CDD backs setting up of Special Prosecutor office
Governance and policy think tank Ghana Centre for Democratic Development (CDD-Ghana) has urged the new government to give meaning to its quest to “de-politicise criminal prosecutions and partisan bickering over criminal prosecution of politicians” by setting up the office of the Special Prosecutor in the first year of its tenure.
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The establishment of the office, the centre indicated, was a major step at strengthening accountable and responsive governance.
In a special edition of its Democracy Watch, a publication of the think tank issued in Accra, it outlined 10 measures which the government needed to implement in its first year to deepen accountability and responsive governance.
It said the establishment of the Special Prosecutor’s office would leave criminal prosecutions at the Attorney General’s office to the non-political staff of the department.
According to the think tank, its proposals to the government hinged on the fact that “Ghana’s governance challenges are deeply rooted in structural and cultural factors/forces that impede the adoption of reforms and conventions to strengthen institutional checks and balances, promote national cohesion and unity, and especially curb political patronage as well as hyper-partisanship and, arguably, the ‘winner takes all’ politics.”
Respond to change
It stated that Ghanaians, through the December 7, 2016 general election, demonstrated that they wanted significant improvement in the quality of governance, a change the Akufo-Addo administration should favourably respond to.
It stressed the need for the government to use the first year of its existence to fight corruption with all seriousness, and “curb endemic corruption and promote integrity in public life by vigorously enforcing the provisions of the Public Office Holder (Declaration of Assets and Disqualification) Act 1998 (Act 550).
Another thing the centre would like the new administration to implement within a year is the enforcement of the conflict of interest injunction provided under Article 284 of the 1992 Constitution, which was elaborated in the Commission on Human Rights and Administrative Justice’s (CHRAJ) Guidelines on Conflict of Interest.
In yet another suggestion, CDD-Ghana mentioned the “spoils system” and its accompanying drawbacks as one area that must be looked at. “Reduce the cost to the nation of the current ‘spoils system’ and accompanying presidential patronage, political corruption and political polarisation and at the same time, foster public service professionalism by insulating the public and security services from partisan politics and emphasising meritocratic criteria in appointments to state boards/trusts/councils/para-statals/public utilities/other non-political state agencies,” it said.
Partisanship
CDD-Ghana also touched on the need to reduce partisanship in the appointments to state institutions. To CDD Ghana, there was the need to “enhance performance and reduce political partisanship by recruiting public servants to the management and boards of strategic state-owned enterprises and public corporations.
Besides, the centre suggested the passage of the Right to Information (RTI) bill to further enhance transparency and accountability in government.
Also, the CDD-Ghana wanted the publication of the emoluments of public office holders at all levels of government, including public corporations.
The centre also called for the reduction in the cost of running government by appointing the minimum number of ministers required by the Constitution, especially those drawn from Parliament, and also reduce the number of ministries by collapsing some ministries and abolishing others.
The government, it suggested, must also “strengthen and enhance the effectiveness of local government authorities as well as promote local participation and inclusion in local government by consulting widely with traditional authority and interest groups as dictated by the Constitution, and in accordance with the Model Standing Orders of the assemblies in the Metropolitan, Municipal, and District Chief Executive (M/M/DCE) nomination, vetting and approval processes.”