Attorney General and Minister of Justice Betty Mould-Iddrisu say her inability to prosecute former government officials for corrupt offences is due to lack of cooperation from colleague ministers.
Mrs. Iddrisu says despite a memo from the Chief of Staff to the various ministries to provide necessary evidence to investigate 49 corruption cases arising out of the transitional team’s report only the Transport Ministry has responded.
In an interview with Luv News’ Elton John Brobbey, the Attorney General said lack of evidence has been the main reason she is unable to bring any corrupt minister to book.
She says the lack of evidence has been the main reason why she has not been unable to prosecute alleged corrupt former government officials.
Betty Mould Iddrisu has recently come under a barrage of criticism from within her own party for her inability to prosecute former ministers of state believed to have mismanaged or misappropriated public funds.
Some critics even blame her inaction on the fact that most of the former ministers are her close friends.
Mrs. Iddrisu vehemently refuted the assertion saying state investigations departments such as the Criminal Investigations Department (CID), the Bureau of National Investigations (BNI) and the Serious Fraud Office (SFO), expected to feed her office with facts, have so much challenges hampering their work.
“The Chief of Staff sent letters out; he sends letters to the ministers asking them to investigate some of the issues which were contained in the Transitional Team’s recommendations. It is unfortunate that I personally have received a response from only one minister. With that minister we have then started investigations for example into PSC Tema Shipyard.
“I can’t deny that the ministers themselves have not been forthcoming. Because we were supposed to set up various committees, look at forensic audits. We were supposed to look at some kind of intelligence gathering as the issues that we obtained from the Transitional Team and we were to use those as the basis for investigation and prosecution,” she said.
Responding to the recommendation of the Ghana@50 Probe Commission for Dr Charles Wereko-Brobby and former Chief of Staff Kwadwo Mpiani to be prosecuted, Mrs. Iddrisu tells Luv News her office is waiting for government to issue a white paper for prosecution to begin.
“It’s a discussion I have had with [the President]; I have given him my legal advise and we have a technical problem with issuing the white paper immediately. The white paper will come. It’s ready. There are other interventions we need to look at in order to ensure that justice is done. And I fail to see how now anyone should even accuse me of dragging my feet and unwillingness to prosecute,” she said.
Mrs. Mould Iddrisu said President Mills has clearly spelt out her duties and she believes she is acting in the best interest of the state and all the people involved.
