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| Mrs Charlotte Osei, EC Chair |
Ghanaians petition EC to take action against corrupt official
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| Mrs. Charlotte Osei, EC Chair |
The petitioners are asking the EC to take action on a case filmed by an activist to expose an EC official implicated in a corrupt act. In addition, they are reminding the EC through the petition, not to renege on EC’s promise to deal with the culprit by January 24th, 2018 after it was exposed on the Klarity web platform.
Video evidence uploaded on Klarity exposes an EC officer taking money from a person who went to the EC office in Kasoa for the Voter’s ID card replacement in June, 2017. A service supposed to cost GHS 5 ended up costing the person 8 times more.
To date the petition has received a massive endorsement from over 500 individuals, who have signed an online petition calling for the Electoral Commission to take action on this case. Signatures are continuously being added to the petition by petitioners by individuals who want to see petty corruption at EC investigated and dealt with.
“We believe that corruption should be high risk and a low gain activity, and are happy that many Ghanaians are taking this stand against everyday corruption”, said Eliza Kücükaslan, CEO of Klarity.
No statement on this case from the EC has been given to date. The petitioners believe for too long corrupt official in the commission have not been held accountable. Corruption Watch on Joy FM reported that the Head of Communications at EC said they would respond with a statement within a week on January 17th, 2018. In addition, CHRAJ has met the victim and they decided to further investigate the EC case.
The petition will be delivered to the EC Head of Communication. Klarity and Tiger Eye Foundation along with the over 500 signatories calling the Electoral Commission to get to the bottom of the case and share the outcome from their investigation with the public of Ghana.
https://mobile.ghanaweb.com/GhanaHomePage/NewsArchive/Ghanaians-petition-EC-to-take-action-against-corrupt-official-635830
2 Adjabeng Court Registrars Interdicted Over Embezzlement of Fines
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| Mrs Patience Nai (left) and Mr David Laryea |
The Chief Justice, Ms Justice Sophia Akuffo, has interdicted two registrars of the Adjabeng Magistrate Court in Accra who are being probed for embezzling court fines and fees.
They are Mrs Patience Nai, a High Court registrar, and Mr David Laryea, a Circuit Court registrar, who is also an assistant referee.
Their interdiction has become necessary so they do not interfere with an ongoing probe as auditors work to recover some missing case dockets and receipt books that are crucial to the investigations.
But the audit team dispatched by the Chief Justice to investigate acts of embezzlement at the court faces a daunting task after discovering that several case dockets and receipt books that are relevant to the investigations have gone missing.
The establishment of the probe and the subsequent interdiction follow three months of investigations and expose by the Daily Graphic on many court fines and fees embezzled by court registrars at the Adjabeng court.
Age-old practice
The source said the diversion of court fees and fines was an age-old practice at the Adjabeng Registry, spanning several years.
A three-month investigation by the Daily Graphic has established that a fine of GH¢2,400 in the case of the Republic v. Eric Duah, paid by the convict on May 17, 2017, was diverted and embezzled by the two registrars.
Again, in the case of the Republic v. Peter Mahamadu Seidu, the defendant was convicted to a fine of GH¢3,000, which was also not paid into the Consolidated Account but into private pockets, as usual.
Though the two registrars who initially denied any involvement in the series of the embezzlement at the courts were later made to refund the money, it is unclear how much money has been embezzled by the two since the trade is said to have begun some years back.
Stealing and embezzlement of court fines and fees had become rampant and widespread across the country, according to a member of staff of the Judicial Service who pleaded anonymity.
He said the acts of the two registrars at the Adjabeng court were just a microcosm of the widespread stealing of fines and fees across the country’s courts.
CJ probes 2 court registrars - Over embezzlement of fines
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| The Chief Justice, Ms. Justice Sophia Akuffo |
The Chief Justice, Ms Justice Sophia Akuffo, has dispatched three top auditors from the Judicial Service to probe embezzlement at the Adjabeng District Magistrate Court in Accra, while calls for the interdiction of the two accused registrars intensify.
