President Akufo-Addo led administration has said More than forty (40) high profile persons have been charged with various acts arising out of actions and activities superintended by the Mahama-led NDC administration, involving in monetary terms a total of about US$265.5 million and GH¢2.225 billion.
According to the Party’s manifesto document, to date, six (6) have been found guilty, three (3) of whom have been jailed and ordered to refund US$3 million to the state.
It said the other three (3) have been ordered to refund GH¢18.5 million and forfeit assets, including eight (8) buildings and five (5) luxurious vehicles to the states.
The Party document said it has strengthened the legal framework to fight corruption, passing into law:
1. The Witness Protection Act, 2018 (Act 959)
2. The Office of the Special Prosecutor Act, 2018 (Act 959)
3. Corporate Restructuring and Insolvency Act, 2020 (Act 1015)
4. Public Financial Management Regulations, 2019 (LI 2378)
5. The Right to Information (RTI) Act, 2019 (Act 989): passed after 21 years since it was introduced and having gone through six parliaments under the 4th Republic
6. The Companies Act, 2019, (Act 992), which provides a framework for establishing a beneficial ownership register B. We have also:
7. Implemented several digitization initiatives to prevent public-sector corruption
8. Applied Open and Competitive Bidding for and conducted Ghana’s first open bidding round for oil blocks
9. Established a National Register of Contracts/ Register of Petroleum Agreements, as provided for by the Petroleum (Exploration and Production) Act, 2016 (Act 919), which the NDC refused to do. This enables anyone to trace who the beneficial owners of an interest in oil blocks are
10. We have successfully defended several legal claims against the State and reversed the trend where huge monetary awards are made against the State, saving €100,000,000, £920,000, US$13 million, and GH¢166 million in potential judgment debts, and
11. Budgetary allocation to the Office of the Auditor-General has been significantly increased to enable it to perform its duties. Compared to 2016, the 2019 budget for the Office has increased by 177%. Year-on-Year, the budget increased by 28% in 2017, 70% in 2018, and 27% in 2019.
12. We have improved the financing of governance and anti-corruption MDAs like the Ministry of Justice and Office of the Attorney General, Office of the Special Prosecutor, NCCE, CHRAJ, and EOCO
13. We have significantly increased the direct transfers of DACF funds to MMDAs from 35.1% in 2016 to 53.40% in 2019 in fulfillment of our commitment to curtail centralized spending on behalf of local government structures.
Source: Mybrytfmonline/Kofi Atakora
