The Special Prosecutor, Kissi Agyebeng, has vowed to institute and strengthen measures in the coming years to prevent, suppress and repress corruption more efficiently and effectively than has ever been done in Ghana.
This, he noted, should poteen hope that Ghana is taking concrete steps to drive down the incidents of corruption.
He announced steps taken by the Office of the Special Prosecutor (OSP) to collaborate with law enforcement and anti-corruption agencies including the Attorney General, National Security Secretariat, Ghana Police Service, the Commission on Human Rights and Administrative Justice (CHRAJ), the Economic and Organized Crime Office (EOCO) and the Financial Intelligence Center.
Additionally, the OSP said he has opened insightful interactions and meetings with Foreign and Diplomatic Missions and International Organizations in accordance with existing mutual legal assistance regime and that of the United Nations Convention.
“I have invited the participation and collaboration of anti-corruption Civil Society Groups, Nongovernmental organizations and Community Based Organizations, the Media and Investigative Journalists to support the work and operations of the OSP in our collective effort in combating corruption. I state with gratification that the response has been enthusiastic” he emphasized.
Addressing Journalists in Accra on Thursday (December 9, 2021), Mr Kissi Agyebeng stated from January 2022, the OSP will institute as part of its pressure for progress drive, an annual Ghana Corruption League Table to assess perceived levels of public sector corruption in the estimation of express and business people.
He added in this regard, public agencies would be ranked against each other on a corruption barometer and the results would be published on every 9th December.
“We have commenced discussions with the local chapter of Transparency International, i.e the Ghana Integrity Initiative (GII), which is going to be our main strategic partner on this program.”
On this score, Mr Kissi Agyebeng indicated further that the OSP would also require all public institutions, departments, agencies and companies to prepare and submit to the OSP integrity plans intended at assessing deficiencies in their regulations, procedures, policies, guidelines, administration instructions and internal control mechanisms to determine their vulnerability and exposure to corrupt practices and the prescription of punitive measures to manage such susceptibility to corruption and corruption related offences.
He promised that such internal control mechanisms would be put in place even at the OSP to prevent corruption at the OSP itself.
Judgment debts
The Special Prosecutor further announced the OSP would also carry out anti-corruption risk assessment and review from January 2022, of all major public contracts, legislation and draft legislation, explaining that, this is intended to avoid toxic deals and the prevalence of judgment debts and arbitration awards against the nation.
Public Education
Kissi Agyebeng further advance his intension to undertake continuous public education and information dissemination and publicizing of detected acts of corruption and assured the OSP will vigorously investigate and prosecute cases of alleged or suspected corruption and corruption related offences and recover proceeds of such offences through property tracing of tainted property and currency in line with the vision of rendering corruption a costly enterprise.
However, he called for adequate funding of the OSP and the necessary material resources as stipulated in Article 6 and 36 of the UN Convention to carry out this most difficult challenging and solemn mandate.
“I cannot help but state that without adequate funding and the provision of the necessary material resources, the good intensions of my staff and I would remain just good intensions with nothing concrete to show for it” he intimated.
