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Public Institutions To Submit Integrity Plans To Special Prosecutor
Henceforth, all public institutions, Departments, Agencies, and Companies would be required to prepare and submit Integrity Plans to the Office of the Special Prosecutor (OSP).
This is part of the requirements set by the OSP as part of the rollout of the Ghana Corruption League Table, a research-based model designed to assess real and perceived levels of public sector corruption.
The Project, spearheaded by the OSP, will rank public sector agencies against each other on a corruption barometer and the results would be published annually on International Anti-corruption Day.
Speaking at the launch of the League in Accra, Mr Kissi Agyebeng, the Special Prosecutor, said the initiative was akin to a combination of the Corruption Perception Index programme of Transparency International and that of Afrobarometer.
He said the results of the Project would form the basis for enhanced pragmatic suppression and repression of corruption in the public sector.
“To this end, and as required by regulation 31(2) of the Office of the Special Prosecutor (Operations) Regulations, 2018 (L.I. 2374), the project would identify the causes that advance corruption in the public sector including deficiencies in regulations and procedures, deficiencies in administration of instructions (including lack of internal control mechanisms), individual interest (including greed, lack of ethicalness and legal awareness), and external influences (including public attitude, culture and traditions) – to facilitate the prevention of corruption,” he said.
Mr Agyebeng said the Integrity Plans to be submitted by all public institutions would assess the deficiencies in their regulations, procedures, policies, guidelines, administration instructions and internal control mechanisms.
That, he added, would help to determine the vulnerability and exposure of public institutions to corrupt practices and help manage their susceptibility to corruption and corruption-related offences.
“In sum, we will be documenting corruption, measuring corruption, ascertaining the breeding of corruption, naming and shaming peddlers of corruption, accessing the impact of anti-corruption initiatives and taking curative and remedial measures to crack down corruption,” he said.
Mr Alfred Tuah-Yeboah, the Deputy Attorney General and Deputy Minister of Justice, said he was confident that the Corruption League Table would be used as an important gauge by the public sector agencies in managing corruption risks when conducting businesses.
“It will prompt the agencies to review their compliance programmes, identify any compliance risks that may be previously undetected and make adjustments accordingly,” he said.
Mr Tuah-Yeboah rallied the citizenry to support the Government to combat corruption, stressing that the Government alone could not eliminate the canker.
“Drawing lessons from a compendium of case studies from around the world, no government can fight corruption without the involvement of citizens.
“Corruption should be fought vigorously by all citizens. The fight against corruption should not be left in the hands of government alone,” he said.
The Office of the Special Prosecutor Act, 2017 (Act 959) which came into force on 2 January 2018, established the Office of the Special Prosecutor.
The OSP exist as an independent anti-corruption agency, with the mandate of investigating and prosecuting specific cases of alleged or suspected corruption and corruption-related offences in the public and private sectors.
It also has the duty to recover the proceeds of such acts by disgorging illicit and unexplained wealth and taking steps to prevent corruption.
Source: GNA
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Swedru All Blacks back to winning ways, Roshan humble King Faisal
Sekondi Rospak FC made it eight wins in eight successive home games after three second-half goals from John Amoah, Joseph Ntow and Stephen Anthony Kofi. John Amoah opened the scoring in the 55th minute after a barren first half. Joseph Ntow added to the tally in the 56th minute before Stephen Anthony Kofi rounded things up in the 74th minute to give Rospak a 3-0 win over former Premier League side King Faisal.
Elsewhere at Swedru – leaders Swedru All Blacks humbled PAC Academy in an emphatic 2-0 win. Zayat Bubakari scored first for Swedru All Blacks in the 27th minute before Rudolf Junior Nana Kwasi Mensah made it 2-0 in the 34th minute. Swedru All Blacks are top of the table with 36 points – 4 points ahead of second placed Rospak FC.
Meanwhile, Former Premier League side Cape Coast Mysterious Dwarfs recorded their fourth successive home victory after beaten New Edubiase United 2-1 at the Robert Mensah Park. Enoch Odoom struck first for Cape Coast Mysterious Dwarfs in the 19th minute but Steven Asante equalized for New Edubiase United before halftime. After the interval, Godfred Eshun scored from distance in the 65th minute to help Cape Coast Mysterious Dwarfs secure all the points.
Here are the results in Zone Two
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Cervical Cancer alert: Avoid sex at early age
The Programmes Manager of Non-Communicable Diseases (NCDs) of the Ghana Health Service (GHS), Dr Mary Efua Commeh, has advised young girls to avoid sex at an early age.
This, she explained, will give the cervix the opportunity to mature before they become sexually active.
“You need to delay what we call the first sexual intercourse as much as possible to give the cervix the opportunity to mature before the person becomes sexually active,” she said.
Dr Commeh stated this in an interview with The Spectator in Accra on Tuesday as a part of the Cervical Cancer awareness month.
According to her, cervical cancer was the second leading female cancer in Ghana with a total of about 3,072 cases annually, and out of that, 1,815 deaths are recorded, representing more than 50 per cent.
She indicated that “If young girls are going to be sexually active, then you need to talk to your parents about being vaccinated.”
She explained that vaccinating young girls against human papillomavirus (HPV) has been found to be a very effective way of preventing cervical cancer.
“There are countries that started HPV vaccination years ago and they are not seeing any cervical cancers now because they would have eliminated most of the high-risk HPVs in their women. So if the high-risk HPV is not there, then obviously the results on cervical cancers are going to go down,” she added.
Dr Commmey said the HPV vaccination is recommended for young girls aged nine to 14 years, adding that it had been found to be highly effective, not just for cervical cancers but for other HPV-related cancers, such as anal cancers, cancers of the vagina, genital warts, amongst others.
She further elaborated that the idea is to put up a barrier before the HPV comes in and that once a young female encounters it, she is already protected.
She also mentioned that for cervical cancers, the main cause is called HPV infection, saying generally, all sexually active women acquire HPV at some point in their lives.
However, the Programmes Manager of NCDs at the GHS mentioned that the body has a way of clearing the HPV, explaining that it is a natural mechanism that goes on, unfortunately, there are a few women whose HPV persists.
Moreover, she noted that the numbers for Cervical Cancer tend to be much higher because at times, clients would wait, and try all sorts of medications before they finally report to the health facility saying “we actually lose some women before they get to the hospitals with over 75 per cent of the cases coming in its third and fourth stages.”
Dr Commey, therefore, called for public awareness while ensuring the availability of information for prevention and control.
By Jemima Esinam Kuatsinu
