Private legal practitioner Dr Justice Srem-Sai has taken a swipe at the Foreign Affairs Minister following her call for the dismissal of some staff at the Passport Office in Accra.

According to him, Shirley Ayorkor Botchwey cannot keep quiet about government appointees allegedly taking bribes and engaging in corruption-related activities, while ranting over low-level staff extorting money from Ghanaians.

In a post on Twitter, Dr Justice Srem-Sai insists that leadership cannot be going one way and expect followers to head the other way.

"When you sit up there and shut your eyes, ears and nostrils to such appointees, saying absolutely anything about your colleagues whose bedrooms have become home for millions of foreign currencies; then, don’t get up and begin to wax lyrical over 'goro' boys and civil servants, and expect us to take you seriously," he tweeted.

His comment follows an outburst by the Foreign Affairs Minister during a tour of the Passport Office in Accra.

On Monday, the Minister lashed out at some staff for allegedly engaging in corruption-related activities that have tarnished the office’s reputation

Madam Botchwey expressed worry over the existence of extortion and disregard for proper conduct, especially considering the crucial role the Passport Office plays in facilitating international travel.

She subsequently directed overstaying security officials who were at post at the Passport Office to refrain from reporting for duty beginning Monday, August 21, 2023.

“I told my officers to put up an online system. Now, the online system is being manipulated so that people can make money off it”, she complained.

“There are investigations going on, and some names have been mentioned. There’s a cartel of people who are working with people from inside.

Somehow, some of these senior NPP appointees have convinced themselves that they have monopoly over corruption and unpatriotic behaviour. Yesterday, the Minister of Foreign Affairs was at the passport office, ranting and saying all the right things. But, you see, she doesn’t get…

— Justice Srem-Sai (@JusticeSremSai) August 15, 2023

“Anybody who has been here for more than one year, from Monday on, please do not come back because you have been changed”, she ordered.

The Minister added that: “We want to bring some sanity. Every time, we say, ‘Politicians are corrupt’, meanwhile, it is some public and civil servants who will do things that shouldn’t be done, and then they will be blaming it on politicians. We are trying to bring sanity into the system.”

But reacting to this, Justice Srem-Sai said senior NPP appointees should not convince themselves that they have a monopoly over corruption and unpatriotic behaviour.

He explained that when citizens witness the sudden rise to fame of some government officials who before their appointments could not afford a three-square meal, it forces them to leave behind their patriotic, ethical and hardworking intentions and lifestyle.

"Look at this: a person would be walking in the hood, on a 0-1-0 diet with a far-below-average lifestyle, some, even, hardly competitive for any real work. Then, he gets a political appointment - boom, the next day - a new V8, aides and bodyguards, new wardrobe full of political suits to match.

"After a few months, he starts asking for the price of properties. Then, he buys them. Then, he moves from the hood, plucks his kids from the local school and plants them in an “international” school. His family is on vacation in Europe and North America as I type. Total transformation. In fact, now, some even think that it’s normal to have millions of dollars in bedrooms.

"Truth is - many of the men and women in the civil service started their service with patriotic, ethical and hardworking intentions and lifestyles. Many didn’t have a problem with their low humble salaries until they met the guy I just described above - and everyone has met at least one such."

The lawyer subsequently urged Madam Ayorkor Botchwey to start the corruption fight within her circle of appointees since "goro-boyism has always been with us but we all know the dimensions it has taken under this government."

"We can't continue like that', he added.