Former Board Chairman of Ghana Airport Company, Paul Adom-Otchere, has revealed how worthless and wasteful it is for State funds to be used to strengthen anti-corruption agencies to stamp out corruption. Following his release from the grips of the Special Prosecutor, the garrulous host of Metro TV’s Good morning Ghana show, revealed how some officials at the Manhyia Palace descended heavily on what he described as ‘the system’ for him to be released.
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In his usual bragging and self-adulating antics, Paul Adom-Otchere, in his appreciation message, said “…and to the senior officials of Manhyia Palace who put pressure on the system, insisting that release Paul Adom Otchere…”
This was after Paul Adom-Otchere named a number of high profile personalities in Ghana who reached out to him before and when he was in cells to offer their support. To be fair to those Paul mentioned in his video, he said some of them sympathised with him, some offered advise while some were ready to stand surety for him. Beyond this, except the unnamed Manhyia officials, they never interfered with the process.
However, in the case of the unnamed officials from Manhyia, Paul Adom-Otchere said they actually went beyond sympathising with him by putting pressure on the system for his release. One would ask, why was Paul Adom-Otchere detained? The Office of the Special Prosecutor had earlier this week announced that Paul had been invited for questioning relative to a revenue assurance contract at the Ghana Airport Company which the OSP was investing. The OSP stated that the deal was tainted with corruption and Paul Adom-Otchere was at the center of it.
Though the OSP did not pronounce Paul guilty, it is a known practice that, as part of the mandate of investigative agencies, those alleged to have been involved in an act are first questioned, and in some intsnaces, charged and granted bail before putting them before court. Without this process, it may be practically impossible to gather evidence to put any suspect before court.
While the OSP was dutifully going through this process, Paul has now announced to the world that, some officials from Manhyia Palace did not allow the OSP to do it work. They mounted pressure on the OSP for him(Paul) to be released! To he fair to Manhyia, Paul did not mention the names of the officials from the Ashanti kingdom who put pressure on the system for his release..Meanwhile, in his appreciation message, he mentioned the names of persons, with their pictures, who called to solidarize with him.
As it stands, only Paul knows the supposed officials from Manhyia who put the pressure on the system. One cannot tell if His Royal Majesty, Otumfuor was one of the officials Paul is bragging put pressure on the system. Regardless of who from Manhyia put pressure on the system, the development is very disturbing and a direct assault on the fight against corruption. Even if it was the gateman at Manhyia who put pressure on the system, it is still wrong.
The fight against corruption in Ghana has gained all round attention. I dare say, one of the reasons why the NDC and President Mahama secured overwhelming votes in the last election was because of the perplexing levels of corruption under the nose of Akufo Addo and Dr Bawumia which Mr Mahama promised to fight and jail the culprits under operation recover all loot (ORAL).
Everybody in Ghana, including those who are visibly corrupt, speak against the practice and the need to fight it. There were instances were CSOs lambasted government for starving State agencies tasked to fight corruption of funds. On countless occasions, His Royal Majesty Otumfuor Osei Tutu spoke bitterly about corruption and the need to weed it out of our system. There are those who have threatened that if the NDC does not deal with corrupt NPP officials, the Party should kiss goodbye to power in 2028. That is how passionate Ghanaians have become in the fight against corruption.
It is therefore disturbing that Mahyia Palace would be alleged to be interfering in the work of State agencies mandated by law to fight corruption. It cannot be the case that Manhyia is now acting as safe hiding haven for corrupt officials. The Palace is too respected and revered to be reduced to that. If indeed there are officials there who mounted pressure on the system for Paul to be released, as he confessed, then Otumfuor must fish out those officials and deal with them. Paul’s revelation is a dent on Manhyia and Otumfuor.
Beyond how worried all of us are due to the alleged interference of Manhyia in the fight against corruption, there is another side of the ‘coin’ that we must all look at. It is not everything that Paul says that must be taken serious. Paul has carved a bad niche for himself as a braggart and a liar. Even on the subject matter that sent him to OSP cells, he lied. Before his detention, he lied that he didn’t know the Directors of the company that won the GACL revenue assurance contract. It turned out that, per Manasseh Azure Awuni’s account, Paul had told Manasseh in a txt conversation that he knew the Directors. It has even been alleged that he met the Directors ahead of a Board meeting which he Chaired for the Directors to do a presentation on their capacity to execute the contract.
It would also be recalled that, part of Paul’s mountain of lies was when he said his boyhood friend, Nii Ardey Clegg, wrote some of his exams for him while they were in school. Paul admitted on radio subsequently that he lied and apologised to Nii Ardey. Additionally, Paul has admitted on his programs that he is a lawyer when he is actually not. A case in point was when he interviewed Isaac Adongo and Chairman Wontumi. In two separate interviews, his guests asked him, “Paul you’re a lawyer right?” and he answered in the affirmative. There are countless lies he has told in this country to portray himself a big man.
It could possibly be that nobody from Manhyia put pressure on the system for his release. This is because Paul was released after his bail condition was revised and met by him. He probably introduced that line in the narrative to create a false impression of how connected and influential he is at Manhyia. This is called fake life.
The likes of Ship Dealer aka Oliver Khan must be worried because they have a competitor in the fake life and bragging business.
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Paul’s ‘beloved friend’
The Author is the Greater Accra Regional Youth Organizer of the ruling National Democratic Congress.
