Private legal practitioner, Martin Kpebu, has criticised aspects of a reaction by the Office of the Special Prosecutor to a petition demanding it to investigate alleged acts of corruption in the fight against illegal mining.
Mr Kpebu says while the Special Prosecutor, Martin Amidu, gives some cogent reasons for declining to investigate “thievery and corruption” allegations in the petition by the Alliance for Social Equity and Public Accountability (ASEPA), he erred in the last paragraph of his response.
The paragraph in Mr Amidu’s statement that the human rights activist and lawyer was referring to reads: “A review of your letter of complaint, however, has led this office to the conclusion that the facts and conjectures upon which you underpin your complaints do not raise any issues of corruption and corruption-related offences as narrowly defined under section 79 of the Office of the Special Prosecutor Act, 2017 (Act 959) to warrant an investigation by this office.”
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The Private Enterprises Federation (PEF), a non-profit business institution, has collaborated with some state regulatory agencies to develop a new service delivery charter that will help eliminate undue delays and administrative corruption which adds up to cost of doing business.
The charter which sets out the standards of service is to among other things provide relevant information to clients on appropriate fees and due processes and procedures to go through when dealing with administering agencies.
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Accra, Nov. 28, GNA – Mrs Beauty Emefa Narteh, Executive Secretary of the Ghana Anti-Corruption Coalition (GACC) has stated that women are the most affected by corruption so they must be actively involved in its fight.
“Women and girls are among the most affected, not least because they account for the largest proportion of people living in poverty, and because corruption exacerbates existing inequalities as a result of asymmetric power relationships,” she explained.
Mrs Narteh was addressing representatives of development partners, government institutions, civil society organisations and others in anti-corruption at a forum on the Role of Women in the fight against Corruption.
It was organised by the GACC with support from United Nations Development Programme (UNDP).
Citing the findings of a UNDP research, in 2012, she said about 70 per cent of women, in especially developing countries, responded that corruption had prevented their access to public goods and services.
Sex, they said, was demanded from them as bribes, thus sexualising their encounters with corruption, according to another research conducted by Hossain, Musembi and Hughes in 2010.
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Attorney General and Minister of Justice, Gloria Akuffo has urged local and international anti-corruption agencies to intensify efforts to confiscate proceeds of corruption and money laundering to deter others from engaging in such practices.
The agencies include the Commission for Human Rights and Administrative Justice (CHRAJ), Economic and Organised Crime Office (EOCO), United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC), West Africa Network of Central Authorities and Prosecutors (WACAP) and Interpol.
According to her, allowing culprits to only serve jail time and later benefit and enjoy from their activities would send a wrong signal that crime pays.
The Commission on Human Rights and Administrative Justice (CHRAJ), has chastised Parliament, accusing it of failing in its oversight mandate in the implementation of the National Anti-Corruption Action Plan (NACAP).
According to Deputy Commissioner of CHRAJ, Richard Quayson, the House has not shown the needed muscle to ensure the smooth implementation of the plan to curb the canker of corruption.
Mr. Quayson made the observation at a forum of the African Parliamentarians Network Against Corruption (APNAC).
“I ask this question? Why did Parliament spend about two years to look at the anti-corruption strategy and approve it and now, when it is necessary for then to provide the oversight for its implementation, we don’t feel them as we should?”
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The Local Chapter of Transparency International (TI), Ghana Integrity Initiative (GII) and the Ghana Anti-corruption Coalition have called on the government to place a premium on checking procurement breaches in the various state institutions as it continues to hamper the country’s effort in tackling corruption, Mypurefmonline.com reports.
In a media engagement in Kumasi on ‘Corruption risk management’, Monday, February 10, 2020, sponsored by Star Ghana Foundation, the GII in partnership with the Ghana Anti-corruption Coalition (GACC) educated the media personnel in identifying the vulnerabilities in the system to guide their probing of national issues especially in areas of Health, Education and Justice delivery.
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The Special Prosecutor, Mr Martin Amidu, has begun probing the Airbus scandal on 4 February 2020.
In a press statement, Mr Amidu said there is reasonable suspicion of corruption in the Airbus scandal.
President Nana Akufo-Addo referred the matter to the Office of the Special Prosecutor after court documents from the UK and the US found Airbus SE guilty in a series of unlawful business deals in countries including Ghana where a relative of a top elected government official was allegedly bribed.
“The Special Prosecutor has determined that the said referral and deferred prosecution of agreements and judgments accompanying them raise reasonable suspicion of the commission of corruption and corruption-related offences of bribery of public officers and the use of public office by public officers for private office which are offences falling within the mandate of this office under the office of the Special Prosecutor Act 2017 Act (595). A preliminary investigation was, accordingly opened on 4 February 2020 by this office into the allegations contained in the judgements referred to this Office aforesaid,” Mr Amidu said in his statement.
The statement further noted that the relevant domestic public institutions have been invited to provide relevant documents to aid in the probe.
A Corruption Watch investigation has uncovered how unidentified persons have been staging frequent break-ins at the offices of the Ministry of Justice and Attorney-General in Accra.
The incidents have resulted in concerns about tampering with the integrity of the prosecutorial processes as well as the security and safety of the officers of the A-G’s department.
According to Corruption Watch sources, one of the topmost officers affected is the Director of Public Prosecutions, Yvonne Attakorah Obuobisa.
Since April 23, 2018, Corruption Watch sought to speak with officials of the Ministry, including the Minister, to no avail. Last week, the Minister for Justice and Attorney-General Madam Gloria Akufo told Corruption Watch through her assistants that she cannot speak on the matter at this time because of “a tight” calendar.
The break-ins
In March this year, 2018, the office of the Director of Public Prosecutions was burgled. In that incident, the burglars took away one laptop computer and one printer.
Some frustrated customers of troubled fund management companies say they have lost confidence in the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) because SEC appears unable to compel the companies to release their matured funds to them.
There are particular demands on SEC by clients of Gold Coast Fund Management Limited and Beige Capital Asset Management Ltd with some accusing SEC that the regulator does not give prompt attention to complaints nor give feedback.
The Commission is the apex regulatory body of the Securities Industry in Ghana.
On its website, the Commission has described Fund Management licensees by either gold or red legend. Those in gold rows are “Fund Managers with no major regulatory issues” while those in red rows are “Fund Managers with major regulatory issues: pending complaints, suspension, etc.”
Integrity is the card Ghana must play to successfully project an image of a society that frowns on corrupt business practice, according to panelists on the Corruption Watch radio program.
“Today, we know that many people feel they have to make facilitation payments, many people feel that there are a lot of hindrances in their way to doing proper business in Ghana,” Mary Awelana Addah, Programs Manager, Ghana Integrity Initiative said on Wednesday when contributing to the Corruption Watch radio program via telephone.
She added, “We know of the common 10 per cent or 15 [per cent] or the others. These do not encourage people to want to do business.”
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