LI for Office of Special Prosecutor before Parliament

The government yesterday laid two legislative instruments (LIs) for the Office of the Special Prosecutor in Parliament.

The Office of the Special Prosecutor Regulations, 2018 and the Office of the Special Prosecutor (Regulations), 2018 were laid by the Minister of Defence, Mr Dominic Nitiwul, on behalf of the Attorney-General and Minister of Justice, Ms Gloria Akuffo.

The LIs, which are to regulate the operations of the Office of the Special Prosecutor, have been referred to the Committee on Subsidiary Legislation for consideration and report.

The LIs have 21 sitting days to mature into law.

Operations

It is recalled that the Special Prosecutor, Mr Martin Amidu, made headlines recently when he indicated that the office did not have an LI to back its operation.

Additionally, Mr Amidu lamented the lack of resources for the office to function effectively.

The Office of the Special Prosecutor, which is an innovation of the current New Patriotic Party (NPP) government, is meant to give more meaning to the fight against corruption.

During the 2019 Budget presentation to Parliament on Thursday, November 15, 2018, the Minister of Finance, Mr Ken Ofori-Atta, announced that the Special Prosecutor’s Office (SPO) had been allocated GH¢180 million for the 2019 fiscal year.

The money will be used to resource the office to enable it to carry out its responsibility of fighting corruption in the country.

The government pledged its preparedness to provide additional resources for the office in the course of next year to enable it to carry out its mandate effectively.