Collins Dauda
In another significant development since assuming office, the Attorney General and Minister for Justice, Dr. Dominic Ayine, has discontinued the prosecution of former Minister of Water Resources, Works and Housing, Alhaji Collins Dauda.
The Asutifi Member of Parliament together with three other persons were standing trial for wilfully causing financial loss to the state in the $200 million Saglemi Housing project scandal.
The Office has also discontinued the trial of former Director-General of Social Security and National Trust Fund (SSNIT), Ernest Thompson, who was accused of causing over $14.8 million financial loss to the state in the Operational Business Suite (OBS) project.
The new Attorney General since taking office has discontinued the trial of former appointees of previous National Democratic Congress (NDC) appointees who were standing trial for various alleged offences, chief among them, the charge of causing financial loss to the state.
A High Court in Accra last Tuesday gave the new Attorney General, three weeks to decide whether or not his office intends to continue with the prosecution of Alhaji Collins Dauda. And the three others.
This was after Hilda Craig, a Chief State Attorney told the court that “the instruction from my superior is that I should appeal to the court for a short adjournment to put our house in order. If the court is minded to give us two weeks to report appropriately to the court.”
Three days later, the Office has entered a Nolle Prosequi and has filed a document which indicates that “the state intends that the proceedings against accused Persons Alhaji Collins Dauda, Kweku Agyeman-Mensah, Alhaji Ziblim Yakubu, Andrew Clocanas (Deceased) and Nouvi Tetteh ANGELO in the above-mentioned case shall not continue.”
Per Section 54 of Act 30, “In a criminal case, and at any stage of a criminal case before verdict or judgment, and in the case of preliminary proceedings before the District Court, whether the accused has or has not been committed for trial, the Attorney-General may enter a nolle prosequi, by stating in Court or by informing the Court in writing that the Republic does not intend to continue the proceedings.
By this, all the accused persons would be discharged by the trial court but leaves room for another Attorney General to charge the four again should there be a change in government.
This is in line with section 54(3) of Act 30 which states that “the discharge of the accused shall not operate as a bar to subsequent proceedings against the accused in respect of the same case.”
*Ernest Thompson*
In the case of Ernest Thompson, the Attorney General decided to withdraw the charges against three out of the four standing trial, leaving out Caleb Afaglo, a one-time General Manager of Management Information Systems at SSNIT who has been accused of forging his academic certificate.
It is not clear why the Attorney General chose to single him out of the withdrawal but the decision mean means Mr. Thompson; Peter Hayibor, then General Counsel of SSNIT as well as John Hagan Mensah, Information Technology Infrastructure Manager of SSNIT would be acquitted, and discharged since the prosecution had already closed its case.
BY Gibril Abdul Razak