The Executive Director of Ghana’s Economic and Organised Crime Office (EOCO) COP Maame Yaa Tiwaa Addo-Danquah(Mrs) held a meeting with the President of Seychelles, His Excellency Wavel Ramkalawan

COP Maame Tiwaa is attending the 13th Commonwealth Regional Conference for Heads of Anti-Corruption Agencies in Africa where the President is the Guest Speaker

The three-day conference, which kicked off on Monday at the Savoy Resort, is being attended by representatives from Botswana, The Gambia, Ghana, Kenya, Malawi, Mauritius, Namibia, Nigeria, Rwanda, Sierra Leone, South Africa, Uganda, Tanzania and Zambia.

Both spoke on issues of mutual benefit to the two countries.

Meanwhile, Seychelles President Wavel Ramkalawan in his address said that “corruption is not only about bribes. […] People are hurt when resources are wasted or diverted which is why it is so important to understand the different kinds of corruption that infect our society and develop smart responses.”

Meanwhile, the head of the Anti-Corruption Commission of Seychelles (ACCS), May de Silva, said that Seychelles is especially concerned about cyber security and how it keeps its data safe in its institutions.

“We will share this with our colleagues as well as invite our partners in the region to share the services of our digital forensic labs,” she said.

According to the UN, corruption costs the global economy $3.6 trillion each year. Over the last 50 years, it is estimated that Africa has lost more than $1 trillion to corruption, equivalent to all the official development assistance received during the same period.

Faced with such large sums, the ACCS says that while dealing with corruption cases takes time, it has to “let the process play out. We believe that we have to follow them. We are encouraged that as we are going through the process, we can retain ill-gotten gains that have been stolen from the country, and this is for anyone who we are investigating.”

In the last Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting (CHOGM) in Kigali, Rwanda, participants in a communiqué asked the Commonwealth Secretary General and the government of Rwanda to include anti-corruption measures as agenda priorities. These include prioritization of the recovery of proceeds of crimes, artifacts, and illicit financial flows out of Africa as part of the resolutions of the meeting.

Note, Seychelles, an island state with a little over 100,000 inhabitants, has one ongoing case of the disappearance of $50 million dollars, gifted to the island nation by UAE in 2002, before the Supreme Court.

Also attending the event from Ghana are Mr Stephen Azantilow Director, Anti-Corruption, CHRAJ. Mr Samuel Appiah Darko Director, Strategy Research and Communication OSP, Mr Baahiru Dapilah Director, Organised Crime Unit at EOCO and Ms Rose Enyonam Gawu.