Have EOCO, other state agencies become deadwood? – Bright Simons queries

The Vice President of IMANI Africa, Bright Simons, has questioned the proactivity of state agencies in charge of prosecuting public officials who misappropriate state funds or commit certain crimes.

According to him, EOCO for instance has not made any significant convictions in the last five years.

He added that even though EOCO claims to have made some recoveries, they have not provided details for those cases.

Bright Simons also noted that each conviction could fetch the country GH¢12 million.

He outlined the list of the agencies as follows:

Criminal Investigations Department
National Intelligence Bureau
Financial Intelligence Center
CHRAJ
EOCO
Office of Director of Public Prosecutions
Office of the Solicitor General
Public Procurement Authority/ Central Trader Review Board
Auditor General
Comptroller and Accountant general
Office of the Special Prosecutor
Police Intelligence Department

In a tweet on December 22, 2022, he wrote, “A list of agencies in Ghana supposed to deter officials abusing public funds. Time to ask whether some have become deadwood. Take EOCO. Barely 10 convictions in the last 5 yrs. That's more than 12 million GHS per conviction. They claim to make recoveries but never provide details.”

Meanwhile, when the Auditor General’s report was released earlier this year, civil society organizations were agitated over the various misappropriations that caused financial losses to the country.

They however charged the Auditor General to ensure that those monies are recovered.

SSD/WA