PPP Vindicated As Hon. Kan Dapaah Bares it all

The Progressive People’s Party (PPP) feels vindicated on its crusade for decoupling the Attorney General’s office from the Ministry of Justice when Hon. Kan Dapaah accused the current government of deliberately refusing to prosecute government officials. This, according to Hon. Kan Dapaah, is due to the fact that, the Attorney who doubles as the Minister of Justice is a member of the government as well as party stalwart.

This assertion is a tacit admission that the PPP’s policies of separating the Attorney General’s department from the Ministry of Justice is the first step in our quest to fighting corruption in this country and every government that is serious about fighting this canker must be committed to it.

The irony of Hon. Kan Dapaah’s statement is that, the NPP Government of which he was a leading member, had the opportunity to rule Ghana for eight years but failed to implement this policy through a review of the Constitution. Why did the NPP, like the NDC, fail to amend the Constitution to allow such an important policy to be included, if they are really committed to uprooting corruption in this country? The people of Ghana can read between the political subterfuges perpetuated by these two political parties.

In view of the admission of Hon. Kan Dapaah, Hon. Ayikoi Otto - the former Attorney General (on TV3 Radio) and other independent minded Ghanaians on the need to separate the Attorney General’s Department from the Ministry of Justice, the PPP will like to reiterate and demand the revision of the Constitution to include this policy. This will curb corruption in this country and restore dignity in Ghanaian politics.

To that end, the PPP demands the immediate initiation of the process to revise the Constitution to separate the Attorney General’s Department from the Ministry of Justice and establish an Chief State Prosecutor’s Office. The Chief State Prosecutor (CSP) could be established as follows:

1. Chief State Prosecutor shall be the Attorney General of the Republic. The CPS shall be nominated by the Ghana Bar Association on the advice of the Judicial Council and approved by Parliament.

2. CSP shall be responsible for the initiation and conduct of all prosecutions of all criminal offences in the Republic.

3. No one shall institute any prosecutions in the name of the Republic without the authourity of the CSP.

4. The CSP shall discharge such other duties of a legal nature as may be referred or assigned to him by Parliament, Supreme Court, or imposed on him by the Constitution or any other law.

5. CPS shall hold office for 10 years upon parliamentary approval of his nomination unless he resigns, removed or dies.

6. CSP before taking office shall subscribe to an oath of allegiance and secrecy of his office administered by the Speaker of Parliament and before all members of Parliament who by law must all be in attendance as by law shall prescribe.

7. CSP in doing his work is entitled to request and receive information from every state official subject only to the existing laws on self-incrimination.

8. A state official who fails and or refuses to provide information requested for by CSP commits high crime and upon conviction shall be liable within the terms of article 2 (5)(a&b) of the Constitution.

9. The only body that could remove CPS from office is the Supreme Court of Ghana upon stated grounds of legal and ethical nature through Petition sent to CHRAJ.

10. Upon CHRAJ finding a prima facie case against the CSP, it shall issue a Writ of Removal of the CSP from Office to Supreme Court and the Court shall consider same with audience of CSP in response.

A schedule for a series of actions to press home our demand for reforms that will make Ghana work for all Ghanaians, will be announced soon.

Murtala Mohammed Ahmed

National Secretary