‘Corruption is from Adam’ was not an endorsement – J A Kufuor

Former President, John Agyekum Kufuor says a comment he made several years ago that ‘corruption was as old as Adam’ was not an endorsement of the act.

Kufuor justified his comments at the ‘DreamOval Thoughts Transfer Series,’ where young minds are inspired.

At the session one of the participants asked him what he actually meant by the comment he made years ago and how he prevented himself from being corrupt.

He explained that “Eve came around to the Garden of Eden with all the beauty that God created her from Adam’s own rib. So the serpent to Eve and the fruit that God had warned Adam never to taste, the serpent convinced Eve that it was the fruit of wisdom and that the old man (God), doesn’t want Adam to be wise so he got Adam to taste it and see; and that was where man fell.”

“And so; when anybody tells you that corruption was there from Adam, that person is not really endorsing corruption; no. The person is rather reminding you to go back to history and see how your forebear Adam fell so you become wiser not to go that way.”

He added that his statement was rather to admonish office holders to be careful and avoid the temptation of been corrupt.

“But again, it became like a surrogate for Kufuor. Kufuor says corruption is as old as Adam, so anybody can continue; no. Kufuor never did that. Kufuor was rather trying to advise office holders to be careful because the temptations are thrown all over the place.

“Once you get into office, that’s the nature of power. Power attracts, and it attracts in ways that if the holder is not careful, he will end up in disgrace. So yes; I was there alright, but I kept reminding myself; I didn’t pretend that I could easily overcome the weaknesses, but I kept reminding myself of how others fell so as to keep myself in check from pursuing my natural inclinations many times so that was what saved me.”

Former President Kufuor is on record during his tenure as saying corruption is as old as Adam. This comment has over the years been interpreted to mean corruption has always existed. But some also argued that it meant Kufuor endorsed corruption.