Critical state agencies open themselves up to the slippery slope of conflict of interest by accepting donations from questionable sources; according to the Ghana Integrity Initiative (GII).
The organisation’s Executive Director, Linda Ofori Kwafo, made this point as she questioned the rationale behind a donation to the Attorney General’s office by the Chinese Ambassador to Ghana.
[contextly_sidebar id=”C1pnRbEqZbSApPIETXXSfudrC1Paj0iS”]“We are not saying we don’t trust the institution to act with integrity; but if we don’t take care, a public officer might be found wanting when it comes to conflict of interest and when it comes to performing a public duty,” she said in a Citi News interview.
The Chinese Ambassador to Ghana on Tuesday presented a GHc 10,000 cheque and some office equipment to the Attorney General’s office to support the organisation of a stakeholders’ consultative workshop, on the Office of the Special Prosecutor Bill, 2017.
A similar donation was made to the police service by the Ghana Association of Chinese Societies, raising concerns and suspicions from the public that Mrs. Kwafo said were valid.
These donations, notably, come at a time where some Chinese nationals have gained notoriety for involvement in illegal mining activities, with a significant number of them currently grappling with cases in the court of law.
Mrs. Kwafo noted that, the law enforcement is “currently dealing with matters that concern Chinese engaging in illegal mining, so if the very institutions that are mandated under our law to deal with these matters are accepting gifts at this time, then it raises concerns.”
She further questioned the motives of the Chinese, and “why it is not donating to other institutions. These are questions that are worth asking, so if some responses can be given to us, that will be fine… For our state institutions, I am sure many other Ghanaians are concerned that we are taking such gifts at this particular moment.”
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By: Delali Adogla-Bessa/Farida Shaibu/citifmonline.com/Ghana