General News of Tuesday, 29 May 2018
Source: citinewsroom.com
2018-05-29
Cynthia Lamptey
The Deputy Special Prosecutor nominee, Cynthia Lamptey, will be sworn into office today [Tuesday].
She was approved by Parliament last week after her vetting.
When sworn in, Cynthia Lamptey will reunite with her former boss, Martin Amidu with whom she worked with for many years at the Attorney-General’s department.
Though it is expected that the two will work closely together, she served notice during her vetting that she was no pushover.
She said she would resign if undermined.
President Nana Akufo-Addo nominated her for the position of deputy Special Prosecutor on April 26.
She is a lawyer of 30 years standing at the Ghana Bar and a former acting Director of Public Prosecutions.
Among her notable works, Cynthia Lamptey led the prosecution of a former Executive Director of the National Service Scheme, Alhaji Imoro who is standing trial for the alleged theft of GHc86.9 million belonging to the state.
She was also in charge of the criminal prosecution of National Democratic Congress (NDC) financier, Alfred Agbesi Woyome, in the GHc 52 million judgment debt saga.
She left the department after 20 years in 2015.
The Office of the Special Prosecutor has been tasked to investigate and prosecute specific categories of cases and allegations of corruption and other criminal wrongdoing, including those involving alleged violations of the Public Procurement Act, 2003 (Act 663) and cases implicating public officers and politically-exposed persons.
The office has also be mandated to trace and recover the proceeds of corruption.
The Special Prosecutor’s office is expected to be independent of the Executive, which observers believe will allow it to deal with corruption-related issues which have plagued governance adequately.
On the fight against corruption, Cynthia Lamptey said she would apply her professional experience in criminal prosecution law in effectively dealing with corrupt officials.
“From the CV, it is quite clear that my professional experience is in prosecution and criminal law and that is what I am bringing on board to help him. At least, the office has the opportunity of initiating, prosecuting and investigating, so knowing ingredients that constitute the offence will help direct what to look out for, so you do not go back and forth in taking the docket back for them to review certain things,” she said during her vetting.