Fred Dzeny
It has emerged that the Eastern Regional Director of the Economic and Organized Crime Office (EOCO), Fred Dzeny, has been asked to proceed on his annual leave following an initial decision by the anti-graft body to suspend him.
Mr. Dzeny was suspended by the Executive Director of EOCO, ACP K.K. Amoah, owing to comments he allegedly made regarding the prosecution of corrupt officials in the past and current administrations.
However, sources at EOCO told DAILY GUIDE that Mr. Dzeny’s suspension was reversed the same day as the order was given but was asked to proceed on his annual leave which was due.
EOCO decided to reverse the suspension of Mr. Dzeny after an internal investigation confirmed his denial of the statement wrongly interpreted and attributed to him by an online media.
The online portal is said to have pulled down the inaccurate article.
Mr. Dzeny, following his suspension, released a separate statement in which he denied ever making those comments, describing them as false and misleading.
He indicated that he received permission from his superiors at EOCO to speak at a symposium organised by the Koforidua Technical University on November 1, 2018 on the topic: “The youth in the fight against corruption in Ghana.”
He said the misleading reports stemmed from the discussion segment of the programme during which he stated that corruption cannot be stopped but minimized.
“A further question was posed about how the problem can be tackled,” Mr Dzeny explained in his statement.
“In response, the Regional Head expressed his opinion that “I think all governments must try to investigate their own officers when allegations of corruption are leveled against them.”
He is therefore expected to return to post after his annual leave, the paper gathered.
Civil Society Organisations (CSOs) and the Convention People’s Party (CPP) criticized the suspension of Mr. Dzeny.
CPP’s General Secretary, Kwabena Bomfeh, had called for the immediate dismissal of ACP K.K. Amoah for acting contrary to the mandate accorded him to fight corruption.
BY Gibril Abdul Razak