While the nation awaits to receive news about the retrieval of looted public funds from officials of the past government, it appears that the Economic and Organised Crime Office (EOCO), the country’s leading anti-graft agency, has its own demons to fight.
Startling revelations have emerged regarding the mismanagement and misapplication of funds within the Economic and Organised Crime Office (EOCO), implicating the agency’s former Executive Director, Maame Yaa Tiwa Addo Dankwa, and top officials of the NPP Government.
The New Republic (TNR) has unearthed a shocking scheme that saw a staggering GhC33.5 million siphoned from EOCO’s exhibit account, which is an account at Bank of Ghana where proceeds of all funds received from suspects under investigations are lodged.
Between May and December 2024 alone, an alarming GhC16.5 million was transferred from the exhibit account to an operational account of EOCO without proper oversight, our investigation has established.
This money was then withdrawn for undisclosed purposes, including purportedly financing the 14th annual Commonwealth anti-corruption conference held in Ghana in 2024.
However, investigations have revealed that a significant portion of the conference’s expenses were covered by donations and the commonwealth Secretariat in charge of Anti-Corruption.
Of particular concern is the withdrawal of GhC5 million on December 13, 2024, after the Presidential elections and in breach of spending restrictions imposed after the NPP’s electoral defeat.
EOCO workers say aside the illegality of the conduct of their former boss, they are shocked that they could spend such huge amounts on needless issues whilst officers of EOCO in the regions had to queue for hours to use computers because they have only one computer .
According to an officer in one of the regions, the office was able to purchase about 4 brand new Nissan Pickups and two new saloon cars and other items for the office with GHC 10 million support from Bank of Ghana, so they can imagine what a whopping Ghc 16 million which was used to organize a conference could have done for the office.
“But how do you take money which belongs to suspects? Money does not belong to the government of Ghana nor EOCO to organize a conference why?. Using illegal money to organize corruption conference is ironic”
Furthermore, the depletion of EOCO’s exhibit account raises questions about the agency’s ability to meet its obligations to complainants and refund any outstanding taxes to companies under investigation should they win a case in court..
Had the misused GhC33.5 million been allocated towards procuring essential equipment and resources for EOCO’s operations, the current dire situation could have been mitigated.
As it stands, only approximately GhC15 million remains in the exhibit account, insufficient to address the mounting financial liabilities facing the organization.
Keep glued as we dig deeper into the messy scandal of CoP Maame Tiwa Addo Dankwa in what promises to be a grandiose organized crime at the top of ‘power’.