Ghana to revise Criminal Act to include UN Convention against Corruption

President John Dramani Mahama on Thursday announced that government was proposing to revise the Criminal Offences Act, which would redefine corruption to include the United Nations Convention Against Corruption.

He said the African Union Convention on Preventing and Combating Corruption would also be included in the revised Act.

President Mahama, who was presenting the State of the Nation Address in Parliament said government’s commitment to the fight against corruption remained unshakeable.

“As a demonstration of this, we shall set up a Committee of Inquiry to investigate untoward land dealings in the past especially in relation to public lands situated in Accra and Kumasi.”

He said government was also committed to ensuring that Ghana was absolutely insulated from the illicit drug trade.

“To this end; we will pursue the programme for the legislative conversion of the Narcotics Control Board (NACOB) into an autonomous Commission.”

The President said government would strengthen the inter-agency coordination mechanism involving NACOB, the Customs Division of the Ghana Revenue Authority, the Police, BNI, the Food and Drugs Authority, Aviation Security and the Immigration Service to ensure increased international cooperation for surveillance.

He promised to prioritize the security and safety of all citizens in the coming years by resourcing and equipping the security services to play their roles professionally.

“We have been making modest gains as crime statistics show that the incident of crime is on the decline.  This notwithstanding, we will continue to resource and adequately equip the security services to ensure that no Ghanaian feels unsafe in their lawful pursuits.”

He said government would continue to provide critical support capable of augmenting the developmental service mix of our armed forces while providing adequate security for all citizens.

This, he said, could be done through enhancing the health and logistical infrastructure that would enable the security agencies to lead rescue and support missions, step in when there are major disruptions in basic services of water, health, sanitation, floods and natural disasters.

“They will undertake a comprehensive Security Services Health Sector Initiative that will improve basic, primary and referral health facilities within the security services and also make those facilities available for use by the general public,” he concluded.

Source: GNA