The team, led by the Head of the Non-Tax Revenue Unit of the Judicial Service, Mr Eric Boamah, stormed the Adjabeng Court last week to collect receipt books covering fees and fines for verification.Mrs Patience Nai, a High Court Registrar, and Mr David Laryea, a Circuit Court Registrar, who is also an assistant referee, have, for many months, allegedly diverted and pocketed unspecified sums of money in court fines and fees.
A source close to the registrar’s office hinted the Daily Graphic that the diversion of court fees and fines was a practice at the Adjabeng Court Registry spanning many years.
A three-month investigation undertaken by the Daily Graphic established that conviction to a fine of GH¢2,400 in the case of the Republic v. Eric Duah, paid by the convict on May 17, 2017, was diverted and embezzled by the two cashiers.
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| Mrs Patience Nai and Mr. David Laryea |
Already, the team has spent more than five days at the court verifying court receipts against amounts deposited into the Consolidated Fund.
A source at the Judicial Service who pleaded anonymity told the Daily Graphic that “all the case dockets and receipt books for the last two years have been collected by the auditors”.
Group demands interdiction
Ahead of the probe, Imani Ghana and the Ghana Integrity Initiative (GII), in separate interviews, called for the interdiction of those alleged to have pocketed court fines and fees.
The Executive Director of the GII, Mrs Linda Ofori-Kwafo, called for the interdiction of the parties involved in the corrupt act at the court, so that they did not interfere with investigations.
She said if the positions of those being investigated could influence the process, then they must be required to step aside.
“Asking them to step aside is to ensure that those accused of embezzlement do not interfere with the investigations,” she said.
Mrs Ofori-Kwafo called for the automation of the payment process to minimise corruption at the courts, which was becoming widespread.
She said several studies by anti-corruption institutions in the past had pointed to widespread corruption within the Judiciary, which had not been adequately resolved.
The President of Imani Ghana, Mr Franklin Cudjoe, also added his voice to calls for the interdiction of the two implicated in the embezzlement scandal.
That, he said, would pave the way for unimpeded investigations to unravel the level of embezzlement at the court.
“People who have been implicated in the investigations must be told to step aside, paving way for full auditing to be done. This will lead to a perfect conclusion to be arrived at,” he said.
Missing court cash
According to the 2015 Auditor-General’s report, the Judicial Service consistently failed to reconcile revenue totalling GH¢5,815,845 million and £75,000.
The report stated that the Auditor-General could, therefore, not confirm whether the revenue and deposits had been credited to the accounts of the courts.
Again, in 2016, the commercial courts under-stated their revenue by GH¢21,033,516. The 2016 report stated that two cashiers at the Commercial Court in Accra inadvertently under-stated total collections in the revenue and deposit cash books by GH¢20,893,095.76 and GH¢140,420.24, respectively, resulting in a total understatement of GH¢21,033,516.
According to the Auditor-General, the situation occurred due to the failure of the accounts units to carry out regular reconciliation exercise.
It is recalled that in 2016, a cashier at the Ho District Magistrate Court, Ms Theresa Tetteh of the HFC Bank, allegedly misappropriated GH¢12,142.60 from the money collected as court fines and fees.
Again, in 2015, Ms Agatha Abassa-Addo, a cashier at the Nkroful Magistrate Court in the Western Region, allegedly caused the payment of GH¢33,590.70 from the Deposit Account as refund to claimants but failed to produce evidence of application letters, acknowledgement receipt, witnesses and contact addresses.
Between January 2010 and November 2011, Mr Marcellinus Tordidzah, a cashier at the magistrate court, had embezzled GH¢2,957.20 in revenue to the courts.
