President Akufo-Addo has allocated an amount of GHS180 million to Ghana’s first Special Prosecutor (SP) office.
Finance Minister Ken Ofori-Atta on Thursday, 15 November 2018 disclosed this when he delivering the 2019 budget statement before parliament in Accra.
“In this budget, the Special Prosecutor’s Office has been allocated an amount of GHS180 million from GoG with a commitment to provide additional resources during the course of 2019 to enable the Special Prosecutor’s Office to carry out its mandate,” he said.
READ: BoG officials in collapsed banks scandal in trouble
First Special Prosecutor (SP) since independence, Martin A.B.K. Amidu, has lamented the inadequate resources at his disposal, describing the situation as utter “hopelessness.”
According to him, his office finds itself in an almost hopeless situation a year after President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo established it.
RELATED: Ghana to exit IMF programme by end of the year – Finance Minister
Mr Amidu in his latest epistle christened, “The Whitaker Scenario-Stifling Independent Investigative Agencies of Funds”, claimed that one year after the establishment of his office, it can only boast of a small three-bedroom house as an office, a situation he said was woefully inadequate for the job it has been tasked to do.
But Ken Ofori-Atta reiterated government’s commitment to fighting corruption.
MORE: Don’t put your hope in Akufo-Addo’s “hopeless” budget – Ghanaians urged
“Mr Speaker, in line with government’s promise to protect the public purse, His Excellency the President remains committed to the fight against corruption.
“The Special Prosecutor’s Office, which is established under the Office of the Special Prosecutor Act 2017 (Act 959), is one of the highest priorities of government.