Ahmed Ibrahim says although the President has set up the Special Prosecutor Office, the institution will be ineffective without the passage of the Right to Information Bill into law.

[contextly_sidebar id=”7vsAknA42Wc9xRWs6Cb7eGdnHz86IaoK”]Speaking to Citi News, the Banda legislator said without the Bill, the Special Prosecutor would find it difficult to access information for effective work to be done.

“Corruption is an activity which takes place in secrecy, and governance is such that everybody is asking for transparency and accountability. People do not just ask for accountability. Whoever is asking for accountability will first of all have to ask for transparency. If there is no transparency there can be no accountability. The 1992 constitution says that all Ghanaians must have Right to Information such as must be established by the laws of the country. From 1992, we have struggled and have not been able to do it. Even though we have not done that, we have certain structures or certain constitutional bodies that are created to fight corruption, but the inability to pass the Right to Information bill into law has always made certain corrupt activities to be hidden in secrecy.”

“ If you say you have passed the Special Prosecutor Bill, the Special Prosecutor is going to fight corruption based on the information and what if the information does not exist, who will give him that information? Is it not government? So if government passes the RTI, then every individual will use the RTI law to knock on every door when public money is being spent.”

Calls for RTI bill passage 

There has been a rise in the number of calls for the RTI Bill to be passed after former Attorney General, Martin Amidu’s nomination as Special Prosecutor.

Some individuals including the General Secretary of National Democratic Congress (NDC), Asiedu Nketia, have argued that the Office of the Special Prosecutor will struggle to carry out its mandate without the RTI Bill.

According to Mr. Nketia, without the Bill, the Special Prosecutor will find it difficult to retrieve information, especially from government establishments.

“The most important Bill, even more important than the Special Prosecutor’s Office is the freedom to information Act. If someone comes with a complaint on a bloated price of a project, it will be difficult to crosscheck because if you request for it from government offices, they will tell you they can’t because of official secrecy. If you don’t bring the freedom of information Act, and ask the special prosecutor to do its job, you are going to complicate things for him,” he had earlier suggested.

About RTI bill

The RTI is a fundamental human right guaranteed by the country’s 1992 Constitution, and recognized as a right under International Conventions on Human rights.

The Bill, as it has been drafted, is to also give substance to Article 21 (1) (f) of the Constitution which states that, “All persons shall have the right to information subject to such qualifications and laws as are necessary in a democratic society.”

Successive governments have however failed to ensure its passage despite several assurances.

Although the New Patriotic Party government has promised that the Bill will be passed under its tenure, it is unclear how soon that would be.

The Information Minister, Mustapha Hamid, recently stated that Cabinet is yet to hold talks on the Bill before it can be brought back to Parliament for approval.

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By: Marian Ansah/citifmonline.com/Ghana

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There has been a rise in the number of calls for the RTI Bill to be passed after former Attorney General, Martin Amidu’s nomination as Special Prosecutor.

[contextly_sidebar id=”BqQIFOmVab6UC7ikIJA2pT5QcO8Mdo10″]Some individuals including the General Secretary of National Democratic Congress (NDC), Mr. Asiedu Nketia have argued that the Office of the Special Prosecutor will struggle to carry out its mandate without the RTI Bill.

According to Mr. Nketia, without the Bill, the Special Prosecutor will find it difficult to retrieve information, especially from government establishments.

“The most important Bill, even more important than the Special Prosecutor’s Office is the freedom to information Act. If someone comes with a complaint on a bloated price of a project, it will be difficult to crosscheck because if you request for it from government offices, they will tell you they can’t because of official secrecy. If you don’t bring the freedom of information Act, and ask the special prosecutor to do its job, you are going to complicate things for him,” he had earlier suggested.

However speaking on Citi FM’s News Analysis Programme, The Big Issue, Mr.  Casely Hayford downplayed the significance of passing the RTI bill, arguing that since the Constitution guarantees those same rights the Bill would have offered, its passage was unnecessary.

“This Right to Information Bill is now a dinosaur. We don’t need it. The Constitution gives us those same rights.”

About RTI bill

The RTI is a fundamental human right guaranteed by the country’s 1992 Constitution, and recognized as a right under International Conventions on Human rights.

The Bill, as it has been drafted, is to also give substance to Article 21 (1) (f) of the Constitution which states that, “All persons shall have the right to information subject to such qualifications and laws as are necessary in a democratic society.”

