Executive Director of Transparency International–Ghana, Mary Addah, says public trust in Ghana’s anti-corruption efforts has sunk even deeper because of how major cases involving high-profile officials have been handled by the Office of the Special Prosecutor (OSP).
She says the Cecilia Dapaah case and the ongoing matter involving the former Finance Minister have entrenched long-standing distrust among citizens who once hoped the OSP would transform accountability in the country.
Speaking on Joy News’ PM Express on December 8, she said the failures of the office cannot be blamed on only one factor.
“So it is both. It is both,” she said, responding to a question on whether the problem lies with the occupier of the office or with the structure itself.
She drew a comparison with how the RTI Commission was set up to explain the depth of the structural gaps.
“Let me use the RTI example, for instance, to give you what we are talking about in the passage of the RTI law and the setting up of the commission. When the law was passed, we realised that there was a one-year cooling-off period to ensure that the office was set up and set up very well.”
She said the approach with the Special Prosecutor’s Office was the opposite.
“In the case of the SP, when the law was passed, by February, the SP was appointed. He didn’t have space to even operate, and so the first SP had his issues of setting up office, which office he wanted and who he was going to work with.
“He didn’t have staff. And for about three years, we went up and down. So structurally, we had a flaw, a serious flaw there.”
Mary Addah said independence was also compromised.
“The issues around independence, either being substantive or otherwise, also remain a key problem, because we saw that in the execution of the mandate, we continue to see interference, and it led to the first SP leaving office and the second one taking office.”
She said public confidence had already been weak, and the OSP’s early struggles made things worse.
“Remember that the appetite of citizens, as well, and at the time, in the fight against corruption, was very low.
“Because the trust levels were very low, we thought that the politician would do what they would do to get away with what they would do anyway. And so, citizens’ trust had dwindled citizens believe.”
She said specific cases deepened that distrust.
“And this has been entrenched by some of the cases that have come through the office. For instance, in the issue of Cecilia Dapaah, we saw that this case didn’t go anywhere.
“And then now we also have the issue of the former Minister of Finance, who is also treading almost the same path and the trust of citizens, that’s why the voices are that loud.”
Despite the concerns, she said new institutions need room to find their footing.
“But it remains also true that in setting up an office, we should give them time to be able to settle in, to put in place structures.”
When host Evans Mensah asked whether eight years was not enough time, she responded that the answer depends on the tools the office has been given.
“Yes, it depends on what we have given them and how they are doing it.”
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