NO EXCUSES TO DELAY PROSECUTION OF CORRUPTION CASES

After what looked like centuries, in the estimation of some Ghanaians, the government has inducted into office a new board for the Office of the Special Prosecutor (OSP).

As we may agree, it comprises an array of distinguished and accomplished citizens spanning several professional backgrounds, including the Ghana Police Service, Office of the Attorney General, Economic and Organised Crime Office, Financial Intelligence Centre, Commission on Human Rights and Administrative Justice and the Ministry of National Security.

We believe this should make it convenient for the OSP ‘to deliver gold’, in the light of the relevance of the corruption fight, in instilling a culture of transparency in our national institutions. Additionally, it is also imperative in enhancing the image of the government in terms of credible, transparent governance.

Recurring ritual

Since the First Republic, we have lived with the culture of annual audit reports showing an embarrassing picture of abuse of state resources and impunity that insults the authority of the Executive.

Unfortunately, that hasn’t changed, in spite of all the efforts to tackle corruption. Indeed, even under Jerry John Rawlings, the scourge persisted, with the disease having infected every agency of government, including the Ghana Police Service.

It appears that, in spite of the so much noise being made by the media and civil society for prudent use of resources and stiffer penalties for offenders, the cancer is still flourishing.

The matter gets worse when those who get caught walk into their bedrooms and return telling us that they want to refund the stolen loot, in avoiding harsh prison sentences.

Woyome syndrome

Evidently, we appear to be growing, slowly but surely, a clan of political rogues whose only agenda is to target state funds, and tweak state policies to enrich themselves at the expense of large communities of urban and rural folk who need only a fraction of such funds to build a school or CHIPS Compound.

When, under President JA Kufuor, we attempted to send a signal that corruption would be decisively discouraged through appropriate deterrent measures, Ghanaians were the same people who began commiserating with politicians who had been feigning illness in prison to court sympathy.

So, wrongdoings that should have attracted ten or fifteen years were adjusted to three or four in the name of presidential pardons that saw such rogues returning as heroes, despite World Bank files on them calling for stiffer sanctions.

Strong signal

That the general public and civil society have the support of the OSP is manifested in the little the media and civil society have seen him do in lining up corruption cases for prosecution.

Thankfully, the new Special Prosecutor has begun his crusade by cautioning public officials against the practice of hiding files and delaying paperwork that must facilitate the investigative and prosecutorial processes.

Once a strong signal has gone out that such actions may constitute criminal complicity, the Daily Statesman believes that the coast is now clear for more fluent action in clipping the wings of dodgy characters in politics and public life.

Swiftness

With the board now in place, it is the opinion of civil society and ordinary Ghanaians – as well as even development partners – that the wheels of justice, while they may grind slowly, will grind decisively. We need to do this to put down this growing culture of impunity that rogue elements in our public institutions, business and political office inflict on us.

Particularly because governments have tenures, and state funds belong to the people, it is the conviction of the Daily Statesman that, together with the judicial authorities, the OSP may push for some modest swiftness in the corridors of the courts in tackling cases.

For far too long in our history, the processes of prosecuting corruption cases have always been delayed by technicalities that only arm the perpetrators against the good people of Ghana.

This is the time to prove that all arms of government will work in concert in
sending out a strong message that we can no longer allow reprobates to draw
us back with their acts of criminal abuse.