The Ranking Member on the Foreign Affairs Committee of Parliament, Samuel Okudzeto Ablakwa has requested for the Office of the Special Prosecutor, Kissi Agyabeng to be resourced.

Speaking on JoyNews’ Newsfile on Saturday, he explained that a lot is being lost to corruption due to the absence of a board for the OSP to function efficiently.

“This country is losing too much to corruption. The hemorrhage is just too much.”

“I was invited to IMANI’s second fiscal recklessness index report launch and I want to commend them and Oxfam for financing the project. If you were in the hall at Tang Palace and listened to the presentation, and you saw the numbers on how much we are losing, you will be more supportive of the effort of the Office of the Special Prosecutor,” he told Samson Lardy Anyenini.

He backed his assertion with an extract from IMANI’s fiscal recklessness report.

https://www.myjoyonline.com/osp-cash-strapped-without-governing-board-9-months-after-kissi-agyebeng-took-over/

“Over the period, from 2015 to 2020 a total of 13.9 billion cedis in financial irregularity covering stocks, procurement, cash, tax, payroll, rent and contract irregularity were recorded. Cumulatively, the total financial irregularity represents about 3.64 percent of GDP and an average of 0.52 percent of the early GDP over the analysis period.”

According to him, “the highest financial irregularity occurred in the period of 2018. 5.2 billion cedis representing more than a third of the overall financial irregularities of the MDAs and double the average of financial irregularities of the MDAs. 13.9 billion that is more than twice of what is projected to be raised from the e-levy.”

However, the Special Prosecutor needs just 1 billion to be resourced.

On her part, the Programmes Manager at the Ghana Integrity Initiative (GII), Mary Awelana Addah has bemoaned the government’s resourcing of the Office of the Special Prosecutor to fight corruption.

According to her, the former PPA boss, Adjenim Boateng Adjei would not have amassed much wealth if the government had resourced the office of the Special Prosecutor, well.

https://www.myjoyonline.com/if-osp-was-well-resourced-former-ppa-boss-will-not-have-amassed-so-much-wealth-gii-boss/

Referencing the recent news about the former PPA boss having withdrawn monies from his frozen accounts, Mary Addah said the country must be serious in its fight against corruption.

“If we want to fight corruption, then we must show some seriousness. Particularly when we know that in the past, things have not happened. The gentleman [Adjenim Boateng Adjei] you mentioned we know that assets that were frozen got unfrozen and if the OSP has his own logistics to track some of these, I believe this wouldn’t have happened, and so if he says he needs an independent forensic lab, let the people of Ghana invest in this,” she told Samson on Newsfile, Saturday.

She explained that although the fight against corruption is expensive, it is worth more than the monies government lose to corruption every year.