The Minister for Finance, Mr. Ken Ofori-Atta says the Office of the Special Prosecutor is set to crack the whip of justice following the passage of the Bill into law by Parliament.
He said this on the floor of Parliament when he was presenting the Budget Statement and Economic Policy of the government for the year ending 31st December, 2018. The budget which was under the theme ‘Putting Ghana back to work’, was christened the ‘Adwuma’ Budget.
Touching on the fight against corruption in the country, the Minister said a number of major interventions have been undertaken to fight the menace. He indicated that with the appointment of the Minister of State for Public Procurement there will be an enhanced oversight responsibility for public procurement.
He intimated that there will also be an enhanced investigation of corruption in the public service by the Office of the Auditor General, the Economic and Organised Crime Office (EOCO), the National Security and other state investigative institutions.
The Minister added that the aforementioned institutions will ensure that alleged cases of corruption are methodically and thoroughly investigated to avoid claims of witch-hunting.
On the 14th of November, 2017, Parliament passed the Office of the Special Prosecutor Bill into law. The President, Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo is expected to assent to the Bill to become operational.
The Bill sought to establish the Office of the Special Prosecutor as a specialised agency to investigate specific cases of corruption involving public officers, politically exposed persons and persons in the private sector involved in the commission of corruption. Such offences will be prosecuted on the authority of the Attorney-General.
