Ghana needs an Independent Public Prosecutor – Former A-G

Former Attorney-General and Minister of Justice, Dr. Yao Obed Asamoah, is advocating the creation of an Office of Independent Public Prosecutor.

This, he said is absolutely necessary if the country is to effectively fight corruption and stealing.

He said the current arrangement where the Attorney-General and Minister of Justice doubles as chief legal advisor to the president and also the chief prosecutor lends itself to inefficiency.

He was speaking on Joy FM’s Super Morning Show Friday on the back of the launch of his book on the politics of Ghana.

Corruption has been widely acknowledged as reaching historic high levels in the country with many government agencies and public sector institutions mired in the canker.

Media reports and public audits have unraveled audacious acts of plain stealing, rent seeking and reckless conduct leading to loss of huge sums of money to the state.

Government's actions on these reports have been described by anti-corruption campaigners as lagging at best and duplicitous at worse.  

Discussing the issue, Dr. Asamoah who served as Attorney-General under the Rawlings regime, said an Independent Prosecutor, "can go against elements of the government."

As things stand now, "the Attorney-General is a member of the government and so there is some limitation on what he can do in dealing with elements of the government who are corrupt."

He said Article 88 of the 1992 Constitution has to be amended. Article 88 says, "(1) There shall be an Attorney-General of Ghana who shall be a Minister of State and the principal legal adviser to the Government. (3) The Attorney-General shall be responsible for the initiation and conduct of all prosecutions of criminal offences. (4) All offences prosecuted in the name of the Republic of Ghana shall be at the suit of the Attorney-General or any other person authorised by him in accordance with any law."

These constitutional provisions, he said, make it impossible to establish an independent prosecutor's office without an amendment to the constitution.

Dr. Obed Asamoah's Deputy, who later became A-G, Martin Alamisi Amidu is reputed to be the nation's foremost campaigner against corruption using the legal process.

Mr. Amidu on his own has brought cases against individuals and organisations at the Supreme Court and secured favourable verdicts from the highest court of the land.

In the case of Waterville, Isofoton, and Woyome, the court agreed with the self-proclaimed citizen vigilante that millions of Euros and Ghana cedis paid by the to these companies and Woyome was done unlawfully and that all such monies be returned to the state.

Mr. Amidu left the A-G's department in dramatic circumstances after he publicly accused some ministers of frustrating his efforts to hold some individuals and companies accountable for fleecing the state.

After his successes at the Supreme Court, many argued an independent prosecutor who is not subject to the control of the executive is needed to champion the fight against corruption.

Dr Asamoah agrees, believing the current arrangment is unhelpful.

Source: Ghana | Myjoyonline.com