Former president Jerry John Rawlings, says the leader of the opposition New Patriotic Party (NPP) Nana Akufo-Addo is not corrupt.
Mr. Rawlings gave this testimony in an interview with a Nigerian newspaper; The Guardian.
Former president Rawlings
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According to the founder of the governing National Democratic Congress (NDC), it will be very difficult for Nana Addo to be tagged as corrupt because he is not materialistic.
"Fortunately for them, (the NPP), they have a leader who is not known for messing around with material things," Rawlings said.
Nana Addo on his tour recently mentioned that he is not aspiring to be president to take bribes and encourage more corruption in the country.
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But the former military leader expressed fears that the governing NDC may not stand a winning chance in the upcoming November polls because of what he called its corrupt nature.
Mr Rawlings indicated that his wife, Nana Konadu Agyemang Rawlings left the party because corruption has gained a place in the party which was started on the foundation of integrity. The former first lady Nana Konadu Agyeman-Rawlings, left the NDC to form her own political group, the National Democratic Party (NDP).
Mr. Rawlings intimated that "my wife is still standing where she is, cut off from our party that she was very responsible in building up because it became corrupted from Mills' time."
He mentioned that he can only advocate since he has no authority to deal with people he believes are corrupt. "All I can do is speak up because I find myself in a situation where I have moral responsibility and no executive authority. I would have wished that my moral authority could have the same influence.
But that is not the case; corruption has infiltrated our institutions and their leaders so badly today that they use some kind of lens, to demonstrate that you can keep your moral authority, but this is executive power at work. The situation is so bad; so unfortunate."
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Mr. Rawlings mentioned that all "I can do is to critique and advocate for my people. I can't hide it. And I believe that was how I won the respect from the larger populace, from both sides of the political divide. I have remained principled."
Pulse Ghana has approached multiple NDC officials to respond to Rawlings' comments but all declined.
