• A Catholic Bishops bloc has criticized the government’s failure to among other things combat corruption

• A one-time supporter of the government has sarcastically weighed in on the development

Kwame Asare Obeng, alias A Plus, a musician cum politician and activist has reacted to a stinging critique by the Ghana Catholic Bishops Conference, GCBC, on the pledge by President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo to protect the public purse.

A Plus who once had a close relationship with the president and the ruling New Patriotic Party, NPP, shared a screenshot of a news item with the headline; “Akufo-Addo’s promise to protect public purse now a mirage – Catholic Bishops,” he added a one-line comment which read: ‘E go reach everybody.”

To wit, “the effect of the failure to protect the public purse will reflect in the lives of everyone.”

Despite ardently supporting the president prior to the 2016 elections which his preferred candidate at the time won, the musician has over the years called out what he alleges is rampant corruption among allies and close associates of the president.

What the GCBC president said on corruption

President of the Ghana Catholic Bishops Conference, GCBC, Most Rev. Philip Naameh, at a gathering of the GCBC held in Wa, capital of the Upper West Region, spoke in critical terms about issues of governance in the country.

One of the most stinging points was about how the President’s pledge to protect the public purse has all but become an illusion.

“Though poverty stares us in the face, it appears lost to those with power. The expressed commitment of the president of the republic to protect the public purse, a promise that citizens welcomed, seems to be an illusion now.

“Are those managing the public purse not concerned about waste and misapplication of resources that belong to all Ghanaians? Can this be referred to as irresponsible use of power or the lack of compassion and empathy?”