By Kodjo Adams
Accra, March 1, GNA – Mr Kissi Agyebeng, the State Prosecutor, has called for strong state institutions that are fit for purpose to fight corruption.
He said the Office of the Special Prosecutor represented the best bet in fighting corruption-related issues in the country and its independence must be ensured.
“The office’s independence must be fully assured, and its powers of mandate should be enlarged and enhanced to play its role effectively,” he said.
Mr Agyebeng said this at the Constitution Day Lecture held in Accra on Friday, organised by the University of Professional Studies and One Ghana Movement.
It was on the theme: “A Few Good Men: Suppressing and Repressing Corruption and State Capture in Aid of Development.”
He called for the enactment of a Comprehensive Corrupt Practices Act to address all forms of corruption-related activities.
That, he explained, would afford the country the opportunity to clearly and concisely set out what corruption and corruption-related offences meant.
The country, he said, must set up specialised anti-corruption courts, manned by specially trained judges in that field to swiftly and efficiently deal with corruption cases.
“Related to this, we must assure the independence of the judiciary and fortify and protect the culture of the defence of truth and the reward of integrity,” the Special Prosecutor said.
Mr Agyebeng said the skills of justice should remain untainted if the fight against corruption was to attain any reasonable result.
He called for constitutional reformation and a reimagination of the country’s political mindsets to deeply tackle corruption and state capture in the name of national development.
“Truth is always the first casualty in any criminal empire. Those who engage in grand corruption are wealthy; they possess the means and the wherewithal to mount formidable campaigns of misinformation and truth distortion.”
“They also pose a real and present danger to anti-corruption officials through intimidation, open threats, and actual harm, even to the point of killing.”
He called for a curriculum in schools at the basic and secondary levels on anti-corruption to instill an unyielding commitment to combating corruption.
Professor Henry Kwasi Prempah, the Executive Director, Ghana Centre for Democratic Development, said opportunities for corruption were high, motivating people to indulge in such acts, and called for concerted efforts to address the situation.
Mr Alexander Kwamina Afenyo Markin, the Minority Leader of Parliament, called for a collective approach to dealing with corruption and not only focusing on politicians.
GNA