Successive governments have however failed to ensure its passage despite several assurances.

Although the New Patriotic Party government has promised that the Bill will be passed under its tenure, it is unclear how soon that would be.

The Information Minister, Mustapha recently stated that Cabinet is yet to hold talks on the Bill  before it can be brought to Parliament for approval.

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By; Marian Ansah/citifmonline.com/Ghana

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Parliament passed the Office of the Special Prosecutor Bill a few weeks ago, and it has since been assented to by the President.

Speaking at the 86th Annual National Convention of the Ahmadiyya Muslims Mission at Pomadze near Winneba in the Central Region, Dr. Bawumia further indicated that, public officials will now be cautious in their dealings for fear of incurring the wrath of the Special Prosecutor.

“The signing of the Special Prosecutor Bill into law is a significant step in the President’s determination to fight corruption in the public life of our dear nation. Both past and present public officers will be under the microscope to account for their actions and inaction. This will help fight corruption and ensure the prudent use of resources for the benefit of all. The Special Prosecutor’s Act is going to be an instrument to help ensure discipline.”

The setting up of the office of the Special Prosecutor was one of the key campaign promises made by President Nana Akufo-Addo ahead of his election victory in 2016, and it is aimed at tackling corruption.

When operational, the Special Prosecutor’s office will be independent of the Executive, which observers believe will allow it to adequately deal with corruption-related issues which have plagued past governments.

This Bill is expected to, among other things, define the modalities for the appointment and operations of the Special Prosecutor.

The office of the Special Prosecutor will have the mandate to investigate and prosecute cases of alleged corruption under the Public Procurement Act 203 Act 63, and other corruption-related offenses implicating public officers, political office holders and their accomplices in the public sector.

The Prosecutor will also be mandated to trace and recover the proceeds from corrupt acts.

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By: Marian Ansah/citifmonline.com/Ghana

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The Bills include the Office of the Special Prosecutor Bill, the Zongo Development Fund Bill, and the three National Development Authority Bills.

“These are some of the most important elements of the NPP’s 2016 Manifesto, on which we were elected into office, and they have now found legislative expression,” President Akufo-Addo noted on his Facebook page.

The approval of the Development Authorities Bills by the President will see the creation of the Coastal, Middle Belt and Northern Development Authorities.

The latter replaces the controversial Savannah Accelerated Development Authority (SADA).

These authorities will champion the New Patriotic Party’s (NPP) campaign promise of disbursing $1 million to every constituency to address pressing needs.

The three development authorities will be under the Infrastructure for Poverty Eradication Programme (IPEP), which is expected to receive an annual allocation of $275 million.

The Zongo Development Fund Bill sought to establish the legal framework for the implementation of the Zongo Development Fund.

$50 million dollars was allocated to the Fund in the 2017 budget, and Education has been noted as a priority area of the fund, with the stocking of libraries, rehabilitation of schools in the Zongos and empowering Arabic instructors being some of the expected interventions.

The setting up of the Office of the Special Prosecutor will also mark the fulfillment of a major campaign promise of Nana Akufo-Addo in the run-up to the 2016 elections.

The Bill defined the modalities for the appointment and operations of the Special Prosecutor, which will have the mandate to investigate and prosecute cases of alleged corruption under the Public Procurement Act 203 Act 63, and other corruption-related offences implicating public officers, political office holders and their accomplices in the public sector.

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By: Sammi Wiafe & Delali Adogla-Bessa/citifmonline.com/Ghana

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During the 2018 budget reading, coming a day after the passage of the Office of the Special Prosecutor Bill, the Finance Minister, Ken Ofori Atta, disclosed that, Attorney General’s office will have the office up and running in 2018.

[contextly_sidebar id=”1pjqAdGH5MrfgPJo7u6DP0LqZCuFvmoj”]“In 2018, the office of the Attorney General’s will operationalise the office of the Special Prosecutor, review all agreements for MMDAs [Ministries, Departments and Agencies], and secure a successful conviction in 75 percent of the cases referred to the office by the police.”

“The Office of the Special Prosecutor is getting ready to crack the whip of justice,” the Minister affirmed.

The setting up of the office of the Special Prosecutor is one of the major anti-corruption initiatives proposed by President Nana Akufo-Addo, which came ever closer to fruition with the passage of the Bill 0n Tuesday.

