Former President John Mahama has challenged the incumbent NPP government to fulfil campaign promises made to Ghanaians during the electioneering campaign in 2016.
According to him, if the NPP thinks establishing the office of the Special Prosecutor will bring an end to corruption then they have failed.
He argues that there is nothing outstanding about the Special Prosecutor because the person will be like any ordinary State Attorney.
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Speaking at the NDC Unity Walk in Techiman, he explained that the bill state that the office of the Special Prosecutor is still under the Department of the Attorney General and the problem with Attorney General is that the person is also the Minister for Justice and sit in Cabinet with the president, therefore if there is any allegation of corruption involving the government he won’t be able to prosecute the person because he is not independent of the Attorney General.
The former president comments come after President Akufo Addo on January 2, 2018, assented to 5 bills passed by Parliament including the Special Prosecutor Bill.
What is the Special Prosecutor Bill About
The purpose of the bill is to establish the office of the Special Prosecutor as a specialized agency to investigate specific cases of corruption involving public officers, and politically exposed persons in the performance of their functions as well as individuals in the private sector implicated in the commission of corruption and prosecute these offences on the authority of the Attorney-General.
When operational, the Special Prosecutor’s office will be independent of the Executive, which observers believe will allow it to adequately deal with corruption-related issues which have plagued past governments.
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 offences 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.
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Pay Contractors as you Promised
Addressing a mini-rally at the Techiman Zongo School Park in the Brong Ahafo Region, President Mahama charged the Nana Addo-led administration to fulfil its numerous campaign promises by paying debt owe all contractors.
He added that NPP during the 2016 campaign told Ghanaians they will pay debt owe contractors in their first hundred (100) days, it being a year now and the contractors are still waiting.
The former President, therefore, appealed to President Akufo Addo and the Finance minister to pay the contractors because of they still the economy of the country.
Background
The then flag bearer of the NPP Nana Akufo-Addo in October pledged to settle all debts owed to Ghanaian contractors within the first 100 days of his administration if the NPP wins the elections.
According to him, he will initiate a policy that will help the country’s contractors build their capacities to be able to execute large projects that have been the preserve of multinationals.
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Addressing members of the Ghana Association of Road Contractors at the Ghana Institute of Engineers on 31st October 2016, the then NPP presidential nominee said 90 percent of the transportation of goods and services are done by road and that goes to show that the development of “our roads is extremely important…â€
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primenewsghana.com/Ghana News