The Deputy Attorney-General, Mr Godfred Yeboah Dame, has assured the citizenry of government’s commitment to promote accountability and transparency in the fight against corruption.
He said government had beefed up actions to deal with corrupt individuals and organisations that had marred the state’s credibility at dealing with the canker.
Speaking at the maiden Ghana Integrity Awards (GIA) held on Monday in Accra, Mr Dame cited the case of the GH₵51million judgment debt owed by businessman Alfred Agbesi Woyome, indicating that the state was working assiduously to retrieve the money.
He explained fresh evidence by the Supreme Court found out that Mr Woyome connived with defunct UT Bank to produce a false report, thus a memo had been forwarded to the Criminal Investigative Department (CID) of the Ghana Police service to prosecute him for the fabricated evidence.
In the case of the cancellation of Power Distribution Service (PDS) transaction, Mr Dame said the decision was an indication of government’s preparedness to secure national assets, urging the citizenry to complement efforts in dealing with corruption.
According to the Deputy Attorney General, the government was willing to ride on the Office of Special Prosecutor (OSP) to sanction individuals who defraud the state, pointing out that, “government has increased resource allocation to promote works on corruption and has expect to use the right to information bill to empower citizen’s access to information to promote transparency.”
The Danish Ambassador to Ghana, Mrs Tove Degnbol, said the absence of appropriate sanctions to persons found culpable of corruption made the situation rife in the country and expressed her outfit’s readiness to help uphold integrity in the country.
She urged the government to strengthen policies to maintain highest standard of integrity and work ethics across all areas to ensure zero tolerance for corruption, and also underscored the need for Ghanaians to unite, have courage and withstand the pressure of society to speak up against the ills in society to promote national development.
Touching on the GIA, the Ambassador commended the Ghana Integrity Initiative (GII) for the initiative expressing hope that honouring people who have demonstrated integrity in their field of work would encourage others to emulate their goods steps.
Board Chairman of GII, Mr Kwame Gyasi, called to mind the implications of corrupt acts on the state saying, “the deplorable state of this country is due to poor governance structures caused by corruption and economic mismanagement, and until we find urgent measures to deal with it we should forget about sustainable development and promoting human rights.”
The maiden awards saw Mr Daniel Yao Domelevo, the Auditor General, winning the prestigious Integrity Personality of the Year Award. Other anti-graft campaigners including freelance journalist, Manesseh Azure Awuni, Managing Director of the Ghana Publishing Company, David Boateng Asante, Director of Ghana Think Foundation, Ato Ulzen-Appiah and an Enginner with the State Housing Company, Edward Sowah Adjetey were also recognised on the night.
The Driver and Vehicle Licensing Authority (DVLA) won the Policy and Administrative Reforms organisation, the Ministry of Finance, the Transparency and Social Accountability award while the Efficient Public Service Delivery award was given to the Judicial Service of Ghana for their Case Tracking System (CTS) Initiative.
BY ABIGAIL ANNOH
