If Ministers Were To Resign At The Least Report, “There'll Be Nobody Left In Gov't” - Afriyie Ankrah

Former Sports minister Elvis Afriyie Ankrah says government appointees and ministers cannot resign whenever allegations of corruption and wrong-doing are made against them.

He says if ministers were to resign at the least media report, “there will be nobody left in government”.

He was responding to suggestions on the Joy FM on Wednesday that Ghanaian public officials are too determined to hold on their positions even when scandals hit them or the institutions they preside over.

Compared to western democracies, public officials readily resign whenever their honour is questioned or there is the slightest appearance of a failing on their part.

But Elvis Afriyie Ankrah rejects this practice as unhealthy for governance in Ghana because the Ghanaian media is quick to peddle allegations without any evidence.

“We don’t have power [so] minister resigns; water is not flowing, [so] minister resign, car knocks down somebody, Interior minister resign. Are we in a jungle?” he said.

The minister who faced a barrage of criticism after Ghana's poor showing at the 2014 World Cup in Brazil was fending off criticism of his being shuffled from the Sports Ministry to the Presidency by Professor Kwesi Yankah at a Corruption Conference organised by the Institute of Economic Affairs Tuesday.

He said the media reports can turn an innocent man into a demon overnight. He recalled an incident where he was named the 11th richest man in Ghana in a publication that also suggested that he was abusing his office to acquire wealth.

“In our society you wake up in the morning, on radio stations people can say anything,” he noted.

He said he was waiting for the World Cup commission’s report to be made public, convinced his actions will be vindicated.

Source: Ghanasportsonline.com