Allegations against my appointees have not gone without consequences – Akufo-Addo

According to him, the said allegations have either been investigated by Parliament, the Commission for Human Rights and Administrative Justice, or the Police Service.

Speaking on Cape Coast-based ATL FM on Friday, August 21, President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo said; “All the allegations that were levelled against appointees of my government have not gone without a consequence and have been investigated.

“If at the end of the investigation, it is found that the allegation was that of mere allegation, I am not going to prosecute people on the basis of mere allegations but I will do so on the basis that at the very least some kind of substance has been established,” President Akufo-Addo said.

He added due process was essential in determining the severity of such cases and allegations levelled against government or public officials.

“As we sit now, 21 public officials are on trial for various acts of corruption and some of them have been convicted and sentenced to long periods of jail, others who have been convicted are asked to refund monies, others are also in the process of negotiating refunds and settlements but those proceedings are ongoing and are not ones that can be completed overnight because of due process and I insist on it.”

“I don’t want anybody in this country who is put on trial for any offence to be shortchanged as far as due process is concerned and to me, it is a fundamental aspect of a nation governed by the rule of law,” the President concluded.

To probe into acts of corruption and accountability of government officials, President Akufo-Addo set up the Office of the Special Prosecutor after an act of the Parliament passed the Office of Special Prosecutor Bill in 2017.

The office serves as an independent investigating and prosecution body to make inquiries into corruption, bribery, or other criminal cases at the national level whether they be in the public or private sector.