Executive Director of the Ghana Integrity Initiative (GII), Linda Ofori Kwafo, has been made the Chairperson of the Office of the Special Prosecutor Board.
This was after a meeting of the board on Wednesday. She will serve for three years.
Mrs. Ofori Kwafo explained that her current position is contingent on her role in civil society.
“You have to be in civil society to be representing the group on the board, so I am not quitting my job. It is not a full-time role,” she said on Eyewitness News.
Commenting on this development, Daniel Batidam, an anti-corruption crusader, warned that there was “a great potential for conflict of interest.”
But he was optimistic that the appropriate measures would be put in place to curb any potential for conflict of interest.
“It is my hope that the board of the Ghana Integrity Initiative, together with Madam Ofori Kwafo will be able to sit down and look at what they need to do so that her position as head of GII is not compromised in any way.”
President Nana Akufo-Addo swore in a nine-member governing board to oversee the work of the Office of the Special Prosecutor in July.
Per the Act establishing the Office of Special Prosecutor, the office became fully operational when the Governing Board was set up.
The board is made up of representatives of the Office of the Special Prosecutor, the Ghana Police Service, the Commission on Human Rights and Administrative Justice (CHRAJ), the Economic and Organised Crimes Office (EOCO), and the National Security Ministry.
The members include the CID Boss, DCOP Maame Yaa Tiwaa Addo-Danquah; the EOCO rep, Charles Nana Antwi; representatives from civil society, Linda Ofori Kwafo and Addai Wereko Tawiah; Kofi Wiredu Boakye, Charles Ayamadu, and Kwaku Domfeh.
The Special Prosecutor, Martin Amidu, and his deputy, Cynthia Lamptey, are also members of the board.
Parliament passed a law in November in 2017, to establish the Office of the Special Prosecutor as a specialized agency to investigate specific cases of corruption involving public officers, politically-exposed persons, as well as individuals in the private sector implicated in corrupt practices. The office is empowered by law to prosecute offenders on the authority of the Attorney-General.
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By: Delali Adogla-Bessa/citinewsroom.com/Ghana
