The Special Prosecutor’s office will be catered for following the passage of the bill” Finance Minister, Ken Ofori-Atta has said.
He said the Attorney General will in 2018 operationalize its office to tackle the many cases of corruption that will be brought to it.
Presenting the 2018 budget in Parliament, Wednesday, Mr Ken Ofori-Atta indicated that the office will review contracts as well as deals by government departments and agencies.
“In 2018, the AG’s department will operationalise the office of the Special Prosecutor, review all agreements for MDAs and MMDAs and secure successful convictions in 75% of the cased referred to the Office by the Police” he said.
Parliament has passed the Office of the Special Prosecutor Bill amidst controversy over whether the Prosecutor should be immune from prosecution.
With the passage of the bill, government is now free to appoint an independent prosecutor and allocate resources for the office.
The office of the Special Prosecutor will have the mandate to investigate and prosecute cases of alleged corruption under the Public Procurement Act 203 Act 63 and other corruption-related offenses implicating public officers, political office holders and their accomplices in the public sector. The Prosecutor will also be mandated to trace and recover the proceeds of corruption.
But Mr Ofori-Atta maintained that the Office of Special Prosecutor Bill passed by Parliament is a significant move to fight corruption.
“This is a significant move in the overwhelming national desire to fight corruption…The Office of the special prosecutor is getting ready to crack the whip of justice” he noted.
