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Establish statutory fund for Office of Special Prosecutor - PPP to govt
Establish statutory fund for Office of Special Prosecutor - PPP to govt

Establish statutory fund for Office of Special Prosecutor - PPP to govt

The Progressive People’s Party (PPP) has called on the government to establish a statutory fund to resource the Office of the Special Prosecutor (OSP).

This, the party said would ensure prompt payment of all salary arrears and financial needs of the office and not an agreement to settle arrears as it has been done by the Ministry of Finance.

"Establishing the statutory fund will help the Special Prosecutor (SP)  to be adequately resourced and not have to beg for funding," the party noted .

The PPP made the call in a statement signed and issued by its National Chairman, Nana Ofori Owusu following media reports that the Special Prosecutor and his officers have not been paid their salaries for the past 16 months.

"This is very worrying and a recipe for disaster. The man who is supposed to muster courage to investigate and prosecute politically exposed persons found or accused to be corrupt is kept incapacitated by the Minister of Finance refusing to pay to him what he is due," the statement said.

"The only logical conclusion is that government is acting thus way to deliberately make the OSP an ineffective organisation whilst corruption continue to destroy our nation," it said.

It said the response of President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo to this call would also demonstrate whether he (President) really is committed to fight corruption or he (President) just wanted to be seen to be fighting corruption to deceive Ghanaians.

Decouple Ministry of Justice from Attorney General

The PPP also reiterated its call for a separation of the office of the Minister of Justice from the Attorney-General's (A-G's) Department and for the institutionalisation of the A-G to make it a non-politically aligned office.

This, the party said would secure the A-G's tenure of office with a dedicated source of funding to ensure that all persons who deserve prosecution are prosecuted without any political consideration.

Below is a copy of the PPP statement

INSTITUTE A STATUTORY FUND FOR OFFICE OF THE SPECIAL PROSECUTOR

The Progressive People’s Party (PPP) was taken aback when it emerged that the Special Prosecutor and his Officers have not been paid their salaries for the past 16 months.

This is very worrying and a recipe for disaster. The man who is supposed to muster courage to investigate and prosecute politically exposed persons found or accused to be corrupt is kept incapacitated by the finance minister refusing to pay to him what he is due. The only logical conclusion is that government is acting this way to deliberately make the OSP an ineffective organization whilst corruption continue to destroy our Nation.

The PPP is demanding for an immediate institution of a statutory fund to resource the Office of the Special Prosecutor. This will ensure prompt payment of all salary arrears and financial needs of the office and not an agreement to settle arrears as it has been done by the finance ministry.

The response of the President to this call will demonstrate whether he really committed to fight corruption or he just want to be seen to be fighting to deceive Ghanaians. Establishing a statutory fund will help the office of the Special Prosecutor adequately resourced and not have to beg for funding.

We repeat our call for a complete separation of the Office of the Minister of Justice from the Attorney Generals department and for the institutionalization of the AG to make it a non-politically aligned office, having a secure tenure of office with a dedicated source of funding to ensure that ALL persons who deserve prosecution are prosecuted without any political consideration.

#AWAKE

Nana Ofori Owusu
National Chairman.

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