By Lawrencia Akoto Frempong
Ada, June 28, GNA – The Ghana Anti-Corruption Coalition (GACC), in collaboration with the Economic and Organized Crime Office (EOCO) and the Financial Intelligence Center (FIC), has organised a sensitisation engagement workshop for the media and civil society organisations (CSOs) on asset recovery and management.
The workshop was held with funding support from the Inter-Governmental Action Group Against Money Laundering in West Africa (GIABA).
The engagement was organised as part of the GACC project: Building Political Will and Public Support for Asset Recovery in Ghana,” aimed at deepening the public understanding and strengthening the role of the media and civil society in advancing Ghana’s asset recovery efforts.
The theme for the workshop was “Ghana’s Legal and Institutional Frameworks for Recovery Proceeds of Crime and Highlight the Role of Citizens and The Media in Asset Recovery”.
Mr Raphael Asamoah, a representative from the Financial Intelligence Centre (FIC), said the core mandate of the centre was to take profit out of crime by denying accused persons the properties made from the illegal proceeds of their crimes.
Mr Asamoah explained asset recovery as the process of recovering properties stolen from the government back to the state.
He noted that before an asset could be recovered for the state, it goes through a process where the asset would be first detected or traced, its temporal freezing with a court order to enable the conducting of further investigations and later confiscation and return to the state.
He stated that the temporary freezing phase does not mean the accused person is guilty, but the FIC was ensuring that the funds to be recovered were not dissipated before recovery.
Mr Asamoah mentioned that although the FIC was empowered by the law to work closely with EOCO and other agencies to gather intelligence and provide it to the law enforcers, they were not law enforcement agencies to investigate and prosecute.
He said that the media and CSOs have a role to play in the recovery of state assets as they monitor the performances of state agencies and hold them accountable.
He also added that the media must educate the public on corruption and its related issues while urging CSOs to give their inputs into policies and legislative reforms to help fight corruption, stating that even though corruption could not be eradicated completely, it is not hard to fight and could be minimised.
Madam Bridgett Nadia Barnor, an official from EOCO, noted that the workshop was also aimed at sensitising participants on the mandate of the EOCO on asset recovery and management.
Madam Barnor said that EOCO needs a good collaboration with the media and CSOs to educate and sensitise the public on its mandates as well as the effect of crime on the community and the country.
She noted that when the community knows and understands the work of EOCO, they will fully participate and ensure corruption is eradicated in the country.
She stated that EOCO has been given the fiat by the Attorney General (AG) to prosecute most of its cases, adding, however, that prosecuting an offence does not guarantee a win for the organisation as they lose some of their cases.
She noted that the engagement was important because the media and CSOs play a crucial role in reporting on the mandates and duties of these agencies to the public, reiterating that EOCO was building on the collaboration and cooperation with the media and other stakeholders on crime issues and asset recovery.
She urged the media and CSOs to increase their education and sensitisation on the mandates and duties of the EOCO, FIC and other law enforcement agencies on corruption-related issues, asset recovery and management.
GNA
Edited by Laudia Sawer/Kenneth Odeng Adade