US ambassador to Ghana, Robert P. Jackson has urged the Special Prosecutor Martin Amidu to begin his duty of prosecuting corrupt officials with much immediacy as a way of curbing the age-old problem in the country.
According to him, Corruption remains a big challenge in Ghana and several other African countries. However, he believes that the introduction of the office of the Special Prosecutor will bring some progress in the fight against corruption.
Speaking on '21 minutes with KKB", the US ambassador noted that although Mr Martin Amidu has been appointed, there is the need for him to start working assiduously so that all can witness the progress he is making.
"We need to see him actually prosecute people", the US ambassador to Ghana stated in the interview.
The US ambassador added that he was surprised that no one has been prosecuted in the Central Medical Stores arson case. He said the country lost about 80 million dollars worth of commodities in that fire, yet the arsonists have not been jailed although we know who they are.
“I personally have been very troubled that no one has been prosecuted about the Tema Central Medical Stores fire because we saw almost 80 million worth of commodities got into flames, we know who the culprits were; those people should be in jail by nowâ€.
US ambassador to Ghana, Robert P. Jackson added that although it takes a while for such cases to be thoroughly dealt with in the justice system, three years is quite a long time for such a case with available information.
“Yes cases have to be prepared well but my understanding is that the investigations into the arson which caused the fire were exhaustive, so based on that information I would think it would be possible to develop a case†the US ambassador explained.
Central Medical Stores Fire
The Central Medical Stores of the Ministry of Health was razed by fire on the 13th of January 2015 leading to the loss of 350 million cedis worth of medical supplies.
An investigative report among others established that the fire was deliberately set and named a suspect one Samuel Dogbe, a labourer at CMS as the arsonist.
The national security report continued that the fire was deliberately set to destroy evidence of theft and massive fraud and widespread irregularities in the procurement and distribution of medical supplies involving senior management and junior staff, adding that it is believed that Samuel Dogbe was paid to set the fire in order to destroy the evidence.
According to the report, the motive or the destruction of the evidence was the fact that the Economic and Organised Crime Office (EOCO) had been tasked to investigate the circumstances surrounding the expiration of large quantities of drugs and medical items at the CMS. As part of the investigations, a stock count of all medical consumables had also been slated for 13"January 2015, to be used for an exhaustive audit of supplies made to the CMS and allocations to health institutions in 2014
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