Establish UN court to tackle grand corruption - Osei Kyei-Mensah

Accra, Oct. 20, GNA - The Minority Leader in Parliament, Osei Kyei-Mensah-Bonsu, has called for a United Nations international court to prosecute the perpetrators of grand corruption.

'We recommend that the UN consider establishing a new UN Convention Against Corruption (UNCAC) protocol to establish an international court on corruption for the prosecution of perpetrators and collaborators of grand corruption',

He said this at the final session of a three-day Sixth Global Conference of the Global Organisation of Parliamentarians Against Corruption (GOPAC) at Yogyakarta, Indonesia last week.

Mr Kyei-Mensah-Bonsu, at the event was re-elected Vice-Chairman of the Governing Board and Executive Committee of the GOPAC. The Minority Leader was also recently re-elected the Chairman of the African Parliamentarians Network against Corruption, (APNAC, Africa Region).

The conference, which was attended by lawmakers from the 74 member countries of the GOPAC, also saw participants unanimously electing GOPAC Indonesia Chairman and Deputy Speaker of the Indonesian House of Representatives, Mr. Fadli Zon, as the body's Chairman for the 2015 - 2017 period, to replace the Mexican MP Ricardo Garcia Cervantes, who had replaced the substantive chairman, Senator Angara, who stepped aside to respond to some personal issues.

Mr. Kyei-Mensah-Bonsu, who presided over the conference, said 'We recognize that to deter and fight corruption, particularly grand corruption, the world needs strong international mechanisms, cooperation and collaboration.'

The Ghanaian lawmaker's call was part of the 20 - point Yogyakarta Declaration, which was endorsed by participants at conference.

Grand Corruption refers to corruption that takes place in the highest levels of government where policies and rules are formulated and executive decisions are made.

The Yogyakarta Declaration also states that the fight against grand corruption must be carried out collectively as it has robbed citizens of many countries, especially countries in the developing world, of their fundamental rights and undermined the ability of states to protect the most vulnerable in society.

The declaration also recommended that the upcoming UN Conference on Climate Change, to be held next month in Paris, adopt commitments to implement anti-corruption measures.

Established in 2002, GOPAC is currently based in Ottawa, Canada, with 106 member states from five continents.

The new GOPAC leader, Fadli Zon, emphasized that the Organisation must help to promote the implementation of international instruments, particularly the UNCAC, as the tools to eliminate grand corruption.

He called for resources to build the capacities of Parliamentarians and parliaments in order to position them to effectively oversee such policies, programmes and projects to expose corruption and tendencies of corrupt practices in order for citizens to enjoy the full complement of the development agenda of governments.

GNA