Govt to repeal Serious Fraud Office Act

January 7, 2007 (Page 34)

THE Government will repeal the Serious Fraud Office Act by March, this year and replace it with the Economic and Organised Crime Law to strengthen the anti-corruption framework in the country.
Additionally, it will publish an anti-corruption manual and vigorously prosecute corruption cases not only to serve as a deterrent but also to recover assets and state resources.
The Attorney-General and Minister for Justice, Mr Joe Ghartey, said these at an annual get-together of the AG’s department in Accra at the week-end.
He further disclosed that “an anti-corruption task force has been established at the AG’s office,” adding that the ministry had plans to establish an Assets Recovery Unit to focus on making crime unprofitable by going after proceeds of crime.
The Minister said International Law would be mainstreamed once again and would involve everybody rather than just a few people.
“The Registrar-General’s Office will also see some changes with the passage of the Trust and NGO Law. All these changes will be done with one aim in mind- to make us more efficient and more capable of responding to the challenges of today,” he said.
He said the Legislative Drafting Division had continued to fulfil its mandate with efficiency and without much fanfare and congratulated the division for being exceptionally proactive in 2007.
He said the ministry had envisioned to ensure an efficient and effective law office to make it one of the best law offices in the country and Africa as a whole.
He announced that work on the renovation of the Prosecution Division of the ministry had begun, adding that “this is our first step and we shall not rest until every office of the ministry has been refurbished.”
The minister urged the workers to continue to improve their attitude towards work and said “this year, we have relied on your good judgement to do what is right.”