The National Chairman of the Progressive People’s Party (PPP), Nana Ofori Owusu, has advocated an amendment of the 1992 Constitution to separate the Office of the Attorney General (AG) from the Ministry of Justice to ensure the government appointees who are found culpable are investigated and severely punished.
He explained that currently due to merging the two offices it was difficult for the government to investigate and prosecute its appointees who were found to have breached the law.
“Amending the 1992 Constitution to separate the Office of the Attorney General and the Ministry of Justice is the only way in ensuring probity, transparency and accountability and also help in the fight against corruption in the country so the party is poised and focused on embarking on the reawakening of the Ghanaian populace as part of its 10th anniversary,” Nana Owusu noted.
He alleged that the current definition of the Minister of Justice role was indicative of institutional failure because having a Minister for Justice as Attorney General sitting with his colleagues where issues of corruption had been made against them and insisted that issues of probity, transparency and accountability could not be assured.
Nana Owusu stated that since the Attorney General and Minister of Justice advises the president and his government he (the Attorney General and Minister of Justice) would find it difficult to sanction the government’s appointees who sit in Cabinet with the president taking decisions with his colleagues.
