Report suspicious activities in accounts of public officials – GII boss to banks

Linda Ofori-Kwafo, the executive director of the Ghana Integrity Initiative (GII), wants the banks to be held accountable if they fail in alerting anti-graft agencies of suspicious activities in the accounts of public officials.

According to her, financial institutions play a critical role in the fight against corruption, hence the need for them to collaborate effectively with law enforcement agencies to flush the system of corrupt officials.

“I think the banks also have a role to play. If we are serious about fighting corruption, the state has the biggest responsibilities because they have the capacity and institutions to do that, but other bodies like the banks have a role to play when it comes to anti-money laundering issues,” Ofori-Kwafo told Asaase Breakfast Show co-host, Benjamin Offei Addo, following the dismissal of the chief executive of the Public Procurement Authority (PPA), Adjenim Boateng Adjei.

“They should be questioned if they are not playing that role, they cannot actually be going after we the small, small ones who put GHS10,000 in our accounts. They should be interested in the big people who put big sums of money and question them about where those funds are coming from,” she stressed.

She said once financial institutions become proactive in raising alarm over activities of money laundering in their operations it will help the country to save huge sums of money that can be channeled into expenditure on socio economic development.

“In all these discussions, I want to also bring in the matter of other stakeholders, I go to the bank and I see that we are against whatever, we are against money laundering. If I should get GHS20,000 in my account, the bank will call me and ask me where that money came from, but this man had money, big time monies and we did not question him? We are not giving alert to the Financial Intelligence Centre?” Ofori-Kwafo bemoaned.

Background

The PPA boss, Adjei, was dismissed last Friday by president Akufo-Addo after the Commission for Human Rights and Administrative Justice (CHRAJ) found him guilty of conflict of interest.

In September 2019, Adjei was suspended from office by Akufo-Addo following an investigative documentary by the journalist Manasseh Azure Awuni, which alleged that a company Adjei co- owned had been selling government contracts it won through single source and restrictive tendering to the highest bidder.

Fred Dzakpata

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