President Nana Akufo-Addo has revealed, that as part of his fight against corruption, the Attorney General, is prosecuting some high-profile personalities for numerous offenses which includes economic crime, money laundering, procurement breaches and fraud. Addressing the congregation at the National Anti-Corruption Conference on Friday, 10 December 2021, President Akufo-Addo said, the Office of the Attorney General and the Economic and Organized Crime Office (EOCO) have successfully prosecuted a number of high-profile cases, including a case of stealing in the Republic vs. Eugene Baffoe-Bonnie & Others. “Many other high-profile prosecutions involving corruption, economic crime, fraud, procurement breaches and money laundering, like the Republic vs. Alhaji Collins Dauda & 4 Others in the Saglemi Scandal; Republic vs. Ernest Thompson & Others; Republic vs. Dr. Kwabena Duffuor & Others; Republic vs. Stephen Opuni & Others, are ongoing. It is worthy to note that these cases have, as their sole object, the principle of holding public officers to account, and involve sums in excess of $850 million and GH₵2 billion,” he added. He said, “inasmuch as public officials are required to declare their assets upon taking office as a tool of fighting corruption, I am, however, of the candid opinion that existing legislation on corruption, relating to the conduct of public officers in Ghana, appears to be inadequate to deal extensively with public office accountability.” “the need to lay down a set of far-reaching and a more fit for purpose set of regulations for the conduct of public officers, which will give effect to the provisions of Chapter 24 of the Constitution on the conduct of public He pointed that the Attorney General, over the past four months, has undertaken various stakeholder consultations with a number of public sector organizations, civil society and other interest groups to this end. When passed into law, President Akufo-Addo indicated that the Conduct of Public Officers Act will follow the example of legislation in other jurisdictions like the United States Ethics in Government Act of 1978, Public Officers Ethics Act of Kenya, and the U.K. Constitutional and Governance Act of 2010, in addressing issues regarding financial portfolios held by public officers before assuming public office, links to the family business, improper enrichment, care of the public property, professional practices, property, investments/shareholdings and other assets, self-dealing, partiality in the performance of duties, use of public or confidential information to further private interest, amongst others. President added “The Bill provides a gamut of stringent administrative measures and sanctions to deal with violations of the law, ranging from a bar against holding public office for limited and indefinite periods to penal measures. The Bill also seeks to strengthen the role of CHRAJ in the investigation of allegations of contravention of or non-compliance with the Code of Conduct for Public Officers, including conflict of interest, non-declaration of assets, and illicit enrichment,” Apexnewsgh.com/Ghana/Ngamegbulam Chidozie Stephen Please contact Apexnewsgh.com on email apexnewsgh@gmail.com for your adverts and credible news publications. Contact: 05555568093

President Nana Akufo-Addo has said, his government has fought corruption not in words, but in concrete deeds. Giving a keynote address at the National Anti-Corruption Conference, organized by the Commission for Human Rights and Administrative Justice (CHRAJ), on Friday, 10 December 2021, the President said, his government has “fought corruption not in words, but in concrete deeds. We have shunned mere exhortations and showy denunciations of unproved corruption. It has been a holistic approach. He further said, “We have protected the public purse, we have made institutional reforms, we have enacted additional, requisite laws, and we have resourced more adequately the accountability organs of state. Our fight against corruption has been grounded on legislative, financial and institutional action, and not on lip-service.” President Akufo-Addo said, since coming into office in 2017, he stated that he has, first, had to make sure that every single alleged act of corruption leveled against any of his appointees have been investigated by independent bodies, such as CHRAJ, the CID, and, in some cases, by Parliament itself. Citing the example of the suspension of the then head of the Public Procurement Agency, the President indicated that “following recommendations from CHRAJ, based on their investigation, I removed him from office in October 2020, and the Office of Special Prosecutor is seized with the matter of prosecution. If an appointee is cleared of any wrongdoing, the evidence adduced and recommendations made by these agencies, after the investigations are concluded, are what clear the accused persons, not myself.” However, President Akufo-Addo indicated that “there are some who refuse to accept my method of proceeding, and have characterised me as a ‘clearing agent’, because, for them, the mere allegation without more is enough to merit condemnation of the public official, even though they did not apply this principle when they were in office. For my part, I will not set aside due process in the fight against corruption, no matter how much opprobrium this incurs for me.” With