Ghana’s Attorney-General and Minister for Justice, Godfred Yeboah Dame, delivered a keynote address at the 40th Cambridge International Symposium on Economic Crime, emphasizing transparency as a potent weapon in the fight against economic crime.
Dame highlighted the importance of transparency in maintaining integrity, stating that it is the foundation upon which accountability is built.
He pointed out that the Government of Ghana has adopted sunshine legislation to expose economic crimes and deal with them effectively.
In 2019, Ghana passed the Right to Information Act 2019 (Act 989) to promote transparency and accountability in public affairs, with only a few exemptions deemed necessary for protecting the public interest in a democratic society.
Dame underscored the government’s deliberate policy of digitalizing various aspects of Ghana’s environment as a means to enhance transparency, accountability, and efficiency in the public sector.
Key initiatives in this digitalization drive include the National Identification System, Digital Property Address System, Paperless Port Systems, E-Justice Systems, digitized Pensions and Insurance data, and a Land Title Registry.
He further noted that by July 2023, 783 right to information requests had been received, with 669 of them approved by information officers from different public institutions. This high rate of public interest, at 85.44%, demonstrates that “accountability is indeed the winner,” according to Dame.
The Cambridge International Symposium on Economic Crime, hosted by Jesus College, Cambridge University, has been a platform for stakeholders worldwide to address the harms of economically motivated crimes and collaborate on their prevention and reduction.
This symposium brings together Attorneys-General, Senior Legislators, Judicial Officers, Diplomats, leading Academics in Law and Business, and Police Chiefs from over 100 countries to analyze and examine evolving threats to the global financial system.
This year’s theme, “Integrity,” reflects the ongoing efforts to protect the global financial system from economic crime and misconduct.
The symposium runs from September 3rd to September 10th, 2023, and features over 600 expert speakers from around the world. Ghana’s Attorney-General, Godfred Yeboah Dame, delivered the keynote address, emphasizing the practical solutions and global collaboration that the Cambridge International Symposium on Economic Crime fosters.
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