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Government has private sector anti-corruption policy in
sight - Ghartey
Accra, March 18, Ghanadot/GNA - Government on Tuesday urged
corporate institutions to partner it to develop a private
sector anti-corruption policy that will protect the
integrity of operators within the sector and also bridge the
gap in the country's anti-corruption legislation.
Mr Joe Ghartey, the Attorney General and Minister of
Justice, who made the call, said a gap analysis of the
country's anti-corruption laws vis-à-vis the United Nations
Convention Against Corruption and the African Union
Convention on Preventing and Combating Corruption had shown
a short fall in respect of laws that dealt with corruption
in the private sector.
"These international conventions that Ghana is a party to
demand that we enact laws that robustly confront private
sector corruption," Mr Ghartey said, citing Article 12 of
the UN Convention which required each state to take measures
to prevent corruption in the private sector.
While lauding the effort of the business community in
developing various codes of conduct to protect their
integrity, Mr Ghartey said it was important that such codes
were done by enforceable law and self-regulatory codes.
"I invite you to join us to develop a private sector
anti-corruption policy. This policy will not only look at
the laws but also at the regulatory institutions, such as
the Registrar-General's Department," he said.
On the review of the company's code under the Business Law
Reform Programme, which started in 2002, Mr. Ghartey said a
Business Law Reform Commission had been established and
would be inaugurated next week to look at and fine-tune the
Bill by holding stakeholders' consultations.
He called on Ghanaians to support the Commission to enable
it to complete the task within six months.
Also of concern are laws on bankruptcy, which the
Attorney-General said were inadequate to deal with the
challenges of modern business.
It is in this direction that the Ghana Association of
Insolvency and Restructuring Advisors has commenced the
process of redrafting the bankruptcy laws and in the process
would merge the provisions on private liquidation and public
liquidation into one law.
Mr Ghartey assured the business community of a continuous
dialogue between it and the Ministry to create a favourable
environment for the private sector to thrive.
Mr Wilson Atta Krofah, President of Private Enterprise
Foundation, said it was important that any reforms embarked
on met the demands of the global economy and were consistent
with market-based systems in operation now.
He called for quick and fair commercial dispute resolution,
saying that early and fair judgment did not only build
confidence in the system but also helped to reduce cost of
doing business, which was of major concern to private sector
operators.
Other areas that must be looked into are the establishment
of clear guidelines on property rights, competition and fair
trade bills and consumer protection law.
Mr Felix Addo, Partner, PriceWaterHouseCoopers, said it was
necessary to amend the companies code in line with
development in the global economy since the face of business
had changed when the code came into being over 50 years ago.
GNA
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