Stealing at BA courts
The Auditor-General had, in 2016, recommended that the accountant of the Fiapre Circuit Court ‘B’ should be held liable for his inability to produce bank statements from the Ghana Commercial Bank to authenticate total revenue of GH¢193,393.20 purportedly deposited with the bank.
In 2016, the Sunyani High Court collected total revenue of GH¢135,829.00 from judgement deposits between March and July 2015.
However, reconciliation of the cashbook and the bank statement revealed that GH¢125,369.70 was rather lodged, leaving GH¢10,495.30 unaccounted for.
According to the Auditor-General in its 2016 report, the registrar’s failure to supervise the work of the cashier and undertake regular reconciliation had resulted in the anomaly.
It consequently recommended that the total amount of GH¢10,495.30 be refunded by the registrar and the cashier.
https://www.graphic.com.gh/news/general-news/cj-probes-2-court-registrars-over-embezzlement-of-fines.html
Court Officials Loot Account; they pocket court fines
Thousands of Ghana Cedis in court fines and fees have been lost due to alleged corruption and embezzlement by some court staff of the Adjabeng District Court Registry in Accra.
Thousands of Ghana Cedis in court fines and fees have been lost due to alleged corruption and embezzlement by some court staff of the Adjabeng District Court Registry in Accra.
A Daily Graphic investigation has established that the fines and fees
charged by the court have been embezzled by some cashiers of the
registrar’s office.
Mrs Patience Nai, a High Court registrar and Mr David Laryea, are
alleged to have diverted and pocketed money in court fines and fees
which should have been paid into the Consolidated Fund.
A source close to the Adjabeng District Court Registrar’s Office
hinted theDaily Graphic that the diversion of court fees and fines was
an age-old practice at the Adjabeng Registry.
A three-month investigation by the Daily Graphic has established that
a fine of GH¢2,400, in the case of The Republic v. Eric Duah, paid by
the convict on May 17, 2017, was diverted and embezzled by the two
cashiers.
The cashiers have confessed to the Daily Graphic that they indeed did
not pay the money into the Consolidated Fund when they were confronted
with evidence. Again, in the case of The Republic v Peter Mahamadu
Seidu, the defendant was fined GH¢3,000, which was also not paid into
the Consolidated Fund, but rather lined the private pockets of the two
cashiers.
Though the two cashiers initially denied any involvement in the
embezzlements at the courts, they were later made to refund those money
to the state.
Stealing and embezzlement of court fines and fees had become rampant
and widespread across the country, according to a worker of the Judicial
Service, who pleaded anonymity.
He said the acts of the two cashiers at the Adjabeng courts were just
a microcosm of the widespread stealing of fines and fees in other
courts.
Series of cash embezzlement
According to the 2015 Auditor-General’s report, the Judicial Service
consistently failed to revenue totaling GH¢5,815,845 million and
£75,000. The report states that the Auditor-General cannot, therefore,
confirm whether the revenue and deposits have been credited to the
accounts of the courts.
Again, according to the 2016 Auditor-General’s Report, the commercial courts understated their revenue by GH¢21,033,516 million.
The report states that two cashiers at a Commercial Court in Accra
inadvertently understated total collections in the revenue and deposit
cash books by GH¢20,893 million and GH¢140,420.24 resulting in a total
understatement of GH¢21,033,516 million.
According to the Auditor- General, the situation occurred due to the
failure of the accounts units to carry out regular reconciliation
exercise.
In 2016, a cashier at the Ho District Magistrate Court, Ms Theresa
Tetteh of HFC Bank, misappropriated GH¢12,142.60 from the money
collected as court fines and fees.
Again, in 2015, Ms Agatha Abassa-Addo, a cashier at the Nkroful
Magistrate Court in the Western Region, caused the payment of
GH¢33,590.70 from the Deposit Account as refund to claimants but failed
to produce evidence of application letters, acknowledgement receipt,
witnesses and contact addresses.
