All set for prosecution of ex corrupt officials as Parliament okays Special Prosecutor bill

• Posted on November 15, 2017
• by Nana Kwesi Coomson
• Comment

The much-awaited bill that will see the establishment of an independent special prosecutor to spearhead the prosecution of public and political officials engaged in corrupt practices has been passed by parliament.

Members of Parliament from the political divide on Tuesday night unanimously passed the bill after the legislators made final amendments, 3FM’s Mercydalyne Lokko reported Over 30 amendments were made to the bill after which the Attorney General moved for the third reading of the bill and subsequently passed.

The bill was laid before the House on July 19, 2017 but has suffered setbacks until Tuesday night when the roadblocks were cleared. The Office of the Special Prosecutor Bill, 2017 will establish the Office of a Special Prosecutor as a specialised agency to investigate specific cases of corruption involving public officers and politically exposed persons in the performance of their functions.

It will also prosecute persons in the private sector implicated in the commission of corruption. Prosecutions under the Special Prosecutor will be done on the authority of the Attorney-General (A-G). Government has been waiting for the passage of the bill, which was one of the key campaign promises of the New Patriotic Party in the run up to the 2016 election, to prosecute government appointees under the John Mahama administration among others.

Though the Akufo-Addo government claim to have unearth some corrupt acts against some Mahama and government appointees, it has been waiting on the establishment of the Special Prosecutor office to proceed with prosecutions. More soon…

By Stephen Kwabena Effah|