The office will have the mandate to investigate and prosecute cases of alleged corruption under the Public Procurement Act 203 Act 63, and other corruption-related offenses implicating public officers, political office holders and accomplices.

Corruption in public procurement

Mr. Ofori Atta also noted the “enhanced oversight responsibility for public procurement” with the appointment of a Minister of State for Public Procurement as one of the measures put in place to reduce procurement malfeasance.

“…a major source of corruption has been with malfeasance in public procurement and the extensive human interface in the provision of public services,” he stated.

Other interventions to curb procurement-related corruption include the introduction of e-procurement by the Public Procurement Authority, the implementation of a paperless system at the Port, and the implementation of the smart vehicle registration and drivers license by the DVLA.

No witch-hunt claims

Mr. Ofori Atta also said investigations into corruption will be thorough to allay fears of political witch-hunts, which the National Democratic Congress Minority in Parliament has suggested.

“There will be enhanced investigation of corruption in the public service by the Office of the Auditor General, EOCO, National Security, and other state investigative institutions. Methodical and thorough investigations are being conducted to avoid claims of witch-hunting,” he said.

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By: Delali Adogla-Bessa/citifmonline.com/Ghana

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The Bill was passed amid debate over whether the Special Prosecutor should be immune from prosecution.

[contextly_sidebar id=”pTuMa7PPuqj5specQuZlqoNq6ZWolWzc”]The setting up of the office of the Special Prosecutor was one of the key campaign promises made by President Nana Akufo-Addo ahead of his election victory in 2016 and it is aimed at tackling corruption.

When operational, the Special Prosecutor’s office will be independent of the Executive, which observers believe will allow it to adequately deal with corruption-related issues which have plagued past governments.

This Bill is expected to, among other things, define the modalities for the appointment and operations of the Special Prosecutor.

The office of the Special Prosecutor will have the mandate to investigate and prosecute cases of alleged corruption under the Public Procurement Act 203 Act 63 and other corruption-related offenses implicating public officers, political office holders and their accomplices in the public sector.

The Prosecutor will also be mandated to trace and recover the proceeds of corruption.

A Ranking Member on Parliament’s Legal and Constitutional Affairs, Inusah Fuseini noted to Citi News, after the Bill’s passing, that it was now awaiting President Nana Akufo-Addo’s assent.

“What has happened tonight is a demonstration of our commitment towards establishing institutions of State that will fight corruption and corruption-related offenses.”

Mr. Fuseini said the Bill was intended to be passed today [Tuesday] “so that it can find space in [the 2018] budget” which will be read on Wednesday.

“Now the ball is squarely within the court of the NPP and they have to help the institution of State and especially the office of the Special Prosecutor to fight corruption,” he added.

Friction from NDC Minority

The Bill appears to have been passed with little fuss from National Democratic Congress Minority today despite earlier contentions when processes for the laying of the Bill begun in July 2017.

But Mr. Fuseini echoed fears from the Minority that the Special Prosecutor could be used for witch-hunts.

“We have always had that fear. The Minority has always had the fear that this office can be used to witch-hunt political opponents,” he stressed.

There were heated exchanges on the floor of Parliament at the laying of the Office of the Prosecutor Bill in July.

The issues came on the backdrop of varied opinions on the creation of the office.

The Minority Leader, Haruna Iddrisu, in an earlier Citi News interview, insisted that the Special Prosecutor’s office could not be established without tinkering with Article 88 of the constitution, which deals with the role of the Attorney-General.

“…That is my understanding of the law. It belongs to the executive chapter of the constitution which is entrenched; therefore you cannot be seeking to review that through an Act of Parliament… I am certain that article 88 is entrenched, and not that which can be reviewed simply through a process of an Act of Parliament,” he explained.

At a point, the government withdrew the Special Prosecutor Bill from Parliament after the Minority challenged the procedure in which the Bill was laid, claiming it was unconstitutional.

Haruna Iddrisu argued that the Bill did not fulfill the mandatory 14-day constitutional process for its introduction in Parliament.

The Majority Leader and Minister for Parliamentary Affairs, Osei Kyei Mensah Bonsu, who withdrew the Bill, however, did not explain the reasons for withdrawing it before it was re-laid before the House.

Possible holes in Bill

Former Attorney General, Martin Amidu, cited some possible lapses in the Special Prosecutor Bill in a 25-page paper critiquing aspects of the Bill.

He questioned why there was a clause that sought to limit the Special Prosecutor to specific crimes.

