Surrogates of the two leading political parties in Ghana- the ruling National Democratic Congress and the opposition New Patriotic Party are critiquing the Curriculum Vitae of their opponents and raising issues about fraud and lack of commitment to fighting corruption against each others presidential candidates.
It was the NDC’s Research for Advocacy Platform (RAP) which began the battle to scrutinize the CV of the NPP flagbearer Nana Akufo-Addo.
Last week, convener of the group Felix Kwakye-Ofosu demanded to know whether the NPP flagbearer attended the Oxford University in London and why he did not state that fact in his CV, if he did.
On Monday, he followed it up with another press conference during which he supplied e-mail correspondence with one Jeremy Drew; Manager of the Degree Conferrals office in Oxford confirming Nana Addo was admitted to the school in 1962.
He accused Nana Addo of concealing that information from the public, stating that the NPP flagbearer cannot be trusted to fight corruption
“It is instructive that Nana Addo has sought to mount the moral high ground on the subject of corruption. He has claimed that he is not corrupt and has never been corrupt. However the efforts that he has made to conceal his attendance of Oxford and his failure to tell the truth when the matter became public completely undermines his claims of incorruptibility.”
He added that “corruption thrives in an atmosphere of cover-ups, untruths and a lack of transparency. Therefore a man who cannot be forthcoming with the truth regarding his own academic record cannot be relied upon to manage Ghana’s resources,” he charged.
As Kwakye Ofosu hurled the corruption charge against the NPP flagbearer, his opponent, the Young Patriots also organized a similar press conference with a charge of fraud against Vice President Paa Kwesi Amissah and a charge of dishonesty against President Mahama.
Spokesperson of the Young Patriot Richard Nyama told the media the Vice President forged a 1980 Msc Economics Degree from Legon.
“Our checks at the University of Ghana indicated that Vice President Amissah Arthur never graduated with an Msc in Economic from the University of Ghana in 1980. His name is neither in the year group nor is the University aware of his self acclaimed graduation in the said subject in that year.
“This brings a lot in terms of fraud to the table. The question is did the Vice President defraud the University of Ghana with a fake Msc Degree to be given a lectureship position in the University?” he asked.
He accused the Vice President of public deceit and fraud and stated the Patriot will take every step possible to pursue the matter and safeguard the interest of the Ghanaian people.
Richard Nyama also charged President John Mahama to account for his stay at the Tamale Bishop Middle School and to explain why he did not include that in his CV.