“It will not be subject to any control by anybody, not even the president’s office, and that is what the president has decided to happen,” he added.

President Akufo-Addo on Tuesday, January 2, 2017, appended his signature to the bill setting up the Special Prosecutor office after it was approved by Parliament in November 2017.

[contextly_sidebar id=”0S28iWYxrbj097jdluXMycf2gsZHp859″]Akufo-Addo used the opportunity to also accent to four other bills including the Zongo Development Fund Bill, and the three National Development Authority Bills.

It won’t be independent – NDC

Members of the opposition National Democratic Congress (NDC) have argued that the office cannot be independent since the Special Prosecutor will certainly be someone aligned to the NPP.

General Secretary of NDC, Johnson Asiedu Nketia, had warned that the Office risks being a lame duck if the official expected to lead the office is not independently appointed.

“I want to remind them that if they are going to appoint another NPP lawyer as the independent prosecutor, then you would have wasted the nation’s time and resources in making that law. It is because of the difficulty of an NPP lawyer as the Attorney General trying to prosecute offenders within the NPP government that we decided that, let us get an independent prosecutor,” the NDC General Secretary added.

But speaking on Ekosii sen on Asempa FM on Tuesday, the acting NPP Chairman said the government will do everything possible to make the Office independent.

“When the person is appointed, it is supposed to be subjected to Parliament; Parliament will agree to it by overwhelming majority…we want to make it independent just like in other countries. We all have to work towards that to make sure it succeeds,” he added.

About Special Prosecutor Office 

The Office of the Special Prosecutor marks 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: Godwin Akweiteh Allotey/citifmonline.com/Ghana
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The post Not even Nana Addo can control Special Prosecutor – Freddie Blay appeared first on Citi 97.3 FM - Relevant Radio. Always.

The governing New Patriotic Party in its 2016 manifesto promised to set up such controversial office to fight corruption in the country.

Although the document for the creation of the office was laid before Parliament it was later withdrawn after the Minority challenged the procedure in which the Bill was laid, claiming it was unconstitutional.

[contextly_sidebar id=”GsU773xJlB4vJ6HrOGibwv8YtHujLHJ0″]The Bill is however yet to re-laid before the House.

Meanwhile, addressing members of the NPP at the party’s National Delegates Conference at Cape Coast, President Akufo-Addo said he won’t abandon such office in his quest to triumph over corruption.

“The institute for dealing with corruption in a non-partisan, objective and impartial manner; the office of the Special Prosecutor, there will be a lot of parliamentary moves to try and delay its coming into being. But I want to tell those who are interested in dealing it is that it will come.”

“It will be manned by those who are capable of doing justice to the office and those who are committed to fight against corruption in the country,” he added.

Every corruption allegations will be investigated – Akufo-Addo

The President also promised to prosecute officials of his government accused of corruption.

According to him, the move is part of promise he made that he will not preside over a corrupt government.

President Akufo-Addo also stated that persons who make allegations of corruption against his officials should also be prepared give evidence when called upon.

“We are told that there is corruption in the Akufo-Addo government. Let me reassure you of one thing. Any allegation about corruption against any official member of my government will be investigated by the law enforcement agencies. And those who made that allegation better be prepared to support it when they are making these allegations of corruption because nobody is going to get away with it.”

“I am not going to preside over a government that will support corruption in our country. Every allegation of corruption that is made against any of my officials, I have given instructions to the law enforcement agencies that they should investigate each and every one of them,” he added.

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By: Godwin Akweiteh Allotey/citifmonline.com/Ghana
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The post Special Prosecutor office will surely be created – Nana Addo appeared first on Citi 97.3 FM - Relevant Radio. Always.

[contextly_sidebar id=”l8NgiVpF6evGyA9LJAlit46fLbDoAR5O”]Deputy Attorney General, Joseph Kpemka who made this revelation on Point Blank segment of Eyewitness News however fell short of mentioning names of persons involved.

