Corruption slur: Flagstaff House demands apology from Africa Watch for referring to Ghana as a republic of corruption.

The Presidency has called on the Africa Watch Magazine to retract its publication which referred to Ghana as a republic of corruption.

The Flagstaff House has also demanded that the Editor, Steve Mallory, render an unqualified apology to Ghanaians.

Besides describing Ghana as a Republic of corruption, the latest edition of the magazine also said under President John Mahama, corruption has become a viral phenomenon.

It said: “While corruption has dogged all of Ghana’s post-independence government’s, President Mahama’s administration seemed to have suffered most in the eyes of the public because of what some described as the “laissez-faire attitude” of the President to the canker.

The Magazine, which solicited views from the clergy, parliamentarians among others on corruption in the country, nonetheless stated that corruption in Ghana was as old as the country’s modern political history.

Presidential Staffer, Dr Clement Apaak, in an interview with XYZ News said the publication is very misleading and an insult to the nation.

He said the presidency took extreme exception to “this attempt to mislead the good people of the global community, to misinform them when, in fact, the facts on the ground show that President John Mahama has adopted the most progressive approach to fight the canker of corruption.”

“It is very sad and unfortunate, we should be outraged and angered by this very unfortunate headline which indicts our nation and indeed seeks to ridicule us as a people,” he noted.

According to Dr Apaak, “historically within the context of the fourth republic, no other President has been bold, honest, and transparent and has even personally led the crusade to bring attention to detrimental effect of corruption to the people of Ghana.”

He further stated that: “It is unfortunate that some elements of the larger opposition party are sounding very enthused simply because they want to exert some political capital forgetting that by describing Ghana as a Republic of corruption, it also presupposes that every single Ghanaian regardless of political colouration, quite clearly is being indicted and described as such.”