Missing court cash
Between January 2010 and November 2011, Mr Marcellinus Tordidzah, a
cashier at the Magistrate Court had embezzled GH¢2,957.20 in revenues to
the courts.
The Auditor-General had in 2016 recommended that the Accountant of
Fiapre Circuit Court ‘B’ should be held liable for his inability to
produce bank statements from Ghana Commercial Bank to authenticate total
revenue of GH¢193,393.20 purportedly deposited with the bank.
In 2016, the Sunyani High Court collected a total revenue of
GH¢135,829.00 from judgement deposits between March and July 2015.
However, reconciliation of the cashbook and the bank statement revealed
that GH¢125,369.70 was rather lodged, leaving GH¢10,495.30 unaccounted
for.
According to the Auditor-General’s 2016 Report, the Registrar’s
failure to supervise the work of the cashier and undertake regular
reconciliation resulted in the anomaly.
It consequently recommended that the total amount of GH¢10,495.30 be refunded by the registrar and the cashier.
The Auditor-General, therefore, accused the management of the
country’s courts of failure to prepare bank reconciliation statement,
resulting in the nondetection of the acts of embezzlement.
Letter to Chief Justice
A letter from a judge of the Adjabeng District Court, Mr Isaac Addo,
to the Chief Justice, Ms Justice Sophia Akuffo, which was seen by the
Daily Graphic, expressed concern about several gaps in revenue
collection at the courts, leading to embezzlement of funds at the
courts.
Though, the Judge had declined to talk to the Daily Graphic when
contacted, his letter to the Chief Justice has nailed the two staff at
the Adjabeng court registry, Mrs Patience Nai and Mr David Laryea.
“I strongly believe that these acts have been going on at the court
for a very long time and may also happen in the other courts,” the
letter states.
Judge Isaac Addo, therefore, recommended that a team be established
as soon as possible to carry out auditing of all the dockets in all the
courts throughout the country to bring the perpetrators to book.
CHRAJ TO PROBE CORRUPTION AT EC
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| Mr. Joseph Wittal, CHRAJ Boss |
The panel met with the private investigative journalist – Dundas Whigham, who went undercover to expose corruption at the EC. Evidences have since been submitted to the commission, but they have failed to act on the matter.
Evidences of the investigative work were aired and discussed on Joy FM Super Morning Show Programme, Corruption Watch on January 10th, 2018.
Meeting With CHRAJ
The meeting follows a
complaint the investigator made to the Tiger Eye Foundation and Klarity (both
anti-corruption organisations) alleging extorting of unofficial amount of
money by some EC staff before replacing lost Voter ID cards to
prospective voters.
The two anti-corruption
organisations forwarded the complaint to one of their partners in the fight
against corruption - the Ghana Integrity Initiative (GII), where it was
subsequently forwarded to CHRAJ on the 8th December, 2017.
The three member panel
headed by Madam Adeline Woananu, a senior investigator said they have received
a letter from the GII and wanted to probe further on the said corruption case.
“We have received a
complaint from the Ghana Integrity Initiative (GII) alleging corruption at the
Electoral Commission. GII stated in the letter to contact you (investigator) for
further clarification and evidence on the matter”, she said.
After being showed the
evidences involved in the corruption case, the panel stated their willingness
to probe further by inviting all parties involved and publish their report shortly.
Facts
of the Case
On January 10th,
2018, Joy FM Super Morning Show programme – Corruption Watch, aired and
discussed a clear example of extortion where prospective voters who have
misplaced their voter ID Cards must go through should they wish to have them
replaced.
The video evidences were since uploaded on Klarity.org – an anti-corruption platform where users can share acts of corruption by providing reliable facts for actions to be taken.
The video evidences were since uploaded on Klarity.org – an anti-corruption platform where users can share acts of corruption by providing reliable facts for actions to be taken.
