The South African Council of Elders Chairman of the National Democratic Congress has described as reprehensible the former Minister of Sanitation and Water Resources, Cecilia Abena Dapaah’s decision to stash huge sums of money in her home.
Benjamin Kofi Quashie inan interview on GBC Radio Central, argued that keeping such a quantum of monies at home defeats the government’s policy of encouraging all Ghanaians to keep their monies at the bank.
“If she keeps one million dollars at home, I keep one million dollars, how do we expect the banking sector to flourish? How can money go around for others to benefit from to spur economic growth? he quizzed.
“No wonder our currency is underperforming. It means a lot more people in government have stashed cash in their homes. This is a failure on the part of the NPP government,” he said.
The SA Council Chair further said keeping such monies at home as a public officer cannot be right and tells the kind of mentality those in government have about the economy they’re running.
“Are these the people who touted themselves as having the men? Her resignation is good. I hope the OSP does a thorough and an unbiased job but, l have some misgivings about the president’s response in accepting the minister’s resignation. Some portions of the president’s letter are very unfortunate especially when the president is a legal luminary,” he stated.
He however, underscored the fact it’s possible she might be engaged in other businesses and having such monies at home cannot necessarily be criminal but, very wrong since she is a public officer, and shows she herself lacks confidence in her government’s performance regarding the economy.
“They’ve run the economy aground and their officers are keeping unaccounted-for cash at their homes. A private man can keep 10 million dollars at home and no one cares, but because she’s a public servant, it raises a lot of eyebrows and questions their own performance,” he intimated.
Mr Quashie further that, during President Mahama’s administration, Victoria Hammer’s expression of an intent to make a certain amount of money got her a sack. “Ursula Owusu then, said all manner of things when this matter came up, impugning the government’s integrity. Now what is she going to say about this?”
“The attitude of missing monies from homes of public officers is becoming one too many in this government, and portrays them as people who are in to loot state funds… very disturbing for our governance and something ought to be done about it. President Mahama offers a better progressive alternative,” Mr. Quashie emphasized