thievery of vehicles and goods by the political elite through the so-called “auction” system which might have offended many. We tried to end awards of contracts to foreigners where Ghanaians had better capacity. We made sure that Commissioners would not sign contracts on our blind side as allegedly has resurfaced. We ended a system of promotion by “whom you know” and ensured that competent people got promoted irrespective of alleged party affiliation, etc. We also aimed to raise revenue to GDP ratio to 17.5% and the record of our 15 months in the “lions’ den” is there to show it could be done. If these are offences, we are proud of them.”
Prof Adei also said his accuser, Kwabena Kwakye of Oman FM, also fabricates an allegation that he Prof Adei as Chairman of GRA, rejected a contract of $5 million in favour of a $10 million contract.
“On the contrary we saved the country several millions of dollars a year by ensuring that due process was followed resulting in giving a contract to some young Ghanaian IT specialists at a fraction of the cost being incurred by using GCNET or the foreign alternatives that “who is who in Ghana” were pushing on the Authority. It is known that today an Indian firm is being considered while the Ghanaian bidders have outbid them technically and financially in open competition. God help our homeland Ghana and all of us to resist corruption.
“I want every Ghanaian to know that I have no hidden bank accounts. My only foreign account is with the United Nations Credit Union, which ex-employees of the United Nations are allowed to keep. Anyone interested in my account numbers in Ghana is free to approach me for ease of verification. The only house I have built in the last 10 years with my wife is our modest building in her hometown. Since I have recently declared all my assets to the Security and Exchange Commission, it would not be a big deal for me to share it with anyone interested and challenge, Kwabena Kwakye and his sponsor, if any, to do the same.”
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