Godfred Dame’s incompetence is unfortunate – Amoako Baah

A political scientist, Dr. Richard Amoako Baah, says Attorney General Godfred Dame’s handling of high-profile cases is “unfortunate” and “unacceptable.”

Dr. Baah’s comments come on the back of former Deputy Minister for Finance, Dr. Cassiel Ato Forson, and businessman Richard Jakpa being acquitted and discharged by the Court of Appeal.

A panel of three, in a 2-1 majority decision, said Justice Afia Serwah Asare-Botwe’s ruling on the submission of no case to answer on March 30, 2023, for the accused to open their defense was in error.

Justice Kweku Tawiah Ackaah-Boafo and Justice Philip Bright Mensah granted the request and acquitted and discharged them, while Justice Poku Acheampong, the presiding judge, dismissed their request.

However, there have been calls from lawyers and legal professionals for the Attorney General to be investigated for misconduct.

Leaked audio tapes have revealed conversations between the Attorney General and one of the accused persons in the Ambulance case, Richard Jakpa, raising concerns about the Attorney General’s impartiality.

Speaking on Morning Starr with Lantam Papanko, Dr. Baah expressed his dismay at the Attorney General’s conduct, saying, “his pronouncements are very, very, very unfortunate. Sometimes I’ll take his incompetence as that’s what it is.”

“The Attorney General must be looked at in that regard. He brought about the loss of this case by his conduct, and he must be looked at. The Attorney General is not supposed to be a crook or a corrupt person who takes cases based on what he wants or somebody has won.”

Dr. Baah also questioned the need for a separate Minister for Justice and Attorney General, suggesting it was an unnecessary layer of government. “We don’t have money. We have to cut down the number of government employees, and this is one of them. Why do you want to have a Justice lawyer, an Attorney General lawyer? We have so many people to advise him.”

When asked if he had any words for the President on the matter, Dr. Baah was skeptical. “I don’t think it will make any difference. If you have one corrupt person, it’s not very different from two corrupt people. All we need is a competent, non-corrupt person to be Attorney General, and that’s good enough.

“There are some cases which are called political cases… and when these cases come up, you’d hear the side that doesn’t favor say, ‘Oh, this is politically motivated.’ But all we need is for the law to take its course.”