It is for good reason that due process of the law is multifaceted, each one serving as a filter.
While the judge in the Bernard Antwi Boasiako’s case has delivered her judgment in the Republic vs the aforementioned citizen, others or he himself has the right to seek a higher opinion, which is what the New Patriotic Party (NPP) has served notice to do. And why not?
The NPP, while imputing political motivation in the high-profile case, has adduced various issues which, according to the party, constitute travesties of the law.
As we await the outcome of the process, it is important that we point out some developments which cropped up as the case progressed.
National Democratic Congress (NDC) activists, many of them ignoring the kind of finesse required in discussing the subject, pointed at the eventual conclusion of the case – a conviction and a jail sentence. This certainly impacted the impression many have about the judicial decision.
If the judge sealed her ears to the public discourse on the case on social media, we are unable to tell. The social media discourses constituted a battlefield for activists of the two dominant parties.
We would have rather things did not descend to that level of polemics among political activists, social media providing the dangerous fuel. So bad did things pan out that one activist was damningly categorical that the embattled NPP stalwart would definitely be behind bars as the World Cup tournament proceeded.
The now convicted man has been jailed just when the whistle was blown for the end of the last match of the tournament. It made us want to know whether he was privy to some information when he opened his mouth too wide.
Justice and fairness are important ingredients in enforcement of the law. When these are absent, the pillars of justice are unable to stand firm, giving room for legitimate questions to be posed about judicial decisions.
Our President once said that their own NDC people are implicit in the illegal mining activities. This, according to him, makes the fight against the environmental challenge difficult.
With the awesome powers of the state bestowed upon his office, we would want to find out whether he has the appetite to pursue the internal guys? With his own Attorney General going further to name two big fishes in their camp and even demanding that the Economic and Organised Crime Office (EOCO) probe them, we are surprised no such move has been initiated.
With the speed with which the case under review was adjudicated, we think that the Attorney General’s demand could have been dealt with equal dispatch if the President so desires.
We are all ears as the NPP leadership march to the Appeals Court to put the judge’s decision under a legal microscope.
Was Wontumi involved in illegal mining or his concession was assigned to another without recourse to the appropriate state agency for authorisation?
The petitioner, Ken Ashigbey, would have rather the sentence is 25 years. That is his opinion. Shouldn’t he press the NDC kingpins mentioned by the Attorney General to be hauled before the courts? Maybe he thinks otherwise.