Accra, Ghana//-The Ghana Anti-Corruption Coalition (GACC), a leading cross-sectoral grouping of public, private and civil society organisations (CSOs) with a focus on promoting good governance and fighting corruption in the country today urged state agencies to continue their work with professionalism to enable them improve asset recovery and management in the country.
The Executive Director of GACC, Mrs Beauty Emefa Narteh, encouraged at a day’s sensitisation workshop on asset recovery and management for members of the media and Civil Society Organisations (CSOs) in Accra.
In her own words: “We have seen the state agencies have managed to be very professional about their work, and the politics did not come out as it used to be. So, I would like to take this opportunity to commend our state agencies and encourage them to continue their work with professionalism”.
Mrs Narteh added that it is very important that everybody feels confident that they “are not doing political witch-hunting when it comes to asset recovery, but we are doing what our mandate demands”.
The workshop, which was organised by the GACC with funding support from the Inter-Governmental Action Group Against Money Laundering in West Africa (GIABA) as part of a project titled “Building Political Will and Public Support for Asset Recovery in Ghana according to her, would be extended to all the remaining regions of the country.
The workshop, Mrs Narteh explained, aims to deepen public understanding and strengthen the role of civil society and the media in advancing Ghana’s asset recovery efforts.
“This event is very crucial, especially for our media participants and our CSOs. We need to understand Ghana’s legal framework when we talk about asset recovery and asset management”.
The workshop also focused on Ghana’s legal and institutional frameworks for recovering proceeds of crime and encouraged improved media coverage and public education on asset recovery.
The Director of Asset Recovery and Management Division at the Office of the Special Prosecutor (OSP), Albert Akurugu, explained that asset recovery and management involves identifying, tracing, seizing, and managing assets, often the proceeds of crime, to return them to their rightful owners or use them for public benefit.
He added that asset recovery and management is a process that could be both domestic and international, and it involves various stages such as investigation, judicial proceedings, and asset disposal or return.
Madam Yvette Anthea Owusu, Analyst at Ghana’s Financial Intelligence Centre, and the Head of Legal and Prosecution at the Economic and Organised Crime Office (EOCO), Leo Anthony Siamah educated the participants on the mandates and activities of their agencies.
