Public confidence in Independent Prosecutor'll be high – Gloria Akuffo

Ghana’s parliament will have to approve the
proposed Independent Prosecutor to be
appointed by the president, an indication that
whoever occupies the position will not be
partial and engender greater public confidence
in the office, Gloria Akuffo, Minister-Designate
for the Ministry of Justice and Attorney
General, has said.
According to her, the general perception
among the public is that when a new
government takes office, members of the
previous government are hounded by being
put before court, but the creation of the Office
of the Independent Prosecutor will deal with
such perception.
Answering questions during her vetting on
Saturday January 21, Ms Akuffo said:
“Corruption has become a worrisome
problem… and has become a developmental
issue. There have been a lot of calls for a
solution to be found to it.
“The proposed Independent Prosecutor‘s office
is intended to be one of the ways that will
deal specifically with the canker of corruption
in the public sector. It is true that by the
constitution the Attorney General has the
power to prosecute criminal matters, but it
also has the power to delegate that authority
and it is under that that the office will be set
up with a specific remit to deal with public
sector corruption.

“And the way to do it is by an Act of
parliament. The person will be nominated by
the president and then it will be crafted in
such a manner that it will not fall foul of the
constitution and it is intended to give
confidence to the public that this is not a
caricature that is intended, because there is
always a perception that when a government
comes in it starts hounding its opponents. To
take away that perception and to give
confidence to the public, it will have to have
parliament to back that appointment.”
Touching on public confidence in the
Independent Prosecutor, she said: “The
solution lies in how the office is structured,
the mode of appointment, how the office is
structured, and security of tenure of office
such that you will have a fixed term that may
not coincide with the term of office of a
president.
“These are some of the things that will give
the public confidence that this is a truly
independent person particularly because it will
have to go to parliament.”