More Than 50 Ex-State Officials To Be Prosecuted This Year- SFO Boss

The Executive Director of the Serious Fraud Office has promised a sweeping prosecution of corrupt public office appointees this year. Biadela Mortey Akpadzi told Citi News in an interview that consistent with the Attorney-General�s assertion a fortnight ago that 2010 will see a drastic prosecution of ex public officers alleged to be corrupt, the SFO together with other relevant state institutions is working to begin the year on a serious note. He revealed that more than 50 ex state officials will be dragged to the courts for charges of plundering state resources and corruption. Mr. Mortey Akpadzi disclosed that serious fine-tuning is being done behind the scenes before prosecutions take off. Though Mr. Mortey Akpadzi will not give a specific time line for the commencement of the wave of prosecutions, he stated that the year will see a lot of action. �We hope that within this year there will be a lot of action; meaning we will complete dockets on which decisions can be taken.That I can assure Ghanaians because we are going to work all day all night so that we can clear some of the issues so Ghanaians will have their minds cleared as to whether people have committed crime or not,� He said. Mr. Akpadzi stated further that although the SFO has in the past suffered a lot of setbacks, his administration has received a lot of support from the government since August 2009, and he hopes to take advantage of the support to deliver efficiently to the satisfaction of all. �We have a lot of cases that we are investigating right now�it cuts across the spectrum of public citizens and employees who have come under our scope and we are investigating. Of course it includes a few Ministers and as we go along we know there will be a lot more that will come,� He said. The government on Tuesday, January, 5 presented some vehicles to the SFO to enhance its efficiency. The SFO Boss promised that his outfit will make maximum use of the vehicles, especially in the Regions to revamp the offices there. He assured Ghanaians of the SFO�s commitment to maintain and use the vehicles to the benefit of Ghanaians.