Officially, prospective
voters who have misplaced their Voter ID must pay an amount of Ghc5 at the
Ghana Commercial Bank and take the bank receipt to the EC district office where
the previous registration took place to have it replaced, an official statement by the EC says.
However, some EC staff,
including those at the EC head office in Accra and Kasoa are manipulating the
system by charging unofficial amount of money ranging from Ghc30 to Ghc50 per
person before replacing them.
The investigator posed
as someone who has misplaced his voter ID and went to the Kasoa EC office, in
the Awutu Senya East District of the Central Region where the staff Madam Harriet Djanie was caught on tape, twice collecting Ghc30 and Ghc40 before replacing
lost voter ID.
The reason was that they have run out of laminate and that one of their staff must be sent to another EC office to get some of the laminate. Thus, the investigator must take care of the person’s transportation (TNT).
However, checks from the EC then, revealed that there were no shortage of laminates.
The reason was that they have run out of laminate and that one of their staff must be sent to another EC office to get some of the laminate. Thus, the investigator must take care of the person’s transportation (TNT).
However, checks from the EC then, revealed that there were no shortage of laminates.
This occurred on the 8th
June, 2017. However, the investigator's camera failed to get a good content to
back his claim during the time money (Ghc30) was being exchanged from one hand
to the other.
In order to prove that
corruption had taken place and the quest to gather enough evidences, the
investigator went there again on 16th June, 2017, but this time
through a colleague with the assistance of a good recording gadget.
Again, the EC staff demanded Ghc40 (an increase of Ghc10 in less than a week); and the same reason –“we have run out of laminate”.
Again, the EC staff demanded Ghc40 (an increase of Ghc10 in less than a week); and the same reason –“we have run out of laminate”.
The unofficial amount may seem too
small, but bigger corruption in nature. In one of the videos,
the staff showed a list of “over 500” people who were yet to come for their
cards but “there is no laminate”. Should Ghc40 be multiplied by 500, the result
will be Ghc20,000; just at one EC office.
In one of the videos, a
security officer at the EC’s Head office confirmed this same practice of
extortion by some of their members.
PETTY, BIGGER CORRUPTION: EC Officer Caught Collecting Bribe Using “TNT” in Disguise
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| Mr. Kofi Dzakpasu,Head of Communications Public Relations of the EC |
An
Electoral Commission (EC) officer at the Kasoa office in the Awutu
Senya East constituency of the Central Region has been caught on
camera collecting bribe before replacing lost Voter Identity (ID) card.
Madam Harriet Djanie usually uses “transport" (TNT) fare ranging from Ghc30 to Gh50 per person as a way of getting people to become victims to her disguised tactics.
Twice she was caught on camera collecting bribe before replacing lost voter ID card; a private investigations supported by Tiger Eye Foundation and Klarity (both anti-corruption organizations) has revealed.
Madam Harriet Djanie usually uses “transport" (TNT) fare ranging from Ghc30 to Gh50 per person as a way of getting people to become victims to her disguised tactics.
Twice she was caught on camera collecting bribe before replacing lost voter ID card; a private investigations supported by Tiger Eye Foundation and Klarity (both anti-corruption organizations) has revealed.
This
corrupt activity perpetrated by some EC staff is nothing new to the
officers at its Head office in Accra.
Officially, “persons requesting for replacement of lost voter Identification (ID) cards are to pay five Ghana cedis into the Electoral Commission’s bank account”.
Officially, “persons requesting for replacement of lost voter Identification (ID) cards are to pay five Ghana cedis into the Electoral Commission’s bank account”.
This directive was issued by the EC’s Sunyani Municipal Officer, Mr. Yaw Opoku (Source: Ghana news Agency, April 30th, 2016)
He further added that persons must present a copy of the deposit slip to the Commission’s District Office for registration and issuance of a new voter ID card. This directive is clearly being abused, not only at the Kasoa EC office, but also at its head office at Ridge, Accra.
