The flagbearer of the Great Consolidated Popular Party (GCPP), Dr Henry Lartey, has justified why he petitioned both the Economic and Organized Crime Office (EOCO) and Commission on Human Rights and Administrative Justice (CHRAJ) to probe the alleged $2 million gift given to Former Ghana President Jerry John Rawlings by Nigeria’s Sani Abacha.
Dr Henry Lartey said he holds nothing against the former president but was only calling for what the ex-president stood for, “which is probity and accountability”.
“We want to know the exact amount he took and for what, who witnessed the recipient of the money, was it a loan or just a gift? [Former President]Rawlings founded the NDC on probity and accountability and he has to prove to all of us that he still believes in the values on which he founded the NDC.”
The leader of the GCPP insisted that corruption is one of the plaguing issues that every country is fighting to eliminate, adding that if a former president of any country has accepted openly that they have been given a monetary gift, it is only appropriate to question why that exchange took place.
“So if I take that step don’t you think I need support rather not condemnation, unless we want to allow corruption to gain roots in our system?”
Mr Lartey petitioned EOCO and CHRAJ on Monday to investigate Former President Jerry John Rawlings, who has confessed to receiving $2 million from Nigeria’s Sani Abacha in an interview with Nigeria’s Guardian.
Just when the matter appeared to have died down, GCPP’s flagbearer has resurrected it.
In his petition, he is asking EOCO to among others ascertain reason for the gift when it was clear ex-president Rawlings did not render any services to the Nigerian former ruler.
“There was time in the history of this country that people could not talk about issues like this especially with the involvement of the person Rawlings but now things have changed and if Rawlings wants us to take him seriously for what we believed he stood for, then Rawlings must come clean,” Dr Henry Lartey said on Onua FM’s ‘Ye Sempa’.
“Let us do the right thing and Ghana will progress as desired,” he concluded.
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