District whistleblowers agency in the offing — Minister designate for Justice hints at vetting

The government intends to set up whistleblower agencies across all districts in the county to help fight corruption.

The move, according to the Attorney-General and Minister of  Justice designate, Dr Dominic Akuritinga Ayine, would decentralise the measures targeted at weeding out corruption.

The last of three nominees to be vetted by the Appointments Committee of Parliament last Monday, Dr Ayine stressed that such a move would help people who were closer to potential corruption action points to provide prompt information to state institutions to act.

"I have discussed this with the President (John Mahama) and we have arrived at the firm decision to set up the whistle-blower agencies in all districts.

We will publicise the procedures and create a hotline where members of the public can report wrongdoing for the police and other state investigative bodies to move in to gather evidence," he said.

The Bolgatanga East Member of Parliament (MP) added that the government would activate the 10 per cent incentive provision in the Whistleblower Act, 2006 (Act 720) for persons who provided relevant information leading to the retrieval of money from culprits.

Anti-graft institutions

Dr Ayine added that apart from the whistleblowers agency, the government would also ensure that anti-corruption institutions were decentralised and resourced to work well to curb corruption.

"We are of the view that anti-corruption institutions should not be centred in Accra. Anti-corruption institutions and measures must permeate to the local level," he stressed.

ORAL

Touching on the legality of the establishment of Operation Recover All Loot (ORAL) committee by President John Dramani Mahama, he said it was constitutional and legal.

He explained that there was no legal provision barring the establishment of the ORAL Committee.

Again, he said, the mere fact that ORAL was not established by an Act of Parliament did not mean it was unconstitutional or illegal.

The ORAL committee was established by President John Dramani Mahama to receive corruption-related issues from whistleblowers and embark on fact-finding and evidence gathering.

Dr Ayine emphasised that the illegality arguments advanced in the media misconstrued the establishment and purpose of the ORAL.

“ORAL is constitutional, it is legal. The fact that it is a non-legal body doesn’t mean that it is illegal. There is a distinction between non-legality and illegality,” he stated.

Dr Ayine, in reference to the Criminal and Other Offences Procedure (Criminal Procedural) Act, 1960 (Act 30), explained that the said law did not create bodies but laid out procedures relating to criminal trials and the treatment of evidence in criminal matters.

“The Criminal and Other Offences Procedure Act (Act 30) does not create bodies, organisations, agencies or entities mandated to operationalise criminal procedure.

“It merely lays out the procedure relating to criminal trials, whether some other trials on indictment and so on, and then relating to how you treat evidence in criminal matters. It does not create bodies.

There is nothing about ORAL in Act 30,” the Member of Parliament (MP) for Bolgatanga East stated.

Accountability

Dr Ayine affirmed that the existence of ORAL supported the value of accountability which was a fundamental value underpinning the 1992 Constitution.  

“If you look at the preamble to the Constitution, it is very clear about the fundamental values underpinning the Constitution. The value of accountability is one of the commitments in our Constitution. It is a primary value,” he said.

The Minister designate for Justice added that ORAL was aimed at exacting accountability from persons who were politically exposed or persons holding public office who used or misused their office to loot public resources by way of property, money and other intangible resources. 

Investigation

Dr Ayine indicated that ORAL had not been mandated to investigate wrongdoings contrary to the position some sections of the public have held.

He said the committee’s establishment was not intended to take away the investigation powers of some institutions such as the Criminal Investigation Department (CID) of the Ghana Police Service, the Economic and Organised Crimes Office (EOCO) and the Commission on Human Rights and Administrative Justice (CHRAJ).

Dr Ayine affirmed that the ORAL committee was established to gather facts on purported illegal or corrupt practices of politically exposed persons or public office holders from whistleblowers.

The Bolgatanga East lawmaker also indicated that he would establish an in-house investigative unit at the Ministry of Justice and rely on any reliable sources who echo wrongdoings to effect prosecution for same.

Dr Ayine argued that soliciting information from reliable sources or citizens aligned with Article 41 (f) of the 1992 Constitution which says, “It shall be a duty of every citizen to protect and preserve public property and expose and combat misuse and waste of public funds and property”.