Set up democracy fund — CHRAJ Boss

The Commissioner of the Commission on Human Rights and Administrative Justice (CHRAJ), Ms Lauretta Lamptey, has proposed that the government set up a democracy fund to support independent governance institutions.

She said the country needed strong and independent institutions which had predictable sources of funding, the right number of personnel, as well as demonstrated commitment and political will, to combat corruption.

Presenting a statement on the state of corruption in Ghana on the theme, “Zero corruption — 100 per cent development”, at a ceremony to commemorate the 10th International Anti-corruption Day in Accra yesterday, Ms Lamptey said the government needed to invest sufficiently in the proposed fund to win the fight against corruption.

Progress

Ms Lamptey reported that from 2012 to date, 85 complaints on abuse of office had been processed — 26 in relation to misappropriation and embezzlement, eight complaints had to do with conflict of interest, seven concerned with bribery, eight  on extortion and two on breaches of the code of conduct for public officers.

She added that currently, CHRAJ was sensitising the public to avenues for safe reporting of corruption and impropriety and encouraged the public to use particularly the Whistleblowers Act to report corruption.

She gave an overview of Ghana’s review under the United Nations Convention Against Corruption (UNCAC), noting that although the review was still in progress, it had emerged that though Ghana had a relatively good legal framework to combat corruption, it still needed to enact the Public Officers Conduct Bill, the Whistleblowers (Amendment) Bill, the Witness Protection Bill and the Right to Information Bill.

Fighting corruption

The Director of the Economic and Organised Crimes Office (EOCO), Mr Kweku Akpadi Mortey, answering questions on investigations conducted by CHRAJ and the outcomes, said investigations took time and resources to complete.

He said putting out information on someone under investigation could make the public conclude that the person had really committed what he or she was being accused of.

However, Mr Mortey said most of the time, the accusations had no merit and were based on mere hearsay.

The Attorney-General and Minister of Justice, Mrs Henrietta Brew Appiah Oppong, who chaired the function, also reiterated the fact that institutions had to be strengthened to win the fight against corruption.

Source: Daily Graphic