Chief Executive Officer(CEO) of the Ghana Shippers’ Authority (GSA), Professor Ransford Gyampo, has called for stronger and more competent prosecutions in Ghana’s fight against corruption.
According to him, arresting suspects alone is not enough. He said prosecutors must build strong cases backed by solid evidence to secure convictions.
“We cannot fight corruption in a liberal state by doing things anyhow,” Gyampo said in a post on social media.
He noted that President John Mahama came into office with a promise to tackle corruption through several measures, including Operation Recover All Loot (ORAL), raising public expectations.
“The hopes and expectations of people are very high and these are rightly to be expected,” he stated.
Gyampo, however, warned that poor prosecution could allow people accused of corruption to be acquitted even when there is evidence against them.
“We must have watertight evidence and we must prosecute well through competent and well-trained prosecutors who know the processes, the laws, the rules and appreciate human rights,” he said.
“Otherwise, we may have very guilty people being left off the hook all the time because of prosecutorial incompetence.”
He stressed that the fight against corruption should continue but must be handled professionally.
“We must fight corruption and we must prosecute all offenders, but these can be done only by well-trained prosecutors and competent people,” he said.
Gyampo added that weak prosecutions could create loopholes that lawyers may later use during appeals.
“We can catch all the supposed corrupt public officials and line them up in courts. But incompetent prosecutions would leave loopholes that may be exploited through the appellate judicial systems to secure acquittals and discharges,” he explained.
He also urged the Attorney General to consider testing the recent Court of Appeal ruling at the Supreme Court.
“Let the AG go to the Supreme Court to test the judgment of the appeals court,” he said.
Gyampo concluded by urging the Attorney General to focus on evidence-based prosecutions that can stand the test of the law.
“More importantly, let our AG ensure competent, watertight and evidence-based prosecutions that secure proper convictions,” he added.
