Accra, July 23, GNA – Dr Eric Oduro Osae, Director-General, Internal Audit Agency, has hailed the unanimous approval of Mr Kissi Agyebeng, the Special Prosecutor nominee by Parliament’s Appointment Committee.
He said the unanimous approval by the Committee was a good sign for the nominee, adding that, that set an uphill task for the nominee as the expectation was very high.
Speaking to the Ghana News Agency in Accra, Dr Osae noted that he had confidence in Mr Agyebeng, who is a criminal law lecturer.
Dr Osae, who is also a Governance and Public Financial Management Expert and a lawyer, encouraged Mr Agyebeng to acquaint himself with the public sector and the Public Financial Management system of the country.
“Public sector financial management is a specialized area, he is coming from the criminal point of view, if you send people to court to prosecute, you will need evidence and the evidence must be very relevant, reliable and credible,” he said.
“The criminal law will come but there is the other side of it, which is the public sector financial management. The public sector is a very rough terrain, the public sector has all kinds of people there. He should open his eyes and ears widely, because the public sector terrain is very rough.”
He advised the Special Prosecutor nominee to collaborate with other anti-corruption agencies such as the Internal Audit Agency, the Economic and Organised Crime Office (EOCO), the Ghana Audit Service, the National Security and the Police Service to enable him to deliver on his mandate.
Dr Osae recommended that Mr Agyebeng built the capacity of the staff of the Office of the Special Prosecutor to enable them to help him deliver on his mandate; stating that if the need be, he should apply for financial clearance to recruit additional staff.
He urged him to make his vision clear to his staff, so that they would be in a better position to help him prosecute his agenda, adding that the Special Prosecutor nominee should quickly profile the sector and review a baseline report on his predecessor’s achievements and challenges.
Dr Osae suggested that it was important that Mr Agyebeng worked with civil society but not bow to their pressure.
“He should not be quick to go out there to make public pronouncements when his Office has not done due diligence. Civil society will push him to the wall but he should walk in his own shoes,” Dr Osae stated.
“In the past, people have bowed to civil society pressure and they have failed; so, he should be very careful.”
Dr Osae noted that the Anti-Corruption Coalition of civil societies was an important platform in the fight against corruption, which the Special Prosecutor nominee must work with.
He urged him to have his own research and investigative wings that would validate and verify every single corruption data or information that came to his attention.
“He should stand firm; he should be his own man and he should ask where he lacks knowledge,” Dr Osae said.
