Special Prosecutor will victimise us – Dominic Ayine

A former Deputy Attorney General, Dr Dominic Ayine, has said the office of Special Prosecutor, if created by government, will be used to hound and victimise former government appointees, which will not augur well for the governance of the country.

President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo, as part of his 2016 election campaign, promised the creation of the office of Special Prosecutor as a way of curbing corruption in the public sector.

Speaking on the floor of parliament on Wednesday 1 March, Dr Ayine raised red flags with the office of the independent prosecutor.

“The establishment of office of Special Prosecutor in common law jurisdictions has always been based upon one important consideration, that is, conflict of interest between the Attorney General, who is the constitutional repository or power to prosecute, and the person who has broken the criminal laws of the country. So conflict of interest is a cardinal consideration. Now in other situations where I‘m very certain, we on this side can predict with mathematical certainty that the office of the Special Prosecutor will be aiming at prosecuting former ministers and appointees of the former government,” he stated.

Dr Ayine withdrew his comment later after Speaker Professor Mike Ocquaye asked him to do so.