Story: Franklin ASARE-DONKOH
The Director-General of the Internal Audit Agency (IAA), Dr. Eric Oduro Osae, has re-echoed calls by some Civil Society Organisations (CSOs) for the Attorney General’s Department to be separated from the Justice Ministry.
According to him, the separation will help the state win the war against graft.
“As part of the fight against corruption, the Attorney General’s (AG) Department should be separated from the Ministry of Justice. This, I believe, will lead to the eradication of graft,” he reiterated.
The Ghana Centre for Democratic Development (CDD-Ghana) on Tuesday, July 26, 2022, released its latest Afrobarometer report, which placed the Office of the Presidency second on the list of institutions or offices perceived to be corrupt.
The Ghana Police Service was first on the list of the most corrupt institutions, according to the survey.
Members of Parliament were placed third, while the judiciary fell at the fourth pace.
Dr. Oduro Osae, sharing his views on the findings from the Afrobarometer report with the media, explained that it is only the strict application of anti-corruption laws in the country that will reduce the practice to the lowest level.
According to the Director-General of IAA, the strict application of anti-corruption laws makes the case for the AG to be decoupled from the Ministry of Justice in order to give the Attorney General the power to deal with corrupt appointees.
“I will insist that we separate the AG’s department from the Ministry of Justice,” Dr. Oduro Osae maintained.
“The outcome of the latest Afrobarometer report tells us one thing, that we all need to double our efforts in fighting corruption. A lot of people still don’t understand the intricacies of corruption and its impact. It also tells me that a lot of education is needed. It is a wake-up call for us to double our efforts towards the fight against corruption,” the Director-General of IAA retorted.