Corruption has reduced considerably -AG

Accra, May 14, GNA - The Attorney General and Minister of Justice Mr Joe Ghartey, on Monday noted that the rate of corruption in the country had reduced considerably. He said many loopholes for corrupt practices had been sealed and drug dealers were being punished adding that the battle would surely be won.

Mr Ghartey who made the remark when members of the European Union in Ghana called on him in Accra to acquaint themselves with the operations of the Ministry said with current successes in the war against corruption internally generated funds had increased remarkably. The German Ambassador, Dr Peter Linder was at the head of the 10-member EU delegation.

The Minster said the fight against corruption must be all embracing to involve all spheres of society and that both the giver and the taker must be equally punished. Mr Ghartey said government was doing all that it could to discourage the habit yet if the people did not say no, the practice would continue.

He said his outfit was under-resourced with only 130 lawyers instead of 500 and that Upper East and Brong Ahafo regions had only two legal practitioners each making their work very difficult. Mr B K Bosomprah, Copyright Administrator, said government attached importance to copyright issues thus passed the Copyright Law in 2005 to enhance their work to meet international best practices. He said the law brought into being a copyright tribunal that dealt with such cases expeditiously punished those who infringed the law. Mrs Anita Ababio, Executive Secretary of the Law Reform Commission, said several laws including the Rent Act and the Criminal Injury Law were being reviewed to be in conformity with current judicial requirements.

Mr Felix K Korly, Director, Legal Aid Scheme, said the scheme was working tirelessly to ensure that persons who could not afford legal services were assisted to have justice.

He noted that the scheme operated humanitarian service and as a result it was difficult to get lawyers to work for them but praised the Ghana Bar Association for providing personnel who charged a token legal fee.

The Scheme in partnership with UNDP has established a Community Mediation Committee, which is often handled by national service persons due to the lack of personnel to mediate simple legal matters.