“The attempt to distinguish types of corruption offenses that may be investigated and prosecuted by the Special Prosecutor sends the clear message to Ghanaians that the President and his Government now accept that certain types of corruption offenses are not serious for prosecution or at least to be prosecuted by the Special Prosecutor.”

“…the question may be asked, who will be responsible for investigating and prosecuting categories of corruption offences by the same public officers and politically exposed persons not meeting the standards in Clause 3 (4), or are they then immune from prosecution for such corruption offences?”

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By: Delali Adogla-Bessa/citifmonline.com/Ghana

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The Committee is currently working on the office of the Special Prosecutor Bill which seeks to deal mainly with public sector corruption.

Speaking to Citi News’ Duke Mensah Opoku, Ben Abdallah, who is also the Member of Parliament for the Offinso South constituency, said his committee hopes to push the bill through before the budget reading later in November.

[contextly_sidebar id=”ZI9iJ0Ou4a9Ep1NL4aTWzgpIBAk35s30″]“I’ve already alluded to the fact that before you take anyone to court, you need to weigh the facts, carry out thorough and comprehensive investigation, and you need to come up with certain facts which are of probative value before you proceed to court. If you hurriedly proceed to court because you want Mr. A or Mr. B to be prosecuted in order to satisfy political A or political B, your facts may not be adequate enough to prosecute the matter.”

“And this government is not in a hurry to rush any matter to court for the sake of prosecution. This government is taking its time to do what is legitimately and legally expected of it. And to prosecute what is legitimately and legally expected of it; and I believe that at the end of the day, when the time is due, the necessary legal action will be taken,” he added.

Prosecutions of corrupt officials to begin in October

This comes on the back of an assurance from a Deputy Attorney General, Joseph Kpemka, who in August 2017 stated that, the alleged corrupt officials of the Mahama government will be dragged to court in October.

Although the October deadline has elapsed, Ghanaians are yet to witness the prosecution of such appointees.

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By: Godwin Akweiteh Allotey/citifmonline.com/Ghana
Follow @AlloteyGodwin

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Gloria Akufo added that, in order for this to be realized, the Office needed to be made independent of all interference from political actors and the Attorney General’s department.

[contextly_sidebar id=”uBaFqCbhNyOu6psiF1YJ3fID1sWIr2sa”]She made these remarks at the second reading stage of the Office of the Special Prosecutor Bill in Parliament.

“The independence of the Office of the Special Prosecutor is secured by insulating the office from the direction or control of a person or an authority in the performance of a function of the office,” she said.

“The Bill also spells out the mandate of the Office of the Special Prosecutor. This includes the investigation and prosecution of cases of alleged corruption under the Public Procurement Act, and other corruption offences implicating public officers, politically-exposed persons and individuals in the private sector implicated in the commission of the offence, and the recovery of proceeds gained from the commission of corruption-related offences in order to make corruption very unattractive in this country.”

Gloria Akuffo explained that, the Bill would grant certain powers to the Special prosecutor, mandating them to, among other things, order the seizure of properties or the freezing of accounts belonging to persons under investigation.

She added that, staff of the Office of the Special Prosecutor would also be able to invite persons of interest to any investigation for questioning.

“The Special Prosecutor is empowered to request the presence of a person or representative of an entity whose affairs are to be investigated or any other person the Office considers necessary to assist them with information relevant to the matter being investigated by the Office,” she explained.

“The Bill further specifies how the Office of the Special Prosecutor is required to deal with the proceeds of corruption. An authorized officer is empowered to seize properties reasonably suspected to be tainted with corruption or corruption-related offences.”

Anti-corruption campaigner, Martin Amidu, had earlier punched holes into the much-hyped Special Prosecutor Bill, which government intends to use as a tool to fight corruption among state officials.

In a 25-page paper critiquing aspects of the Bill, Amidu questioned the inclusion of a clause that seeks to limit the Special Prosecutor to specific crimes.

“The attempt to distinguish types of corruption offences that may be investigated and prosecuted by the Special Prosecutor sends the clear message to Ghanaians that the President and his Government now accept that certain types of corruption offences are not serious for prosecution or at least to be prosecuted by the Special Prosecutor,” he added.

Former Deputy Attorney General, Dr. Dominic Ayine has also raised constitutional issues with the Bill, which he feels must be corrected in the interest of the country.

“One could drive a truckload of constitutional issues through the Bill,” the Bolgatanga East Member of Parliament said.

