President Akufo-Addo in a pose with the new Chief Justice, Justice Anin Yeboah
President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo has sworn into office a new Deputy Commissioner for the Commission for Human Rights and Administrative Justice (CHRAJ).
Mercy Larbi, an experienced legal practitioner, was tasked to help tackle corruption, especially in the public sector.
After administering the Oath of Allegiance, the Official Oath and the Oath of Secrecy at the Jubilee House in Accra on Tuesday, President Akufo-Addo said corruption had become the source of endless discussions in the public space and urged all those in positions of responsibility to work hard in the fight against the canker.
“Since I came to office three years ago, I have taken the view that instead of talking so much about it, let us try and strengthen the accountability institutions of the state as a more effective way of responding to these issues of corruption,” the President stressed.
On her part, Mercy Larbi, who used to be the Ashanti Regional Director of CHRAJ, expressed gratitude to the President for the confidence reposed in her; she promised to discharge her duties diligently.
“I pledge that I will endeavour at all times to uphold the high tenets of my office and work diligently to the best of my ability to achieve and accomplish the vision and mission of the Commission for Human Rights and Administrative Justice,” she assured the President.
CHRAJ exists to protect fundamental human rights and to ensure good governance for every person in Ghana.
It was given a broad mandate to achieve this mission by the 1992 Constitution of Ghana and by its enabling Act, Act 456, in 1993.
CHRAJ’s mandate is threefold, encompassing a National Human Rights Institution, an Ombudsman, an agency which ensures administrative justice and an anti-corruption agency for the public sector.
By Charles Takyi-Boadu, Presidential Correspondent