Former President John Dramani Mahama says President Akufo-Addo has completely lost the fight against corruption.

Delivering his acceptance speech after winning the primaries of the National Democratic Congress (NDC) to become the Presidential candidate for election 2024, he accused Nana Akufo-Addo of sweeping many corruption scandals including the recent Prof Frimpong-Boateng’s report on illegal mining under the carpet.

“The truth is, this government cannot just wish away the reality that Ghana is not looking good on the Corruption Perception Index of Transparency International. The President no longer makes corruption a pet topic in his speeches because corruption has defeated him, hands down,” he stated.

Mr Mahama accused the government of suppressing press freedom and clamping down on dissenting voices including civil society organisations who expose corruption in their “bid to obscure corruption.”

“Let me assure you, as I stated in Garu in the Upper East during my campaign tours, that I will adopt a robust root and branch-approach to fight corruption because corruption is a major source through which state resources are wasted. It will not matter whether the people involved are our own or from some other party,” he assured Ghanaians.

The former president also assured that if voted into office, he will ensure that all corruption-related issues “cleared” by President Akufo-Addo will be investigated and justice pursued.

Mr Mahama won the presidential primaries with an overwhelming 98.9% votes to lead the NDC into election 2024.

Certified results by the Electoral Commission (EC) show that Mr Mahama polled an overwhelming 297,603 votes representing 98.9% of the total valid votes cast.

His closest contender, the former Kumasi Mayor Kojo Bonsu, polled a paltry 3,181  representing 1.1%.

The other contender in the NDC flagbearership race, former Finance Minister in the Mills regime, Kwabena Duffuor, pulled out on Friday.

This is the fourth time John Mahama will be leading the NDC into an election.