Godfred Yeboah Dame
The Attorney General, Godfred Yeboah Dame, has described the opposition National Democratic Congress (NDC)’s petition to the Common Wealth Secretariat as a hypocritical and misleading act which undermines the sovereignty of Ghana.
He said the petition, which made allegations of supposed witch-hunting against its officials and supporters, is nothing but a ruse to prevent NDC officials who are alleged to have committed offences against the state from facing justice.
He said the NDC’s move is also an attempt to undermine the efficient and effective administration of justice in the country.
The NDC, in a petition signed by their General Secretary, Johnson Asiedu Nketia, claimed state institutions such as the judiciary, with the “core mandate” to “mediate between the interests of opposing parties and ensure the promotion of rule of law and individual liberties have become systematically enfeebled with attendant loss of public confidence.”
According to the NDC, criminal trials of the former Chief Executive Officer of the Ghana Cocoa Board, Stephen Kwabena Opuni; NDC National Chairman, Samuel Ofosu Ampofo; NDC Deputy Communications Officer, Anthony Kwaku Boahen; and NDC MP for Ajumako-Enyan-Esiam, Dr. Cassiel Ato Forson, who are being chased for allegedly causing financial loss to the state, are nothing but political witch-hunting being embarked on by the NPP government.
It, therefore, called on the Secretary-General of the Commonwealth of Nations, to advise and encourage the government, headed by President Akufo-Addo, to desist from “these acts that threaten Ghana’s peace and security.”
But the Attorney General, in response, fired the NDC and described the petition as hypocritical and a misleading attempt to undermine the sovereignty of the country.
“As far as I am concerned, no foreign entity can influence or interfere with the course of justice in the country. Justice emanates from the people of Ghana and the constitution made the Supreme Court the highest court of the country. The decision of the Supreme Court and indeed any other court in Ghana is not subject to review by any foreign body, so as far as I am concerned, all these attempts by the NDC are actually attempts to infringe on the sovereignty,” Mr. Dame told journalists in an interview after a Supreme Court hearing yesterday.
He said the prosecutions that are ongoing in the courts are cases that were filed on account of solid evidences that were unearthed through painstaking investigations conducted by the government, adding that some of the investigations have gone on for about five or six years.
“All that the government has sought to do is to ensure that the NDC and the acts of its officers, are brought to book and indeed, I will not be deterred at all in my quest to ensure that there is accountability to the people of Ghana,” the AG indicated.
He said the facts of Ato Forson’s matter show clearly that no parliamentary approval was sought in the transaction involving “Big Sea”, which is a foreign entity and it is a known fact that any international transaction must be in accordance with the approval of Parliament.
He encouraged the NDC to mount solid defence to the trials initiated against its officials instead of engaging in what he described as shenanigans.
BY Gibril Abdul Razak