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Political Science lecturer at the University of Ghana, Professor Ransford Gyampo has cautioned Ghanaians to limit their expectations of the Special Prosecutor because the office cannot solve all corruption-related cases.
He explained that the government may still struggle to prosecute its own despite the creation of the Special Prosecutor office.
“We should be measured with our expectations from the Office of the Special Prosecutor to fight corruption and I don’t think the Special Prosecutor can fight corruption all alone,” Prof Gyampo stressed.
Parliament on November 14 passed the Special Prosecutor Bill after it went through the necessary scrutiny in Parliament.
The object of the Bill is to establish the Office of the Special Prosecutor as a specialised agency to investigate specific cases of corruption involving public officers, politically exposed persons, persons in the private sector involved in the commission of corruption and to prosecute the offences on the authority of the Attorney-General.
“Prosecuting your own sometimes is humanly difficult. Is the Office of the Special Prosecutor going to be appointed by Parliament? No.
“The Special Prosecutor will be appointed by the President just like the A-G was appointed,” Prof Gyampo said.
Touching on the legacy of President Nana Akufo-Addo he praised his foresight describing him as a legacy hunter.
“Series of actions and comments made by the President since he assumed power in December show that he wants to leave a mark before he leaves the scene.
“Aside the famous free SHS policy, the Akufo-Addo-led administration is pursuing very ambitious projects including constructing a dam in every district in the North and allotting one million dollars for every constituency for local development and is also on a drive to construct a factory in every district of the country.
“The President will do well if he exerts his authority more on happenings around him, looking at the demeanour of President Akufo-Addo, he is one who will like to leave a legacy for Ghana and you can see that he really wants to leave something behind.
“He doesn’t look like he is looking to finish a first term or second term, he wants to leave something behind,” he said.
On the issue of vigilantism, Prof. Gyampo called on the President to be decisive in order to address the challenge.
“The issue of vigilantism is a problem with political foot soldiers and I will plead with the President to put his foot down and deal with the issue decisively,” he intimated. -starrfmonline.com
