Special Prosecutor office not established for only politicians - NDC MP

An astute politician and National Democratic Congress (NDC) Member of Parliament (MP) for Sekyere Afram Plains, Mr Alex Adomako-Mensah has cautioned all public servants to be wary of the Special Prosecutor office because it was not necessarily established for politicians alone.

Speaking in an interview with Sika Fm in Kumasi on Thursday, the member of the minority side in parliament said it was necessary for all public servants to note that, the Special Prosecutor will access all government agencies.

“The Special Prosecutor is not only for politicians, it can also arrest civil servants. It is there for everybody who deals directly or indirectly with the government. Therefore, anyone who deals with government from district level to regional and national level is involved.” He noted

He further cautioned that: “People must not think the special prosecutor is coming to hunt members of the past government (NDC). That is not it, it was established for everyone”. He stressed

But MP for Bantama Constituency, Mr Daniel Okyem Aboagye in an earlier interview applauded the opposition NDC for supporting the passage of the bill.

“I’m impressed about how the NDC supported passage of the Special Prosecutor bill”. He appreciated the opposition.

Parliament on Tuesday, November 14, 2017 passed the infamous Special Prosecutor’s Bill during an extended sitting ahead of the 2018 budget reading today.

In the run-up to the 2016 polls, then candidate Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo hinted of the establishment of the office of the Independent Special Prosecutor he said will be an Act of Parliament.

According to him it will be independent of the Executive, and possess “an exclusive remit to investigate and prosecute certain categories of cases and allegations of corruption, including those involving alleged violations of the Public Procurement Act and cases implicating political office holders and politicians.”

Prosecutions of such persons, he stressed, “will no longer be tainted by perceptions of witch-hunting and selective justice.”

He said this was among raft of measures to deal with “the toxic issue of corruption”, explaining that a successful Ghana can only be built on the basis of good governance, underpinned by efficient and honest public services. This requires that we succeed in eliminating corruption.