Former Auditor-General Daniel Yaw Domelevo reiterated his request for legal reform to improve Ghana’s anti-corruption efforts, cautioning that inaction on the part of the government would imply a lack of commitment to address the issue.
On Saturday [October 11, 2025], Mr. Domelevo stated on Joy FM’s Newsfile show that Ghana’s current legal framework makes it challenging to get prompt results in corruption cases.
In order to expedite trials and close the gaps that permit suspects to postpone justice, he urged the government to enact new legislation.
He declared, “We need a law on reverse burden. We need a law to bring finality to the prosecution of corruption cases. For instance, six months or one year must be a time limit.”
Mr. Domelevo warned that the public’s confidence in the legal system would keep declining in the absence of such reforms.
“We need to change the legal framework, and let me be blunt here. If the government refuses to do these changes, it only tells me that either they are also doing the same thing, they are also stealing, or they have the intention of stealing. That is the only motivation which will stop you from doing these things that bring about quick wins,” he stated.
He called the current corruption prosecutions’ sluggish and depressing pace.
“Nine months is not small, my brother. Before we realise, we are finished with a quarter of President Mahama’s term,” he remarked. “When I look at the quantum of money we should recover and the snail speed at which we are moving, I’m like, when are we going to get there? We may not get there.”
According to Mr. Domelevo, lax laws provide criminals the chance to avoid prosecution by allowing corruption cases to continue until governments change.
He added, “The prayer of the corruptors and their lawyers is that there should be a change in government. Then you hear ‘prosec’, and our money is gone,”
He also suggested lengthening court sessions as a way to increase judicial efficiency.
According to him, “We need to build the capacity of the judiciary so that they can work even in the night, so that the cases can go faster,”
Mr. Domelevo emphasised that his comments were not intended to disparage the work of the Economic and Organised Crime Office (EOCO), the Office of the Special Prosecutor (OSP), or the Attorney General.
He clarified, “I acknowledge the work being done by EOCO, the Attorney-General, the OSP and others. I am not satisfied, not because I was expecting convictions or recovered monies by now, but because of the legal framework.”
He maintained that only if the government has the guts to change the legislation would Ghana’s anti-corruption agencies be successful.
“We have to change the speed at which we are moving and let people gain confidence that things are moving, and moving very fast,” he stated.
Source: newsthemegh.com