Attorney-General Dismisses NDC Decision

The Attorney-General and Minister for Justice, Nana Akufo-Addo MP has dismissed the decision of former NDC appointees not to co-operate with investigations into allegations of impropriety against them.

Delivering the keynote address at the annual conference of the Ghana Bar Association (GBA) in Sunyani, the Attorney-General said: “Co-operation or non-co-operation, government will not be deflected from the necessity to pursue these enquiries, which are entirely legitimate. “For we will not allow a culture of impunity to develop in this nation.”

The enquiries, he said, would be pursued to their logical conclusion and “persons of integrity should have nothing to fear.” The theme of the conference is “Corruption, the Rule of Law, and Administration of Justice.”

The A-G said the portrayal of the current trials of former NDC functionaries as an NPP government’s grand plan to destabilise and destroy the NDC is far from the truth. “I appreciate the difficulty they find themselves in – yesterday’s vociferous apostles of probity and accountability who today, shriek witch-hunt, harassment and inquisition whenever the searchlight of these very same principles is thrown upon their conduct.”

He assured them that whatever measures taken against them would be within the strict confines of the letter and spirit of the Constitution and respect for the rules of due process.

“There will be no “kangaroo” proceedings under the NPP administration which is proving to be the most humane and law-abiding government of recent times,” he said.

Nana Akufo-Addo reminded the NDC appointees, including former vice-president, Professor Mills that the criminal libel law, which they dread so much, was introduced by the PNDC and carried into the Criminal Code through Act 458 of 1993.

“It appears that Fifi Mills, a respected tax lawyer and presumably, a member of this association in good standing, has forgotten that the creation of the criminal offence of causing financial loss to the state through wilful, negligent or fraudulent act, was the work of the NDC party he leads. I trust that the good Professor is not suggesting that the law was intended only for use against the people,” he asked.

On the arrest of E.T. Mensah, NDC MP for Ningo/Prampram, and former Minister for Youth and Sports, the A-G said it was not the first time an MP had been arrested by security forces. And he remarked that the former minister’s greatest complaint about mosquito bites was rather misplaced.

He said detainees of the PNDC/NDC era, including the victims of identification haircuts, would be amazed, and amused to hear that mosquito bites were the worst things that could happen to one in prison.

“We all know what has gone on in our country these last twenty years. The list said about them the better. We must move on from those dark days, “he stressed.

The A-G called for proper co-ordinating between law enforcement agencies and his office, to ensure effective prosecutions of cases. He said the necessity for consulting the Attorney-General’s office in the initiation of all prosecutions is to consider not only the quality of the evidence assembled by the investigators, but also the public interest in launching or not launching a particular prosecution.

Nana Akufo-Addo said the emerging evidence in the in the unfolding drama of apparently extensive malfeasance being unearthed by wide-ranging investigations into the activities of the last administration reveal that certain “lawyers, by acts of omission or commission, have contributed to the state of lawlessness that permitted what appears to be a veritable plunder of a nation.

He urged the Bar Association to enforce ethical norms and practices among members in their professional dealings with the public and among themselves.