A member of the National Democratic Congress (NDC) National Communication Team, Bashiru Amantana, has called on the country’s intelligence and security agencies to intensify their focus on fighting public sector corruption, rather than concentrating mainly on political figures.
Speaking on Adekyee Mu Nsem on Ahotor 92.3 FM in Accra, hosted by Citizen Kofi Owusu, Mr. Amantana said recent revelations from the Public Accounts Committee (PAC) hearings clearly show that systemic corruption within the public sector is undermining government performance and stifling national development.
According to him, President John Dramani Mahama’s determination to root out corruption is yielding results, citing ongoing investigations by the Office of the Special Prosecutor (OSP) and the Office of the Registrar of Audit and Litigation (ORAL), including cases involving the National Service Authority and the National Food Buffer Stock Company, which are now before the courts.
“Fighting corruption is about leadership and political will. The President has demonstrated both, and his commitment to tackle corruption at all levels reflects one of the key promises in our manifesto,” Mr. Amantana noted.
He added that although President Mahama has been in office for barely ten months, his administration’s collaboration with intelligence and security agencies shows a clear strategy to confront the deep-rooted corruption within the public sector.
Joining the discussion, another NDC Communication Team member, Chris Asher Jnr, described corruption in state institutions such as the Social Security and National Insurance Trust (SSNIT), the Electricity Company of Ghana (ECG), and the Ministry of Roads and Highways as a “social cancer” that continues to derail the country’s progress.
Mr. Asher stressed the need to strengthen internal audit systems within public institutions to prevent corrupt practices that, he said, “drain the national budget and weaken development efforts.”
In a related development, Elvis Darko, Editor of Newscenta Newspaper, has called for a comprehensive investigation into all revenue assurance contracts signed by successive governments. His comments follow the termination of the Government of Ghana’s contracts with Strategic Mobilisation Ghana Limited (SML) on the orders of President Mahama, after an OSP investigation into the company’s dealings with the Ghana Revenue Authority (GRA).
Speaking on the issue, Mr. Darko explained that various administrations have engaged revenue assurance firms over the years to curb leakages in state revenue collection systems. However, he said the OSP’s findings on SML raise broader questions about similar contracts in other sectors.
“If we think the SML arrangement is unnecessary or problematic, then every revenue assurance contract must be reviewed — not just SML. We should look into all such agreements, including those in energy and telecommunications,” he said.
Mr. Darko noted that while revenue assurance companies can help improve state revenue collection, their compensation models must be transparent and performance-based.
“If a state agency is already collecting revenue before the engagement of a revenue assurance company, the company should not be paid from that existing revenue,” he argued. “Instead, payment should be based on the additional income generated as a direct result of their work. That is how we can achieve a fair and effective system.”
President Mahama’s directive on October 31, 2025, to terminate all contracts with SML followed the OSP’s conclusion that the company’s operations with the GRA were irregular and not in the state’s best interest.