Winner of the 2021 integrity personality award, Manasseh Azure Awuni has decried the current government’s decision to set up the Office of the Special Prosecutor upon assumption of power, pronouncing that the establishment of the office gives a signal that government is not committed to winning the bout against corruption.
According to him, if the government was committed to fighting the menace, it would have adequately resourced the Ministry of Justice and Attorney General to combat it (corruption). In an interview on the Daybreak Upper East show on A1 Radio today, the Fourth Estate’s Editor explained that government’s interference in the work of the special prosecutor has defeated the purpose for which the office was established.
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“If we had any government that’s committed to the fight against corruption, then the setting up of the office wasn’t necessary. The office was necessitated by the fact that the Attorney General, we are told is often controlled by the governing party-the president and whoever forms part of the government. I said it wouldn’t be necessary under a good leader because the president who appoints the Attorney-General, if he is committed to fighting corruption without looking at who is involved, he/she can empower the Attorney General to take action even if it is against party people,” he told show host Mark Smith.
“So this office of the special prosecutor was created unfortunately, the same issues that we spoke about that necessitated the creation of the office of the special prosecutor- that’s the interference by the executive, was the same reason Martin Amidu cited for his resignation,” he continued.
The new Special Prosecutor, Mr. Kissi Agyebeng on Thursday, December 9, 2021, announced that a total of 31 corruption related cases are under investigation. He said those cases will be prosecuted next year.
But Mr. Azure believes Mr. Agyebeng’s efforts of wrestling the canker could be thwarted by the scanty resources dedicated to the office. He explained that the insufficient allocation of resources to the office foreshadows that the fight against corruption is over. He has thus intimated that government the president has a lukewarm attitude towards arresting the disease.
“This person has taken over and is also saying that he needs about 1.2 billion cedis to set up the office and run it but he’s only been given 80 million cedis; that’s far less than what that office was given about 3 years ago. So this goes to show that the fight against corruption is not happening and the government doesn’t appear to be interested and I can say the president doesn’t appear to be interested in fighting against corruption which he himself promised to do when he was in opposition,” he added.
Touching on what clinching the prestigious award means to him, Mr. Azure expressed his excitement but was quick to add that the lack of dedication from successive governments towards eradicating corruption is beginning to demotivate him.
The former multimedia journalist beat Samuel OKudzeto Ablakwa, Member of Parliament for North Tongu constituency, Samson Lardy Ayenini, a legal practitioner and host of Joy News’ news file show, among others to the award.
