Ghanaians Call for Probe of Jerry Rawlings for Collecting $2m Abacha Loot
There have been
increasing calls in Ghana for the country’s former president Jerry Rawlings to
be investigated for corruption after he admitted to receiving $2 million from
the late Nigerian dictator, Sani Abacha.
According
to Modern Ghana newspaper, Rawlings recently admitted to receiving the
money from the former Nigerian head of state infamous for stealing millions of
dollars from his country’s treasury.
After refusing
to deny or confirm allegations that he was given $5 million, Rawling said he
only got $2 million from the late dictator.
Now
anti-corruption activists are calling for his probe.
Anti-corruption
crusader, Vitus Azeem, is calling for further investigations to unravel the
truth in the claim made by former President Jerry John Rawlings, that he
received $2 million from the late Nigerian President, Sani Abacha.
Vitus Azeem
told Citi News that the gesture was a corrupt act and
shouldn’t be swept under the carpet.
“If it is not easy to rush to a conclusion, you will need further questioning or even an investigation to able to establish whether it was a bribe or a matter of conflict of interest or what,” Vitus Azeem added.
Mr. Azeem thus
suggested that a further probe will help establish whether the acceptance
of the gift constitutes a conflict of interest or bribery.
“Nigerians and Ghanaians should be asking questions. The questions Nigerians should be asking includes, was it Sani Abacha’s private money that he sent to our former president? What was the purpose of giving that money? Were they expecting any benefit for the country Nigeria in sending that money?”
He added that “on the other side, we should also be asking: what did Nigeria want from Ghana that they needed to send that money to our president. Did our president ask for any financial help from Nigeria to undertake governmental projects or for his personal purpose? Again we have to ask what Sani Abacha wants from our president or from the country. Was the money being given in expectation of some kind of favour and was it given for the benefit of our president or for the benefit of our country? Was it given in response to an SOS request to deal with state matters in Ghana?”
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