Audio By Carbonatix
President Akufo-Addo has stated that his mandate does not include clearing or convicting individuals accused of corruption-related activities in his government.
Speaking at a high-level National Conference on Friday, he noted that it is the duty of the judiciary.
"It is not my job to clear or convict any person accused of wrongdoing or engaging in acts of corruption. That is the job of the courts," he said.
President Akufo-Addo, however, affirmed that his job "is to act on allegations of corruption by referring the issue to the proper investigative agencies for the relevant inquiry and necessary actions including if required, the suspension of the affected official, pending the conclusion of the investigation."
The Conference was held to commemorate the International Anti-Corruption Day (IACD) and the International Human Rights Day on Friday. It was dubbed: "Your right, Your role: Say no to corruption."
The President explained that since assuming office in January 2017, his government has worked tirelessly to nip corruptif/on in the bud.
President Akufo-Addo stated that since Ghana gained independence nearly 65 years ago, no government has undertaken bold initiatives to tackle the issue of corruption in the public sector as done by the NPP government under his tenure of office.
"I accepted the invitation to speak here to take advantage of this occasion to place my government's record on corruption for public scrutiny. It will show that my government has undertaken arguably the boldest initiatives since our nation attained independence nearly 65 years ago to reform and strengthen the capacity of our institution to tackle corruption in the public sector."
To bolster his government's success in the fight against corruption, the President disclosed that all suspected corruption cases by government officials have been investigated.
According to him, they were investigated by independent bodies such as the "Commission on Human Rights and Administrative Justice (CHRAJ), Criminal Investigations Department (CID) and in some cases, Parliament itself."
Meanwhile, the Special Prosecutor, Kissi Agyebeng, addressing the press on Thursday to commemorate International Anti-Corruption Day, said his office is investigating 31 corruption and corruption-related cases.
According to him, the Office of the Special Prosecutor (OSP) has completed a review of all the alleged cases of corruption and corruption-related offences before it.
Speaking at Kempinski Gold Coast Hotel in Accra, Mr. Agyebeng noted that in due course, his Office “will commence the prosecution in the courts of the cases it considers probatively strong.”
He added that there is no case by the OSP pending in the courts.
As part of its pressure-for-progress drive, the Office of the Special Prosecutor will, January next year, institute an Annual Ghana Corruption League Table to assess perceived levels of public sector corruption in the estimation of experts and business people.
According to the Special Prosecutor, “public agencies would be ranked against each other on a corruption barometer, and the results would be publicised every December 9.”
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