Special Prosecutor Office not tool for witch-hunting — Freddie Blay

The acting National Chairman of the New Patriotic Party (NPP), Mr Freddie Blay, has urged Ghanaians, especially those on the other side of the political divide, to disabuse the notion that the Special Prosecutor Office is a political tool for the persecution of only opponents of the government.

He said “it is ironical to see some members of the opposition taunting the government to prosecute them if it has the political will to fight corruption, and at the same time you see these same people describe the Special Prosecutor Office, yet to be established, as a witch-hunting tool.”

Speaking to the Daily Graphic in an interview in Accra recently, the acting national chairman indicated that fighting acts of corruption was not a witch-hunting exercise that the NPP government was keen on undertaking. 

“It is in view of this that the government has taken the necessary steps to  promulgate the Special Prosector Bill, now passed into law, to deal with corruption cases in a transparent and fair manner,” he told the Daily Graphic.

“Some have said that we have not dealt with corrupt officials since we assumed the reins of government, but we need to do thorough investigation and package corrupt cases so well  to ensure that those caught  engaged in corruption could be properly and fairly prosecuted,” he stated.

“Of course we are aware people are not patient and even people in the previous National Democratic Congress government are taunting us,”  he stated, but “let me repeat that it is not an issue of rushing to prosecute for prosecution sake.”

Safeguard public purse

Parliament last Tuesday passed the Special Prosecutor Bill to establish the Office of the Special Prosecutor as a specialised agency to investigate specific cases of corruption involving public officers, politically exposed persons and persons in the private sector.

Mr Blay said the government had promised to fight corruption to safeguard the public purse from mismanagement.

That, he said, would ensure that scarce national resources needed for development were not dissipated.

Notwithstanding the state of disrepair of the state coffers when the NPP came to power, Mr Blay said, the NPP had managed to handle the economy so well and brought it out of difficulties to stability.

So far so good

On the performance of the NPP administration within the last 10 months, Mr Blay stated: “So far so good; the NPP government under hardworking Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo is doing extremely well, considering the very poor state of the economy it inherited.”

He indicated that when the NPP took up the reins of government, all the indexes were bad with high inflation and interest rates.

The canker of corruption

Mr Blay further said the currency experienced fluctuations, gross domestic product (GDP) was low and growth rate was at its lowest for years, while corruption was a canker eating deep into the fabric of society.

“We have done so well as our flagship policies are being launched and implemented,” he stated, and added that “these are not gimmicks but we are working hard to deal with the challenges.”

He, however, cautioned that “we are not out of the woods yet because the economy was really messed up.”

Legacy

He said the NPP government under Nana Akufo-Addo was working hard and in earnest to discourage corruption.

“We will raise the standard of government so high to make it clear to all and sundry that you need not be dishonest and corrupt when in government but rather render selfless service to the people,” he gave an assurance.

“President Akufo-Addo is working so hard to bring relief and prosperity to the people and his stamina and energy is almost confounding ,” he stated, saying: “Maybe this is to attest that he is really in a hurry.”

He gave an assurance that by the end of the tenure of President Akufo-Addo, the NPP administration would forever remain in the hearts and minds of the Ghanaian people.