Seek legal advice or leave me alone- Kunbour tells PAC

The Attorney General and Minister for Justice, Dr. Benjamin Kunbour, has strongly defended his refusal to appear before the Public Accounts Committee (PAC) sitting yesterday, saying “I acted lawfully”.

The legal luminary therefore advised the Chairman of the Committee and Member of Parliament for Afigya Sekyere West, Albert Kan-Dapaah, to consult legal minds for directions on the matter.

The Committee on Tuesday threatened to cause the arrest of Dr. Kunbour if he fails to furnish it with documents relating to the payment of GHC 51 million judgment debt to Alfred Woyome by the sate.

The AG said this on an Accra based radio station on Wednesday.

“... The PAC chairman sought to create was that Parliament was autonomous and I wasn’t respecting Parliament... I’ve been a Member of Parliament for eight years and I have a lot of respect for Parliament. We happen to find ourselves in a type of legal and constitutional situation that [Kan-Dapaah ]does not understand.”

He mentioned that the “Constitution has to be read as a whole. Is he aware that it is the same 1992 Constitution that requires that you do not get involved in prejudicial acts in which the cases are pending in court.”

The Attorney General also accused the PAC chairman of personalising the Attorney General’s Department, and thereby, advised him to refrain from that.

“When you personalise an institution, then you are making a lot of major mistakes. The Attorney General is a constitutional office, it is not a Ben Kunbour office and so he should be talking more about the office and not Ben Kunbour,” he said.