Minister of Justice and Attorney General, Madam Gloria Akuffo says the proposed Office of the Special Prosecutor will vigorously pursue the recovery of state funds in a bid to make corruption unattractive.
The minister who was in Parliament on Thursday, October 26, 2017 told the Parliamentarians that the office would have to be independent of all interference from political actors and the Attorney General’s department in order to achieve its purpose.
“The independence of the Office of the Special Prosecutor is secured by insulating the office from the direction or control of a person or an authority in the performance of a function of the office,” she said.
“The Bill also spells out the mandate of the Office of the Special Prosecutor. This includes the investigation and prosecution of cases of alleged corruption under the Public Procurement Act, and other corruption offences implicating public officers, politically-exposed persons and individuals in the private sector implicated in the commission of the offence, and the recovery of proceeds gained from the commission of corruption-related offences in order to make corruption very unattractive in this country”, she explained.
According to her, the Bill would grant certain powers to the Special prosecutor, mandating them to, among other things, order the seizure of properties or the freezing of accounts belonging to persons under investigation.
“The Special Prosecutor is empowered to request the presence of a person or representative of an entity whose affairs are to be investigated or any other person the Office considers necessary to assist them with information relevant to the matter being investigated by the Office,” she further explained.
“The Bill further specifies how the Office of the Special Prosecutor is required to deal with the proceeds of corruption. An authorized officer is empowered to seize properties reasonably suspected to be tainted with corruption or corruption-related offence”, she added.
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