Investigative journalist Manasseh Azure Awuni has launched a blistering attack on President John Dramani Mahama over the discontinuation of court cases against officials of his administration.
Since assuming office, the Attorney General, Dr Dominic Ayine, has filed a number of processes in court leading to the discontinuation of cases against officials of the first Mahama administration.
But, Manasseh believes, the current Mahama government is threading on a dangerous path.
In a post on Facebook on Monday, February 10, the journalist said the President has now become “chief clearing agent”. “The mass clearance is a wrong start. It’s a dangerous precedent”.
“This does not portend well for accountability. This dangerous precedent defeats Mahama’s resolve to fight corruption and defeats such future endeavours,” he argued.
Basis
It is the contention of Manasseh that, Ghanaians must be told the reasons behind the discontinuation of cases. “Ghanaians deserve to know the basis for the government’s mass discontinuation of court cases against officials and associates of the previous Mahama administration.”
Although the journalist pointed out that a few of the cases, such as the prosecution of the Democracy Hub protesters, were problematic, for which reason dropping the charges may not be surprising, majority of the cases centered on corruption charges of causing financial loss to the state. “For a President vowing to reset Ghana and prosecute government officials who have stolen or caused money to be stolen from the public purse, the mass clearance is a wrong start.“
Defeating accountability
According to Manasseh, “What President Mahama is telling the NPP officials his administration will charge is very simple: if you are charged, drag the case as long as you can, and if your party comes into office, the court process will be truncated, and you will be set free. “This does not portend well for accountability. This dangerous precedent defeats Mahama’s resolve to fight corruption and defeats such future endeavours. For a president whose administration began the prosecution that resulted in the jailing of its own party people in the GYEEDA scandal, this is a new low and a faulty step”.
Allow courts
He admonished the Attorney-General not to truncate prosecution just because he has the power to do so, emphasizing that “power belongs to Ghanaians and must be exercised in our interest. “The courts should be allowed to deal with the evidence and decide on the guilt or innocence of the persons charged. In some cases, the state lost vast sums of money, and we should have answers.”
Clearing agent
He said he nicknamed former President Akufo-Addo the Chief Clearing Agent, “and Mahama seems to relish that title.“
Kpebu Want Reasons
In a related development, private legal practitioner, Martin Kpebu has also called on the Attorney General to assign reasons for the discontinuation of the numerous high-profile cases. “If there are reasons assigned to each case the AG has publically announced it has discontinued, the citizenry could have read and see whether there is merit in discontinuing such cases. But as it stands now no one knows why the state says it is not interested in the prosecutions,” he said.
