We’re probing 31 cases of alleged corruption – Special Prosecutor

The Office of the Special Prosecutor says it is currently investigating thirty-one corruption-related cases after a review.

The Special Prosecutor, Kissi Agyebeng, disclosed this during the commemoration of the International Anti-Corruption Day in Accra today, Thursday, 9th December 2021.

He said his office will in due course begin the prosecution of strong cases in the court.

“The OSP has completed a review of all the alleged cases of corruption and corruption-related offences before it. Currently, the OSP is investigating thirty-one (31) active cases, and it will in due course commence the prosecution in the courts of the cases it considers probatively strong,” he said.

There is no case commenced by the OSP pending in the courts at the moment, according to the Special Prosecutor.

He further said the office will soon begin carrying out corruption risk assessments on all major government contracts and legislations dating back to 2020.

“[We’ll carry out] an Anti-corruption risk assessment and review from January 2020 of all major public contracts, legislations, and draft legislation. This is intended to avoid toxic deals and the prevalence of judgment debts and arbitration awards,” he noted.

OSP to start ranking public institutions on corruption from 2022

The Special Prosecutor says his outfit will from 2022 start ranking public institutions based on corruption perception. He said the office will rely on experts and business people through a strategic partnership with the Ghana Integrity Initiative (GII) to produce the ranking, which will be made public every December 9.

“From January 2022, the OSP will institute as part of its pressure for progress drive an annual Ghana corruption league table to assess perceived levels of public sector corruption in the estimation of experts and business people. Public agencies will be ranked against each other on a corruption barometer and the results will be published every 9th December,” he said.

2022 Budgetary allocation is not enough

The Special Prosecutor was also unhappy about the 2022 budget allocation to his office, saying it was below his expectation, as that is not enough to fund the numerous ideas and projects the Office has in mind.

According to Mr. Agyebeng, though he will not give up due to challenges with funding, under-resourcing is a major obstacle to the corruption fight.

“Without money, we can’t do anything. We will be reduced to writing long letters without any force,” he warned.

He explained that various divisions ought to be established on the ground; finance, administration, operations, investigations, prosecutions, strategies, communications, asset recovery, and management.”