a clear understanding that corruption thrives in an atmosphere conducive to its concealment, he told the gathering that his government has ensured the passage of the Right to Information Act, 2019 (Act 989), which will foster a culture of transparency and accountability in public affairs. In addition to this, President Akufo-Addo revealed that Parliament has passed the Witness Protection Act, 2018, (Act 975), to which he gave his assent on 24th August the same year. The Act, he explained, established a Witness Protection Agency to establish a witness protection scheme as a vehicle for offering protection to persons, who are required to co-operate with law enforcement agencies as witnesses in the investigation and prosecution of cases, particularly corruption cases affecting public officers. Last year, he stated that the Criminal Offences (Amendment) Act, 2020, (Act1034), was passed to amend section 239 of the Criminal Offences Act, to categorize the offense of corruption, previously a misdemeanor, as a felony, and to guarantee stiffer punishments of terms of imprisonment of not less than twelve (12) years and not more than twenty-five (25) years in prison. The President indicated that other laws passed by his administration, and which have enhanced significantly the capacity of the State in the fight against corruption are the Revenue Administration (Amendment) Act, 2020 (Act 1029), Fiscal Responsibility Act, 2018 (Act 982), State Interests and Governance Authority Act, 2019 (Act 990), Anti-Money Laundering Act, 2020 (Act 1044), Corporate Restructuring and Insolvency Act, 2020 (Act 1015), Companies Act, 2019(Act992), Narcotics Control Commission Act, 2020 (Act 1019) and Real Estate Agency Act, 2020 (Act 1047). Underlying the digitalization agenda of his government, which comprises a robust national identification system, digital property address system, paperless port system, e-justice system, pensions and insurance data, a digitized land registry, and mobile money interoperability system, he stressed, is the overarching objective to improve transparency, accountability and efficiency in the public sector. “A digitized environment, ultimately, helps to eliminate and prevent corruption in various institutions and agencies. The passport office, ports and harbors, Registrar-General’s Department, National Health Insurance Service, Driver Vehicle and Licensing Authority, which, hitherto, were fertile grounds for corrupt activity, are being transformed beyond recognition,” he said.  He continued, “The introduction of the Ghana.Gov platform has significantly reduced the risk of public sector corruption through embezzlement, making it possible for services to be accessed and payments made online by card or mobile money, with a considerable reduction in the conduit of middlemen or ‘goro boys”. Apexnewsgh.com/Ghana/Ngamegbulam Chidozie Stephen Please contact Apexnewsgh.com on email apexnewsgh@gmail.com for your adverts and credible news publications. Contact: 05555568093

President Nana Akufo-Addo has said, his job is to act on allegations of corruption by referring the issue or issues to the proper investigative agencies for the relevant inquiry and necessary action and not to convict corrupt persons. He said such a job is solely for the courts. Apexnewsgh.com report According to President Akufo-Addo who was addressing the congregation at a high-level national conference on the theme: “Building a culture of integrity for generations” to commemorate International Anti-Corruption Day and Human Rights Day in Accra on Friday, 10 December 2021, He said none of his appointees who were accused of corruption went uninvestigated. “The government has undertaken, arguably, the boldest initiative since our nation attained independence nearly 65 years ago, to reform and strengthen the capacity of our institutions to tackle corruption in the public sector”, he said. He added, “Charity, they say, begins at home; and, that is why, so far, every single alleged act of corruption levelled against any of my appointees has been investigated by independent bodies such as the Commission for Human Rights and Administrative Justice (CHRAJ), Criminal Investigations Department (CID) and, in some cases, by Parliament itself”, he stressed. “It is not my job to clear or convict any person accused of wrongdoing or of engaging in acts of corruption; that is the job of the courts”, he explained. “My job is to act on allegations of corruption by referring the issue or issues to the proper investigative agencies for the relevant inquiry and necessary action, including – if required – the suspension of the affected official pending the conclusion of the investigations”. “That is exactly what has been done since I assumed the mantle of national leadership on 7 January 2017”, he said. “As it was in 2019, I suspended the then-acting head of the Public Procurement Authority from office after conflict of interest and corruption allegations had been levelled against him”. “Following recommendations from CHRAJ based on their investigation, I removed him from office in October 2020 and the Office of the Special Prosecutor, is seized with the matter for prosecution”, he pointed. Apexnewsgh.com/Ghana/Ngamegbulam Chidozie Stephen Please contact Apexnewsgh.com on email apexnewsgh@gmail.com for your  adverts and credible news publications. Contact: 05555568093