EC Response
When
contacted with an evidence on whether the EC has now tasked its staff
to charge transport fares in
addition to the official fee of Ghc5 before replacing lost voter ID, the Head of Communications, Public
Relations of the EC Mr. Kofi Dzakpasu stated that “may
be I am having some challenges getting your videos but it is all that I
got. And it doesn’t tell me much about what you are alluding to and
alleging".
"All the same we are going to study it and revert. I am very eager and anxious to get to the bottom and unravel this thing so if there are some more videos that I have not gotten please forward them to me”, Mr. Dzakpasu noted.
"All the same we are going to study it and revert. I am very eager and anxious to get to the bottom and unravel this thing so if there are some more videos that I have not gotten please forward them to me”, Mr. Dzakpasu noted.
When
new evidence was sent to him via WhatsApp, he reacted with the surprise
emoji and added “Huh”?
“I have submitted to the Commission. The Commission will study it. Those involved will be invited for their side of the story and an investigation must be made. This is a serious allegation and as such we need to follow due process and those involved have the right to be heard”, he stated.
At Kasoa Office
“I have submitted to the Commission. The Commission will study it. Those involved will be invited for their side of the story and an investigation must be made. This is a serious allegation and as such we need to follow due process and those involved have the right to be heard”, he stated.
At Kasoa Office
According to Madam Djanie, her outfit has ran out of laminates and that she has to
send a colleague to a different EC office by providing the transport fare to facilitate the movement of her colleague to bring some of the laminates to her office.
However, checks
at the EC head office then revealed that there were no shortage of
laminates.
The amount -
Ghc30 and Ghc40 per person may not be any big money in the eyes of many
Ghanaians, however, in another video, she was captured pulling a tall list
of over 500 people who were yet to come for their Voter ID cards because there were no
laminates.
This makes the practice not petty alone, but bigger corruption in nature. Should Ghc40 be multiplied with 500, you are getting Ghc20,000. Checks from some regions have revealed similar practice by some EC staff.
This makes the practice not petty alone, but bigger corruption in nature. Should Ghc40 be multiplied with 500, you are getting Ghc20,000. Checks from some regions have revealed similar practice by some EC staff.
At Accra EC Head Office, Ridge
In
one of the videos shot at the EC head office in Accra, a staff said
“people have started reporting us because some of the staff inside there
charge money before replacing lost voter ID cards”
This staff became suspicious of our presence there and directed us to go to where we registered. This is how come the Kasoa EC officer was caught.
Sequence of Events
This staff became suspicious of our presence there and directed us to go to where we registered. This is how come the Kasoa EC officer was caught.
Sequence of Events
On our first day of visit, Madam Harriet Djanie noted that her office has ran out of laminate. She agreed to help.
“Because
we are not into any exercise, any agenda, they (EC) are just feeling
reluctant. Since last year September “y’a reporte aa y’abre” (we are
tired of reporting) [shortage of laminates].
She added "we
said they should even announce “se” (that) they’ve put hold on it so
that people wouldn’t even come to the office and disturb us. That one
too they (EC) are refusing to do it. So I don’t know"(thinking of how to
help).
"If am able to get some of the laminate for you, you know our laminate is not also sold on the market. If am able to get some for you, you just drop your number. If I manage to get some for you, I will give you a call. Ok."
"But the problem will be that if they will have to send someone to bring it, then you will have to pay the person’s transportation for the person”, she narrated.
"If am able to get some of the laminate for you, you know our laminate is not also sold on the market. If am able to get some for you, you just drop your number. If I manage to get some for you, I will give you a call. Ok."
"But the problem will be that if they will have to send someone to bring it, then you will have to pay the person’s transportation for the person”, she narrated.
Contact numbers were exchanged and true to her words, she called just the next day. It
was on Friday afternoon and we agreed that because it was late, we
should schedule it for Monday. “So you drop the
transportation for the person. Its Ghc30”, Madam Djanie noted.
