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The Economic And Organized Crime Office has strongly dismissed media reports that it has cleared some top officers of the Electoral Commission (EC) of some financial misappropriation.

Media reports on Tuesday suggested EOCO had exonerated the Deputy EC Chairperson in charge of Finance and Administration, Georgina Opoku Amankwah of any wrongdoing following a probe into the GHc480,000 believed to have gone missing from the EC’s Senior Staff Endowment Fund.

But in a terse press statement issued Tuesday afternoon and copied Peacefmonline, EOCO said; "We wish to emphatically and categorically state that no such clearance has been issued to any of the Officers of the Electoral Commission who are on leave".

Georgina Opoku-Amankwah, Kwaku Owusu Agyei-Larbi, Chief Accountant and Joseph Kwaku Asamoah, Finance Officer, were asked to proceed on leave by the EOCO on the instructions of the EC chairperson, Charlotte Osei, over the alleged malfeasance.

Last week Ms Opoku-Amankwaah, defied the ‘stay at home’ order and returned to work only for the anti-graft body to chase her out.

The Daily Guide newspaper in its January 23, 2018 edition, reported that some documents available to it from the Attorney General’s Department suggest that the affected officers including Opoku Amankwa have been cleared of any financial malpractices.

However, the specialised agency set up by government to monitor and investigate economic and organised crime and on the authority of the Attorney General, to prosecute these offences, and to also recover the proceeds of crime and provide for related matters, rejected the news report.

“....the attribution that "EC Chairperson is said to be manipulating EOCO" is blatant falsehood and needs to be condemned," EOCO further said.

EOCO's statement was however silent on Daily Guide's claim of a report from the Attorney General’s Department.

Read below EOCO's brief statement:


PRESS RELEASE

ECONOMIC AND ORGANISED CRIME OFFICE- EOCO

The attention of the authority at the EOCO has been drawn to the banner headline of the 23rd January 2018 Edition of the Daily Guide Newspaper that “EOCO Clears EC Top Officers”.

We wish to emphatically and categorically state that no such clearance has been issued to any of the Officers of the Electoral Commission who are on leave.

Secondly, the attribution that “EC Chairperson is said to be manipulating EOCO” is blatant falsehood and needs to be condemned. The general public is invited to disregard the said publication.

EOCO will issue a statement on this matter.

SGD

ECONOMIC AND ORGANISED CRIME OFFICE

DATED – 23RD JANUARY, 2018