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By: Duke Mensah Opoku & Edwin Kwakofi/citifmonline.com/Ghana

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He said under the current constitutional dispensation, no prosecutor in Ghana could be legally independent; emphasizing that, “again under our current constitutional dispensation, no prosecutor can be legally settled”.

[contextly_sidebar id=”Ne3VkMoufvOyc0KLqwRFUsIdPBRzC6Af”]“Any attempt to pass a law that establishes the Office of a Prosecutor that purports to be special and or independent does not only do violence to article 88 of our constitution, but will not pass constitutional master in the Supreme Court,” Dr. Atuguba stated in his presentation at the Centre for Social Democracy (CSD) Ghana’s Public Forum on “Parliamentary Oversight and Good Governance”, in Accra.

The forum was organised by the CSD – Ghana, in partnership with the Political Science Department of the University of Ghana, with support from the Friedrich Ebert Stiftung.

Dr. Atuguba said Parliament must be congratulated for sending the Bill for the establishment of the Special Prosecutor back to where it came from.

“Parliament must be bold enough to tell the Executive that wasting time and resources on drafting a bill that would be death on arrival in Parliament was causing financial loss to the State,” he said.

“Every prosecutor in Ghana is within the limit of article 88 of the 1992 Constitution; under the prosecutorial discretion, prosecutorial direction and prosecutorial control of the Attorney General,” he stated.

“Such a prosecutor is dependent on the Attorney General and can never be independent.

“Again every prosecutor in Ghana is given a charter by the Attorney General to prosecute. When Dr Ben Kunbuor was the Attorney General, I went to him for a charter to allow the Forestry Commission to prosecute.”

Dr. Atuguba said: “The so called Special Prosecutor cannot, therefore, have special prosecutorial powers. These powers are given to everyone including SSNIT, NECO and the rest. So the so called Independent Special Prosecutor is dependent and ordinary.

“The 1992 constitution is the fundamental law of the land. That law has vested all prosecutorial powers in one woman, the Attorney General; until an amendment of the constitution, there is no iota of prosecutorial powers left anywhere to be given to anybody.

“And so, Parliament itself is constitutionally constrained from giving prosecutorial powers to an Independent Special Prosecutor, because Parliament cannot just do that, those powers have already being vested in one woman.”

Dr. Atuguba appealed to the Minister of Parliamentary Affairs and Majority Leader, to live by his accolade and stop the Independent Special Prosecutor’s Bill from even returning to Parliament.

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Source: GNA

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The Constitutional, Parliamentary and Legal Affairs Committee, is currently putting together a report on the bill for the plenary when it resumes from recess.

The Bill requires that the Special Prosecutor be nominated by the Attorney General and approved by Parliament before any appointment.

The Minority Leader, Haruna Idrissu, had called for the addition of a clause that will make the Special Prosecutor subject to the approval of Parliament, hence making the office strong enough to deal with corruption.

Speaking to Citi News, the Deputy Minority Spokesperson on Constitutional, Legal and Parliamentary Affairs, Dr. Dominic Ayine, agreed that Parliament needed to be engaged more in the process of the appointment of the Prosecutor.

“The issue was raised as to whether this is a simple majority requirement of approval or it is going to be a two-third majority requirement or what is called a super majority requirement,” Mr. Ayine noted.

The Office of the Special Prosecutor is to enable the government deal with issues of corruption, especially among state officials.

Under the Bill, an independent prosecutor will head the office and prosecute corruption offenses by state officials. It was one of the major promises made by President Akufo-Addo as part of his plans to deal with corruption in government.

The Chairman of the Legal and Constitutional Affairs Committee of Parliament, Ben Abdallah, has assured Ghanaians that the Bill setting up the Office of Special Prosecutor will be ready by October 4, when Parliament resumes sitting.

Special Prosecutor doesn’t need MPs approval – Martin Amidu

Meanwhile, a former Attorney General, Martin Amidu, has explained that whoever is appointed by the President, Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo as the Special Public Prosecutor will not need parliamentary approval.

He said “the Constitution has clearly delineated the type of public officers who shall be appointed by the President with the approval of Parliament. Public officers in the category of the Special Prosecutor do not fall under that category and it is unconstitutional for Parliament to partake in the unitary and exclusive appointment powers of the President.”

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By: Duke Mensah Opoku/citifmonline.com/Ghan

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