On Monday when the money was being handed to her, the camera failed to capture the hand receiving the money, but captured the moment she put the money in her drawer.
The Second Coming
To
prove with empirical evidence that indeed corruption took place, my team went back again, but this time through a different colleague who also posed as someone who has misplaced the voter ID card and wanted one
immediately.
Same procedures were followed by going to the Ghana Commercial Bank to pay Ghc5. This time, the EC staff demanded for Ghc40 for transport fare. The money was paid directly to her and was caught on camera.
Same procedures were followed by going to the Ghana Commercial Bank to pay Ghc5. This time, the EC staff demanded for Ghc40 for transport fare. The money was paid directly to her and was caught on camera.
To view all the
videos, readers are advised to visit Klarity.org (Petty Corruption at
the Electoral Commission). Checks from Klarity note that a complaint has
been forwarded to the Ghana Integrity Initiative (GII) and they are yet
to respond.
Zimbabwe Opposition MP Fires In-coming President Mnangagwa, Urges him to be fair
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| Emmerson Mnangagwa, Will Be Sworn In Soon |
Zimbabwe’s in-coming
president Emmerson Mnangagwa Wednesday evening addressed the country’s teeming
crowd who were thrown into a state of ecstasy and frenzy following the
resignation of long term serving leader Robert Mugabe
In a televised speech,
Mr. Mnangagwa clearly stated his intent to govern well in order to turn the
dwindled economic fortunes of the country around. Mr. Mnangagwa revealed that he
was poisoned and airlifted to South Africa where he received treatment and he
is now doing well.
However, even before
Mr. Mnangagwa takes charge as the next president, an opposition Member of
Parliament (MP) Paddington Japa Japa is already firing warning shots,
cautioning him that they will “take him on” if he acts in an unbiased manner.
“We supported Mnangagwa
to top on Mugabe through its demonstrations and we expect that Mnangagwa has to
play the game fairly. If he is not going to play the game fairly, we will take
him on also. We are sick and tired of ZANU-PF”, the opposition MP said.
Nicknamed the
crocodile, the vice president was sacked early this month for being “disloyal”
to his “master”. He fled to neighbouring
South Africa and is expected to be sworn as president soon. Mr. Mnangagwa was
seen as the next person to succeed President Robert Mugabe. But following his
sacking, speculations further increased pointing that Mr. Mugabe’s wife, Grace
Mugabe might succeed him. Openly, she was heard saying “mark my words, his
[Mugabe] words will be final.
Early this week, the
ruling party ZANU-PF passed a resolution to sack Mr. Mugabe as the leader of
the party together with Grace Mugabe and went ahead to reinstate Mr. Mnangagwa
as the party’s new leader.
Zimbabwe was thrown
into a state of ecstasy amid wild jubilation Tuesday after the Speaker of
Parliament Jacob Mudenda read the resignation letter of veteran serving president
Robert Mugabe after both houses gathered to initiate his impeachment processes.
Mr. Mugabe stated in the letter that he was resigning in order to have a smooth
transfer of political power.
When Mr. Mugabe took
power in 1980 ending whites supremacy, expectations from natives were
high. Whiles the whites did not seem to
be happy about Mugabe’s take over, native indigenes were optimistic about
better prospects for Zimbabwe “We need good houses to sleep in, better paying
jobs so we can take care of our wives and children”. Mnangagwa now faces a
difficult time to turn the dwindled economic fortunes of the country around,
create jobs and establish a better working relationships with the West.
http://awakeafrica.com/zimbabwe-opposition-mp-fires-coming-president-mnangagwa-urges-fair/
http://awakeafrica.com/zimbabwe-opposition-mp-fires-coming-president-mnangagwa-urges-fair/
Special Prosecutor Bill, a Narrow Conception – Justice Emile Short
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| Justice Francis Emile Short |
Former Supreme Court
judge Justice Emile Short has stated that the Special
Prosecutor Bill is a narrow conception of fighting fight corruption at both public and private sector.
