General News of Wednesday, 28 August 2019

Source: kingdomfmonline.com

Combating corruption: 21 officials before court - Oppong Nkrumah

Information Minister, Kojo Oppong-Nkrumah Information Minister, Kojo Oppong-Nkrumah

The Minister of Information, Kojo Oppong Nkrumah, has hinted that at least 21 officials have been dragged to court.

These prosecutions, according to the Minister, may have delayed partly because of respect for due process.

Another reason, the Ofoase – Ayirebi Member of Parliament (MP) said, is deliberate efforts by the persons being prosecuted to delay the process.

“The Attorney-General in the meantime has not been idle even though people are saying there are no prosecutions. Twenty-one (21) people are on trial in Ghana today for corruption,” Kojo Oppong Nkrumah exclusively told Kwame Tutu on Anopa Nkomo on Accra based Kingdom FM 107.7.

Hon. Oppong Nkrumah entreated those who accuse his government of failing to jail corrupt former government officials to allow the judicial process to run its course.

He was explaining why his administration has not been able to successfully prosecute any appointees of his predecessor charged for graft.

The Special Prosecutor, a creation of the NPP government is to make the fight against political corruption a non-partisan one.

Many Ghanaians were upbeat following the appointment of Amidu as the country’s first-ever Special Prosecutor after 12 months of its establishment.

Mr. Amidu has earned the nickname ‘Citizen Vigilante’ for his no-nonsense stance and campaign against corruption, particularly in his own party National Democratic Congress (NDC) administration.

The Office of the Special Prosecutor 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.