President Akufo-Addo has revealed two of his appointees are currently facing investigations over allegations of corruption.
The President did not disclose their identities. He was addressing members of the diplomatic corps at the New Year greeting session at the Peduase Lodge on Tuesday, January 28, 2020.
He was unhappy at what he describes as an unspecified generalization of corruption by some Ghanaians.
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According to President Akufo-Addo, he is determined to build transparent government that exposes act of corruption.
“Two appointees of the executive are facing investigations, it is refreshing to note that none of the investigative agencies has ever indicated any pressure from the executive over their investigations. Should you members of the diplomatic corps be notified of any evidence of corruption against any of my appointees, I insist that they should be sent to my office to take action on the matter. That will be better than the unspecified generalization of corruption”.
Ghana in the latest Corruption Perception Index dropped in the scores from 45 to 40 between 2012 and 2017 but began to score an improvement in 2018 albeit marginal.
The Index put together by Transparency International ranks countries annually by their perceived levels of corruption, as determined by expert assessments and opinion surveys.
Ghana scored 41 out of a possible clean score of 100 in the CPI 2019 and ranked 80 out of 180 countries/territories included in this year’s index. This year’s score of 41 shows that Ghana’s score remained the same compared to its CPI 2018 score (41).
President Akufo-Addo in 2017 established the Office of the Special Prosecutor after an act of the Parliament of Ghana passed the Office of Special Prosecutor Bill.
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The purpose of the office is to investigate and prosecute body to make inquiries into corruption, bribery, or other criminal cases at the national level whether they be in public or private sector.
The NPP Government said they wanted to lessen the burden on existing anti-corruption agencies and remove the institutional roadblocks that exist as hindrances to the fight against corruption. With the end result being to make anti-corruption agencies in the country more effective at discharging their duties.
Martin Amidu is the first to hold the position of special prosecutor.
