Special Prosecutor, Kissi Agyebeng, has reiterated proposals for constitutional reforms that would enable state institutions to conduct lifestyle audits and seize assets from individuals whose wealth is deemed disproportionate to their lawful earnings, even without a criminal conviction.
Delivering a keynote address at a high-level anti-corruption conference in Accra, Mr.
Agyebeng argued that the legal regime must evolve to meet the sophistication of modern corruption schemes and called for a "reverse onus" clause in the Constitution, where unexplained wealth would be presumed to have been acquired through corrupt means unless the individual could prove otherwise.
He spoke on the theme: Revitalizing the Anti-Corruption Architecture in Africa: Ghana's Accountability Journey. "The law always appears to be a step behind criminal innovation," he said. "Those who engage in grand corruption possess the means to mount formidable campaigns of misinformation and truth distortion." According to him, current prosecutorial methods are inadequate for tracing and recovering illicit wealth, as they often require a conviction before confiscation can take place.
