Don't be influenced - AG tells prosecutors

The Minister of Justice and Attorney General, Mrs Marietta Appiah-Oppong, has urged state prosecutors and investigators not to allow themselves to be influenced by politicians, family and friends in the discharge of their duties.

She also advised them not to seek financial gain, especially when handling corruption cases.

'You must conduct prosecutions in an effective and expeditious manner to ensure the successful prosecution and punishment of persons accused of corruption and money-laundering offences,' she advised.

Speaking at the opening of a capacity building workshop on anti-corruption and anti-money laundering for prosecutors and investigators in Koforidua yesterday, Mrs Appiah-Oppong, stated that 'it is incumbent on all of us to do what we are supposed to do in order to help eradicate corruption or reduce it to a minimum'.

The three-day event is aimed at strengthening the capacity of the participants in the investigation and prosecution of corruption and money laundering cases.

It is being sponsored by the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP).

Mrs Appiah-Oppong stressed the need for thorough investigations to be conducted into corruption and money-laundering cases by investigators before dockets were sent to the Attorney-General's Department for prosecution.

On corruption, she said it was an insidious plague that affected all societies, as it undermined democracy and the rule of law.

'Corruption leads to violation of human rights, distorts markets, erodes the quality of life and allows organised crime, terrorism and other threats to human security to flourish,' she stated.

According to her, corruption also undermined the rule of law and public trust in politicians, public servants and business leaders and affected already tight public budgets.

The minister said money laundering, which generated criminal activity, was closely linked to corruption.

She brought into focus, the Auditor General's report and the GYEEDA report and stated that the President had instructed that persons found to have misused public funds should be prosecuted.

The UNDP Deputy Director in charge of Programmes, Mr Jeremias Blaser, said corruption compromised a country's development and had a disproportionate and negative effect on the poor and the vulnerable.

He said Ghana's ranking on the Transparency International Corruption Perception Index improved slightly from the 69th position in 2011 to 64th in 2012 out of the 178 countries that were assessed.

Mr Blaser indicated that while Ghana had a solid legal anti-corruption framework in place, the country had implementation challenges.

By Nana Konadu Agyeman/Daily Graphic/Ghana