Freddie Blay Blasts Afari Gyan Over Corruption

The former Chairman of the governing New Patriotic Party, Freddie Blay, has expressed disagreement over the comments made by the former Chairman of the Electoral Commission, Dr Kwadwo Afari-Gyan that Ghana has become poorer due to corruption.

A former Chairman of the Electoral Commission, Dr Kwadwo Afari-Gyan speaking at the Constitution Day Public Lecture organized by the University of Professional Studies, Accra (UPSA) Law School and the One Ghana Movement last week, said public institutions charged with the mandate to fight corruption are not doing enough.

According to him, “Over the years, we have become poorer as a nation and as a people, mainly due to pervasive corruption, particularly in the public sector. Unfortunately, some of our key public institutions are becoming institutions of dubious integrity. Increasingly, candidates who lose elections are alleging manipulations and refusing to accept the results;’’.

Hiowever, Freddie Blay reacting to to the comments said “That’s what Afari-Gyan has said. Corruption is a canker that we must all fight, but I disagree with him that we have become poorer. This country has not gone poorer. We are not rich, we are inching towards a middle-income country among the comity of nations. So, in the first place, he is wrong that this country has become poorer’’.

He explained that ‘’We are not rich like the Singaporeans, we are not rich like the South Koreans or some other countries that you can mention, but we are absolutely not poorer,” the Board Chairman of the Ghana National Petroleum Corporation (GNPC) said in an interview with Keminni Amanor on Sunday, January 14 edition of Hot Issues.

“I agree that poverty is not a good thing for every country. That is what I believe governance is all about, to decrease poverty and improve the quality of life of the people, we can do better, I believe’’ Mr Blay added.