“Some of these persons who have been daring us on TV or radio have questions to answer in court,” Mr. Kpemka revealed.

The Mahama administration was rocked with a number of corruption cases including the GHC3.2 million bus branding, GYEEDA and the Subah scandals.

The then opposition NPP, promised the creation of the Special Prosecutor Office which would deal with the various corruption cases.

Gov’t to to begin prosecution in October

Mr. Kpemka also indicated that government will begin the prosecution of officials in the Mahama administration found to have engaged in corruption in October.

“…By October when we start moving to court with some of the cases, Ghanaians will know that we are serious and we are ready to fight corruption as a canker in this country and uproot it once and for all.”

He said his outfit had already began interrogating persons believed to have been involved in various corruption scandals in order to establish a “very holistic investigation that will uncover the rot to the core.”

Stating government’s resolve to prosecute corrupt officials, he said: “It is very clear that we will be proceeding to court. It is just that the date is not due.”

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By: Marian Ansah/citifmonline.com/Ghana
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The post Corrupt ‘bragging’ NDC officials will face the court – Kpemka appeared first on Citi 97.3 FM - Relevant Radio. Always.

Deputy Attorney General, Joseph Kpemka who disclosed this on Point Plank on Eyewitness News on Thursday said the Akufo-Addo government is building cases against such officials and will put them before court in October.

Zero tolerance for corruption

[contextly_sidebar id=”dW7VuHVuGkTjeoyRbRwiRf26c31NYXLP”]President Akufo-Addo prior to the election promised to fight corruption when elected into office and also promised to set up a Special Prosecutor office to deal with such cases.

But even before the Special Prosecutor Bill could be passed into law, Mr. Kpemka said “by October when we start moving to court with some of the cases, Ghanaians will know that we are serious and we are ready to fight corruption as a canker in this country and uproot it once and for all.”

We’ll thread cautiously

Although he failed to mention names of persons who are likely to be prosecuted, Mr. Kpemka said his outfit will thread cautiously “with utmost circumspection taking into consideration the rights of the individuals involved.”

“You don’t go to court unprepared because there is pressure for you to go to court otherwise in the end you will embarrass yourself and we are not prepared in the least to embarrass ourselves in any court in Ghana. The courts are on a legal vacation and will be resuming in October by which time things will be ready and we will proceed to court. However I am unable to mention specific cases that are ready for prosecution and will be taken to court for very good reasons, when we get to the bridge we will cross,” he added.

The Deputy Minister said there are several investigations  and analysis currently being done by the government and  various security agencies including the BNI and EOCO to build solid cases.

Heartbreaking corruption cases

According to him claims against some potential corrupt officials who will be prosecuted are very heartbreaking.

“We’ve invited several persons who have been interrogated by Police, EOCO, BNI and other state agencies acting with one another to ensure a very holistic investigation that will uncover the rot to the court. Some of the facts, when you read them out and you don’t have the heart you will not be able to stand it, because the actions and conducts of certain persons are so bad that you will get very angry to the core upon the first hearing of the facts alleged against such persons,” he added.

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By: Godwin Akweiteh Allotey/citifmonline.com/Ghana
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The post Prosecutions of corrupt officials to begin in October – Deputy AG appeared first on Citi 97.3 FM - Relevant Radio. Always.

The Presentation of the bill by the Attorney General begins the process of legislative approval for the framework with which government intends to fight public sector corruption.

[contextly_sidebar id=”HXWArEG0ewr2UGl7o4s4xcl9h4EkdLNN”]The Speaker of Parliament, Michael Oquaye ahead of the laying of the bill explained circumstances under which the office of the special prosecutor should be set up.

“With regards to public prosecutor, it is something that our constitution basically provides. That the Attorney General has a monopoly of prosecution. The only person who has the right to prosecute in their courts is the Attorney General by a constitutional provision and he may delegate. Nevertheless, when you establish a law which clearly provides for another person to prosecute , a circumstance where the constitution says it is only the Attorney General who can prosecute then we must tread a bit carefully,” he said.

