{"id":111512,"date":"2026-01-17T11:21:31","date_gmt":"2026-01-17T11:21:31","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/sotnews.agency\/?p=111512"},"modified":"2026-01-17T11:21:31","modified_gmt":"2026-01-17T11:21:31","slug":"detained-fugitives-if-youre-not-prepared-to-be-accountable-dont-hold-public-office-vicky-bright","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/sotnews.agency\/?p=111512","title":{"rendered":"Detained fugitives: If you\u2019re not prepared to be accountable, don\u2019t hold public office \u2013 Vicky Bright"},"content":{"rendered":"
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\n \t<\/i> Read Time:<\/span>2 Minute, 24 Second <\/div>\n\n <\/div>
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International corporate lawyer and entrepreneur\u00a0Victoria Bright has criticised public officials who evade accountability, saying anyone unwilling to answer for their actions has no business holding public office.<\/p>\n

Speaking on JoyNews<\/strong>\u2019 Newsfile on Saturday, January 17, during discussions on Ghanaian fugitives detained in the United States, Ms Bright said public officials must be ready to account for their actions both during and after their time in office.<\/p>\n

\u201cYou should be prepared to account for it, whether during your tenure or after your tenure, without being seen to be running away from that responsibility. Accountability to the people of Ghana in public office is non-negotiable.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cIf you are not prepared to be accountable, then don\u2019t hold the office. Nobody forces anybody to hold public office. The president will offer it to you, and you are free to say thank you, Your Excellency, or no, this is too much for me,\u201d she added.<\/p>\n

Ms Bright described the situation involving a former Finance Minister, Ken Ofori-Atta, as deeply troubling and damaging to the country\u2019s image.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s a bit sad that a former minister of this country has allowed himself to be branded as a legal alien. That\u2019s unfortunate because we expect better of the people whom we nominate to the highest offices of this nation,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

She said the issue went beyond personal shame and reflected badly on Ghana as a whole.<\/p>\n

\u201cI think it\u2019s embarrassing. Quite apart from the personal embarrassment, it\u2019s not a good place for us to be, to have someone who has held one of the highest offices in this country in the situation he finds himself in.\u201d<\/p>\n

She pointed out that Ghana cannot distance itself from the matter, especially given official confirmation that the case is being treated differently because of the individual\u2019s former status.<\/p>\n

\u201cAs we\u2019ve been told by the embassy, it\u2019s been treated as a special case precisely because of the position that he occupied formally. Whether we like it or not, there\u2019s a Ghana angle there, and it\u2019s just not a good look.\u201d<\/p>\n

Despite her concerns, Ms Bright said it was right for the government to pursue former officials who are alleged to have committed wrongdoing, particularly those who managed public resources.<\/p>\n

\u201cFor me, it\u2019s the right direction of travel for the government to be going after people who are deemed to have done certain things and need to come back to explain to the people of Ghana. In Ken\u2019s case, he was a custodian of the public purse.\u201d<\/p>\n

She said that accountability is not optional for those who accept public office. \u201cAll public office holders must know that from the minute you sit in that office, you are accountable to the people of Ghana. Whatever you are superintending over is not yours, it\u2019s ours,\u201d she said. <\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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\"DetainedInternational corporate lawyer and entrepreneur\u00a0Victoria Bright has criticised public officials who evade accountability, saying anyone unwilling to answer for their actions has no business holding public office.<\/div>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"rop_custom_images_group":[],"rop_custom_messages_group":[],"rop_publish_now":"initial","rop_publish_now_accounts":{"facebook_2277560469115098_106292521332774":"","twitter_aToxNzczMzI3Njk4OTg4ODUxMjAxOw==_1773327698988851200":""},"rop_publish_now_history":[],"rop_publish_now_status":"pending","_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[2368,1883,10,9,4757,1887],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-111512","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-accountability","category-national","category-politics","category-popular","category-public-office","category-top-story"],"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/sotnews.agency\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/111512","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/sotnews.agency\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/sotnews.agency\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sotnews.agency\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sotnews.agency\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=111512"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/sotnews.agency\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/111512\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/sotnews.agency\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=111512"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sotnews.agency\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=111512"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sotnews.agency\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=111512"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}