Ladies and gentlemen of the media we have called you here today to convey to the people of Ghana, the learned Attorney General’s press prosecution of some Ghanaians. By this press prosecution the Attorney General has violated his oath to be fair to all manner of persons. By this press prosecution the Attorney General has violated a core constitutional provision in our criminal jurisprudence. He has by his press prosecution prejudice the fair trial principle under article 19 of the Constitution, 1992.
Under the guise of a so called “Accountability Series” the Attorney General has blatantly violated the privacy rights of the persons involved in his investigations. Since assuming office as the AG, Hon., Dominic Ayine and his team have gone to town with all manner of very serious allegations against the people he is investigating even before the charges against them are filed in court.
Ladies and gentlemen of the media, this media trial, creates, in the mind of an ordinary Ghanaian, the guilt of the persons under investigation. The AG has turned upside down, the well-established criminal law jurisprudence of “INNOCENT UNTIL PROVEN GUILTY” to “GUILTY UNTIL PROVEN INNOCENT”.
Ladies and gentlemen, in the case of the Buffer Stock CEO, the Attorney general referred to his investigation as “rumble in the jungle”, certainly to create the impression of the guilt of the accused persons in the case. Why does he call them “lawless looters” and people engaging in “criminal enterprise”. If I may ask, ladies and gentlemen of the media, how many of you don’t think that Hanan Abdul Wahab and his wife Faiza Seidu Wuni are guilty of all the charges against them, even before they open their defense in the case?
How many of you don’t think Chairman Wontumi is guilty of all the charges against him, even before he opens his defense in the case?
Again, how many of you, my brothers and sisters watching or listening on radio don’t think that Gifty Oware Mensah and Mr. Osei Assibey are guilty even before they open their various defenses to the charges against them.
Indeed, in Ghana now, who does not believe in the guilt of one Kwabena Adu Boahene? When the Ag describe him as “a member of a criminal syndicate” and speculates on how many years he may serve in jail!
Your honest answers clearly show the extent to which the attorney general, the people’s lawyer has gone to violate the constitutional rights of the very people he is supposed to protect.
The AG is engaging in all these pressers and pushing a guilty narrative without the ability of these accused persons like Osei Assibey, Oware , Wontumi, Adu Boahene, and Hanan getting the opportunity to respond in equal measure their defences in the public domain. If the AG has already pronounced them guilty, then why do we have to go to court?
TAINTED JURORS
Ladies and gentlemen, in jurisdictions where such criminal trial are prosecuted with judge and jurors, all these cases would have been moved out to a different venue or the cases delayed avoiding tainted juror pool on the case. In our jurisdiction, in cases such as these, the judge is both the trier of fact and law, these judges live among us, we attend the same social gatherings and associations, they listen to the same radio and television stations, they watch these press conferences and its associated media discussion, yet we want to pretend that as triers of facts they don’t get tainted like an ordinary Ghanaian at Tema or Kejetia station, they do!! And the fact that our judges, been human can be influenced by the excessive media coverage of this trial is the more reason why a person like the AG must be circumspect when discussing cases which are pending before the courts. It is for a good measure that lawyers are advised to refrain from discussing matters that are sub judice.
The AG, as the titular head of the Bar is supposed to uphold the standards of the legal profession by refraining from discussing matters that are sub judice, yet this our learned AG has forgotten all these standards and ethics of our profession.
Ladies and gentlemen, this AG calls these pressers accountability series, well, can they update us on the many of the cases against the former NDC officials, Collins Dauda on the Saglemi project, why is Johnson Asiamah Governor of BoG? Ato Forson is Finance Minister, why did they withdraw the cases against him? An accountable government should follow through and collect the monies these people embezzled.
Let’s be clear here, we in the minority are not against accountability, indeed, we believe that everyone should be accountable for his or her stewardship. Indeed, as a government in 2029, the next NPP government will hold the current NDC government accountable.
What we are against is the bias press trial which the attorney general seems to revel in to the extent that he is virtually pronouncing the guilt of the accused persons before they even have the chance to open their cases.
The AG says he is into this media circus because he does not want to refer to as incompetent AG, please mr. AG, competent AGs don’t engage in media trial. They don’t try their cases in the court of public opinion; they try their cases in the court rooms. And to you my brothers and sisters in the media, please be careful so that you don’t unknowingly amplify this grand populist agenda.
As a people, we must all rise up and challenge these constitutional violations of this administration, the gradual tearing down of the constitutional guardrails for limited government portends great danger to the liberties of Ghanaians, all of you, ladies and gentlemen in the media, religious and chieftaincy institutions, civil society organizations must rise up otherwise we will wake up one day and we will have no democracy left.
Thank you for your kind attention.