Ghana's Minister Sacked Over $1m Claim

Ghana's Deputy Communications Minister
Victoria Hammah has been sacked after
she was recorded allegedly saying she
would stay in politics until she has made $
1m (£600,000).
"If you have money then you can control
people," she seems to say on the tape
which has been widely circulated.
Ms Hammah has not yet commented on
the tape or her sacking.
The BBC's Sammy Darko in Accra says she
played a key role in President John
Mahama's election last year.
Some pundits will feel vindicated over her
sacking, as they warned that she was too
young and inexperienced to serve in
government, our correspondent says.
In August, she said there was a lot of
pressure on her to steal public money
because people thought that, as a minister,
she was rich.
She described such demands as
"obnoxious", reports the Ghanaweb news
site.
"Corrupt politicians are the reflection of [a]
corrupt society!" it quotes her as saying.
Ms Hammah first came to the public
attention after stumbling several times
while making a speech and then saying she
had been given the wrong text.
On the tape, which has not been
independently verified, she says: "I will not
quit politics until I make one million
dollars."
She also criticising another deputy minister,
calling her "senseless, ugly, loud and
egoistic".
Information Minister Mahama Ayariga did
not give any reason for Ms Hammah's
dismissal in her one-sentence
announcement.
But it comes 24 hours after the tape went
viral on social media and was played on a
local radio station.
Her driver has been arrested on suspicion
of making the recording of her
conversation.
Our correspondent says many Ghanaians
are asking if her right to privacy was
infringed by the release of the tape

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