The Attorney General and Minister of Justice, Godfred Dame, has reacted to a press conference by the opposition National Democratic Congress (NDC), where he was accused of covering up for government officials implicated in a galamesey report by former Minister for Environment, Science, Technology and Innovation, Prof Kwabena Frimpong Boateng.
In a statement issued on October 18, 2023, sighted by GhanaWeb, Godfred Dame said that the allegations against him by the NDC are unfounded.
He said that the NDC is making it look as if an advice from a state attorney to the Central Investigation Department (CID) of the Ghana Police Service on an investigation it is conducting on Prof Frimpong-Boateng's galamsey (illegal small-scale) report, is wrong.
"It is imperative to remind the public that the Attorney-General’s hallowed constitutional responsibility under article 88 of the Constitution for the “initiation and conduct of all prosecutions of criminal offences”, implies a duty to prosecute a crime only after proper investigations have been conducted, irrespective of the political, race, colour, ethnic, religion, economic or social status of the suspect.
“The lies and propaganda of the NDC are obvious to discerning Ghanaians… State Attorneys of all ranks, throughout the country on a daily basis, offer advice on hundreds of dockets presented by the CID. The advice on the docket prepared by the CID on the “Prof Frimpong-Boateng Report”, rendered by a Chief State Attorney, is no different from advice proffered by the Office on dockets with similar shortcomings. The political consequence of such advice is not a factor considered by State Attorneys,” he wrote.
Dame further stated that the NDC failed to provide evidence at their press conference to prove that Prof Frimpong-Boateng’s allegations against the government officials cited in his report were true.
“At the end of the press conference by the NDC, not a shred of evidence had been produced by the NDC against any of the persons named above. The wild allegation that I am engaged in an exercise to cover up crimes allegedly committed by them is therefore perplexing, dubious and mischievous to say the least. I deem that press conference by the NDC as only the latest in the series of attacks on me for decisions taken in the regular course of my functions as Attorney-General which that political party finds to be inimical to its interests,” he said.
The attorney general also said that the NDC’s attack on state attorneys is very dangerous and likely to affect Ghana’s development and progress.
He added that political commentaries on the work of state attorneys do not only make their already stressful work more difficult but also endanger their lives.
Background:
The National Democratic Congress accused the Attorney General and Minister of Justice, Godfred Yeboah Dame, of prioritizing the interests of corrupt officials in the country.
The allegations were made during the "Moment of Truth Series" held at the NDC Headquarters in Accra on October 16, 2023.
Addressing the gathering, the NDC's National Communications Officer, Sammy Gyamfi, expressed the party's concern that despite the mounting evidence and multiple witnesses implicating certain companies in illegal mining, the Attorney General has remained silent on the matter.
Sammy Gyamfi argued that Godfred Dame's actions, or lack thereof, demonstrate a lack of genuine commitment to the country's well-being and an inclination towards shielding corrupt officials.
He stated, "Sometimes in 2018, the anti-galamsey task force arrested and seized about 30 excavators and mining equipment belonging to a company engaged in illegal mining in the Krobo forest. This incident was captured on video by Multimedia's Erastus Asare Donkor in the presence of other eyewitnesses who are still alive today.
“At the time of the seizure of the equipment, the company had destroyed about a thousand hectares of the forest when all they had was a protective license. These are indisputable facts, and the weight of such evidence cannot be glossed over by any impartial investigator or prosecutor."
Gyamfi questioned the Attorney General's response to such concrete evidence, asking, "How can the Attorney General and the Minister of Justice say that, in the face of this incontrovertible evidence? In the face of evidence of chiefs, the youth, and the people of Krobo testifying to the illegal mining operations of Heritage Imperial, how can you say that there is no evidence to prosecute the company?" he lamented.
“Ghana’s Attorney General Godred Yebaoh Dame does not have the interest of the people of this country at heart, he is in office to protect corrupt officials who are destroying our forest reserves as we have just seen,“ he added.
Read Godfred Dame’s statement below:
BAI/OGB
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