President John Dramani Mahama has appointed Raymond Archer as the Acting Executive Director of the Economic and Organised Crime Office (EOCO).
The Ghanaian investigative journalist is replacing Abdulai Bashiru Dapilah, who previously served in that same capacity.
Details emerging indicate that Mr Dapilah has been reassigned to the National Security Secretariat to serve as a technical advisor.
Mr Archer has over 20 years of distinguished career in investigative journalism, becoming the first African journalist and the youngest to have won the prestigious Global Medal and the African Prize of the 2002 Lorenzo Natali Prize for Excellence in Journalism.
Raymond Archer has a long history in anti-corruption investigations. Since 2019, he has led a covert investigative team known as the Opponent’s Research Group (ORG), which specialises in uncovering financial misconduct and organised crime. His association with EOCO dates back 14 years, when he served as a lead United Nations consultant in the draughting of the Economic and Organised Crime Act (2010, Act 804), the law that formalised EOCO. His return to the institution in a leadership role is expected to enhance its investigative capabilities.
With over 15 years of experience in national security, intelligence, and risk consulting, Mr Archer has worked across Europe, Africa, and the Middle East. He is a Certified Counter Fraud Specialist and has provided consultancy services for international firms, including KPMG (Europe), Kroll & Associates (UK), and Risk Analysis UK.
He also owns cybersecurity firms with partnerships with top Israeli cybersecurity companies and has expertise in defence intelligence and due diligence investigations in the energy sector.
His academic background includes postgraduate degrees and certifications in security, intelligence, and innovation from Leicester University, York St John’s University, and Portsmouth University (UK). He also holds diplomas in national security and intelligence applications from the Galilee International Management Institute in Israel. Currently, he is pursuing further studies in Artificial Intelligence (AI) at the University of Texas, McCombs Business School (USA), specialising in generative AI.
Before transitioning into intelligence and security, Mr Archer was a renowned investigative journalist. In 2005, at the age of 29, he became the first African and the youngest-ever recipient of the Global Gold Medal for Excellence in Journalism from the International Federation of Journalists (IFJ).
As the founder, editor, and publisher of The Enquirer newspaper and a former editor of The Ghanaian Chronicle, Mr Archer was instrumental in exposing corruption and holding power to account.
By: Rainbowradioonline.com/Ghana