Attorney General debunked

The Attorney-General and Minister for Justice, J Ayikoi Otoo, has debunked allegations and the perception in opposition NDC circles that the New Patriotic Party Government is using the law courts to persecute former NDC government functionaries.

According to Mr Ayikoi Otoo, the former NDC government officials and their associates currently facing trails at various courts in Accra are being tried because they have, one way or the other, breached the laws of Ghana. Mr Otoo pointed to the fact that not all former NDC public office-holders have been tried, or are being tried, as an indication that the rule of law and due process were taking their course.

Responding to questions asked by the media at the Meet the Press series in Accra yesterday, the Attorney-General stated that it was unnecessary for him to react to a statement made by former Vice President John Atta Mills encouraging NDC supporters and sympathisers to besiege the courts trying former government appointees of the NDC, including the former First Lady, Nana Konadu Agyemang-Rawlings.

He denied suggestions that since most of the cases he enumerated as pending at the courts involved former NDC public officers and their allies implied that the NPP Government is witch-hunting the NDC top guns.

The Justice Minister averred that once Prof Atta Mills, who was a former Vice President under the NDC administration and two-times presidential candidate of the party, has not been prosecuted by the state then the NDC is not being persecuted as alleged by Prof Atta Mills and other NDC officials.

Mr Otoo made it clear that the Ministry for Justice was merely performing its duty, on behalf of the state, by prosecuting former NDC government mandarins who have allegedly committed some crimes punishable only after a competent court of jurisdiction has found the accused persons guilty.

Delivering a 30-page statement which focused on the mission statement of the Ministry, its structure, its associated agencies and subvented organisations, among other issues, he maintained that, ?since 2001 various forensic audits have been conducted into state owned enterprises.

?A lot of the cases have been referred to the police who, after investigations, have prepared dockets for prosecution.? Stating that some of the cases have been disposed off, he revealed that about 11 cases at various stages of determination are pending. The disposed cases include those that involved Ibrahim Adam, an ex-NDC Agriculture Minister, George Yankey, a former senior public official, and Kwame Peprah and Victor Serlomey, former Finance Minister and Deputy Finance Minister in the NDC regime respectively.

Mr Otoo mentioned the pending cases as Republic vs Nelson Sena and others (Sabat Motors); Republic vs Emmanuel Agbodo and others, including Nana Agyemang Rawlings (Nsawam Cannery); and Republic vs Kofi Totobi Quaky, Kwame Peprah (Divestiture of GFIC).

The other cases include Republic vs Alhaji Sinare (election malpractice); Republic vs. Victor Smith; Republic vs. Nii Lante Vanderpuiye; Republic vs. Tsatsu Tsikata; Republic vs. Ato Ahwoi; and Republic vs. Michael Soussoudis. The Attorney-General said the Sabat Motors case would re-start soon even though one of the defendants is in a wheelchair. At the resumption of Nana Agyemang Rawlings? Caridem case last two weeks, many supporters of the NDC, apparently heeding Prof Ataa Mills? cause commotion at courts call, thronged the Accra Fast Track Court trying accused NDC big-wigs to support the former First Lady and President of 31st December Women?s Association.

Nana Agyemang Rawlings was accompanied by former President J J Rawlings and other high ranking NDC members. But conspicuously absent was Atta Mills, the law professor who first asked NDC supporters to mob the courts trying former NDC Government appointees.

According to Mr Otoo, the Sinare case involving electoral misdemeanour will resume soon when the judge, who has been transferred to Kumasi is ready to come down to complete.? He said the judge in charge of the Victor Smith case is on transfer to Sogakope ?but comes only during last week of each month.?

As for the Tsatsu Tsikata case, the judge has closed his case for him and ordered his counsel to prepare and address the court after Easter though he has filed a number of appeals. ?There is no order of any court staying proceedings.? He sad the Lante Vanderpuye started all over after the judge was transferred and the prosecution was about to close the case.

He stated that the prosecution has begun before the High Court after discontinuing at the Accra Circuit Court while the state has appealed against Soussoudis?s acquittal by another court.

Mr Otoo did not say when Totobi Quakyi?s case would be concluded, or those of the Republic vs Alex Asamoah (pre-mix fuel case), and Republic vs Baba Abaidoo and five others, who allegedly failed to supply equipment to the Judicial Service including supply of defective generator, paying twice for equipment not supplied.

Assigning two reasons for why some of the cases continue to pend before the courts, he was concise: ?The transfer of Judges sitting on some of these cases from Accra and generally frequent adjournments.?

He said 66 dockets have so far been received for the first quarter of this year by the Attorney-General?s Department, out of which 24 dockets have been completed and returned to the police for action to be taken. 15 dockets, however, have been advised upon and dispatched to be returned for further action.

The Minister noted that a total of 627 dockets were received in 2005 while 259 of them were completed and returned to the police. 103 dockets were advised upon and dispatched to be returned for further action while 69 cases of the dockets are currently before court.

He catalogued offences usually prosecuted by police prosecutors as those involving fraud, assault, stealing, defilement of females under 14 years of age, motor offences, causing damage to property, breach of peace and sanitation. Revealing the statistics for some felonies, Mr Otoo said 76 robberies, 93 narcotic offences, 34 murders, 34 rape cases, seven defilement and one manslaughter case were recorded in 2005. He intimated that 15 robberies, 24 narcotic offences, 13 murders, six rape and two defilement cases have so far occurred this year.

?Let me make this general observation that many criminal cases delay because Judges insist that the accused persons are entitled to legal representation and therefore in the absence of their lawyers, the cases are adjourned to enable the lawyers to appear.

?Other reasons have to do with transfer of investigating officers, some go on peace-keeping duties, retirement, natural attrition-death and in some cases the witnesses are not readily available.?

On the legislative drafting function of the Ministry, Mr Otoo observed that ten bills are before Parliament, whilst nine bills are before Cabinet waiting for approval before being laid before the House.

The bills awaiting parliamentary passage include the Whistleblower, Insolvency, Interpretation, Anti-terrorism, Subvented Agencies, Polytechnics and National Identification Authority Bills.

The bills pending Cabinet approval are the Alternative Dispute, Defamation Chieftaincy, Domestic Violence (mini marital rape clause), Civil Service, General Conventions, International Criminal Court and Right to Information Bills.

He said since last year and parts of this year, 16 bills have been passed into law. The laws include inter alia, the Internal Revenue Act, 684; Customs and Excise Act, 685; National Reconstruction Act, 667; Appropriation Act, 688; Copyright Act, 690; and the Representation of the Peoples (Amendment) Act of 2006, 699.