Confusion over Special Prosecutor’s office

The setting up of the office of the Special Prosecutor was one of the key campaign promises made by Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo which he explained was necessary in tackling corruption related issues in the country.

There have however been varied opinions about the creation of the office.

Whereas some believe it is in the right direction, the Minority Members of Parliament had threatened to go to court over the matter.

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.

Funding for special prosecutor in limbo – MP

Though the President has indicated that the office will be operational within the stipulated time, he failed to mention how government intends funding its operations.

The Chairman of Parliament’s Constitutional, Legal and Parliamentary Affairs committee, Ben Abdallah had earlier stated that he did not know where the funding for the office will come from although he maintained that the office “is one of the priorities of government.”

“…Government has given a deadline around next year 2018, so let’s wait and see if the promise is not realized taking into consideration the deadline, then we will be right in taking government to task. Because as I’m talking, we don’t even know where the money will be coming from, whether it will be provided outside this budget estimates, but by the government or it’s going to come from somewhere else, we can’t tell,” he said.

“But let’s not be judgmental at this time of the day by saying that there would be a conflict of interest with respect to where government is to get funding from be it from a particular entity or individual. Probably the money will be provided for by the government itself,” he added.

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By: Marian Ansah/citifmonline.com/Ghana
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The post Special Prosecutor Bill to be laid before Parliament today appeared first on Citi 97.3 FM - Relevant Radio. Always.

Addressing the Ghanaian community at an event held at the Central Hall at Westminster in London, the President said : “We made a commitment to establish an office of special prosecutor which will have the mandate to investigate and prosecute acts of corruption….An office that will be independent of the Executive…The office is going to be established by an act of Parliament and it will have the remit to investigate and prosecute corrupt officials.”

[contextly_sidebar id=”WGHj6gIT4R4PGLz0RvX9fL2P1f2f3CcA”]“This meeting of Parliament that has began Godwilling will see the law passed… and within three months, latest six months, the office itself will be up and running and then we can have the capacity to do what we want to do,” the President said.

The President explained that the setting up of the office has become necessary since the state had lost so much money through corruption by both public and private individuals.

“This is important because of the project we have put before the people of Ghana. We want to put Ghana in a situation beyond aid.We want to be able to mobilize resources to handle the problems of development,” the President added.

Confusion over Special Prosecutor’s office

The setting up of the office of the Special Prosecutor was one of the key campaign promises made by Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo which he explained was necessary in tackling corruption related issues in the country.

There have however been varied opinions about the creation of the office.

Whereas some believe it is in the right direction, the Minority Members of Parliament had threatened to go to court over the matter.

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.

Funding for special prosecutor in limbo – MP

Though the President has indicated that the office will be operational within the stipulated time, he failed to mention how government intends funding its operations.

The Chairman of Parliament’s Constitutional, Legal and Parliamentary Affairs committee, Ben Abdallah had earlier stated that he did not know where the funding for the office will come from although he maintained that the office “is one of the priorities of government.”

“…Government has given a deadline around next year 2018, so let’s wait and see if the promise is not realized taking into consideration the deadline, then we will be right in taking government to task. Because as I’m talking, we don’t even know where the money will be coming from, whether it will be provided outside this budget estimates, but by the government or it’s going to come from somewhere else, we can’t tell,” he said.

“But let’s not be judgmental at this time of the day by saying that there would be a conflict of interest with respect to where government is to get funding from be it from a particular entity or individual. Probably the money will be provided for by the government itself,” he added.

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By: Marian Ansah/citifmonline.com/Ghana
Follow @EfeAnsah

The post Special Prosecutor office will be operational in 6 months – Nana Addo appeared first on Citi 97.3 FM - Relevant Radio. Always.