[ 2017-11-14 ]

Speaker of Parliament Rt. Hon. Prof. Mike Ocquaye

Special Prosecutor could wait till 2019 if parliament misses 2017 passage
The 2018 budget could determine if the Office of
the Special Prosecutor is coming next year or
would have to wait till 2019.

The Office may only be able to receive funds if it
is catered for in the 2018 budget to be read on
Wednesday, November 15. 

But to get funding, parliament may have to pass
the bill that creates the office. The argument is
that you can not make budgetary allocations to a
department of office that does not legally exist.

The Bill, government's signature legislation for
fighting corruption, is going through several
amendments in Parliament Tuesday.

But hopes that it can be passed before the budget
is read Wednesday have fizzled out.

At Tuesday's sitting, Chairman of the
Constitutional and Legal Affairs Committee of
Parliament  Ben Abdallah told Joy News' Joseph
Opoku Gakpo, the load of work is too much to be
ready for a vote in Parliament.

"We have gone as fast as we can but we haven't
finished," he said and praised the leadership of
parliament for their devotion to the Bill's
passage.

The legislative process in parliament can be
classified in four stages: first reading, second
reading, consideration stage, and third reading.

The Bill has reached the third of four stages -
consideration where the Speaker states each clause
of the bill and members note their questions and
concerns.

Finally, changes or amendments are voted upon.

"We are now on clause 72 out of 79 clauses. we are
left with about seven clauses", he said and added,
the Bolgatanga East NDC MP and former Deputy
Attorney-General Dominic Ayine has contributed the
most amendments.

"And I am hoping and believing that we should be
able to finish with the consideration stage
today", the committee.

Chairman of the Constitutional and Legal Affairs
Committee of Parliament has said the law has a
better chance of being passed next week.

"Very soon this bill that everybody is expecting
will be passed into law. We are almost at the end
of the road," he said.

There is pressure on the government to fulfil the
promise to create the office sooner than later.
The President whipped up expectations last year
after he said he would create the office to deal
with political corruption.

The office is his firewall argument against the
political excuse that prosecutions by the
Attorney-General are usually witch-hunting of
political opponents.

But 11 months into the NPP government, there is no
Special Prosecutor in sight.

There have also been no prosecutions after big
rhetoric on prosecuting former government
officials alleged to be corrupt.

There are reports, the government may use the
existing prosecutorial route to start its
corruption fight to appease sections of the public
and the party showing signs of disappointment over
the delayed prosecution blitz.

Source - Myjoyonline.com

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