Parliament last Tuesday
passed the Special Prosecutor Bill into law amidst several controversy and opposition by the minority.
Chief among them was the clause which gives the Special Prosecutor immunity from prosecution. The Minority in Parliament were unhappy about this clause stating that it will violate the constitution.
Chief among them was the clause which gives the Special Prosecutor immunity from prosecution. The Minority in Parliament were unhappy about this clause stating that it will violate the constitution.
This, Justice Emile
Short stated that it is reactive in nature as it fails to deal with the fundamentals
of fighting against corruption.
“The
present government campaigned on the platform of fighting corruption and has
centred its strategy on the establishment of Special Prosecutor. It might help
but I think it is a narrow conception. [This is] because the fight against
corruption involves so many components".
“When
you talk about prosecuting people who are implicated in corruption, you are
dealing with addressing the problem after it has happened".
"But there are so many people who are engaging in corruption but they are not caught. And so you need to look at the opportunities, loopholes that facilitate corruption and pluck all of them so that corruption does not occur”, Justice Short noted.
"But there are so many people who are engaging in corruption but they are not caught. And so you need to look at the opportunities, loopholes that facilitate corruption and pluck all of them so that corruption does not occur”, Justice Short noted.
Thoughts
on state institutions mandated to fight corruption
Justice Emile short who
was one time the Commissioner of the Commission on Human Rights and
Administrative Justice (CHRAJ) added that state institutions mandated with the
power and authority to fight corruption with or without a complaint are
ineffective with their constitutional mandate.
"I don’t think CHRAJ is what it used to be when it was established”, he said.
"I don’t think CHRAJ is what it used to be when it was established”, he said.
This, he said is due to
past occurrences notably the “impeachment of the last commissioner” which
“dented” the image of the commission. Justice Emile Short added that CHRAJ has
the power and mandate to investigate corruption even without a complaint - media allegations for example; it hardly does that presently.
The former Supreme
Court Judge added that CHRAJ has not demonstrated effectiveness in carrying out
that aspect of its mandate which is investigating not only complaints, but
allegations of corruption.
“The institution at the moment is weak. There has been a lot of brain drain, lots of people have left for greener pastures. The institution is not functioning the way it ought to”, he stated.
“The institution at the moment is weak. There has been a lot of brain drain, lots of people have left for greener pastures. The institution is not functioning the way it ought to”, he stated.
EOCO
With regards to the
Economic and Organised Crime Office (EOCO), Justice Emile Short stated that it
was better EOCO becomes independent in order to fight against corruption more effective.
“We
hear about the cases it [EOCO] is doing but we rarely don’t know how it
functions. It may be doing very well in the background, we don’t get to know
very much about the outcome of a lot of the investigations it carries out and
it’s still under the authority of the Attorney General.
I have always suggested that it should be an independent institution” he said.
I have always suggested that it should be an independent institution” he said.
He commended the media
for being on top of the issues such as ensuring a free and fair elections and
the important role it has played after elections by making sure that results
are announced to the general public as quickly as possible.
However, the former Judge urged the media to focus lots more on issues in educating the general public on issues of corruption.
However, the former Judge urged the media to focus lots more on issues in educating the general public on issues of corruption.
“I
don’t think the media has done enough to educate the public on the national
anti-corruption plan and what it takes to really wage a successful war against
corruption".
"I think there has been too much emphasis on political issues and I think I would like to see the media devoting more attention to other non-political issues like corruption and women and gender issues”, he said.
"I think there has been too much emphasis on political issues and I think I would like to see the media devoting more attention to other non-political issues like corruption and women and gender issues”, he said.
He narrated that these institutions
established to fight against corruption are not working effectively because
they are not well resourced in terms of human capacity and financial resource
and that these are the problems facing the fight against corruption.
Credit: TV3
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