Attorney General; Dominic Ayine
President Mahama not behind discontinuation of cases –Attorney-General
The Attorney-General and Minister of Justice, Dr. Dominic Ayine, has dismissed claims that President John Mahama directed him to discontinue prosecution of some high-profile cases, emphasizing that his decisions were made independently.
At a press briefing in Accra on Wednesday, he stated that he was not under any instructions or pressure to discontinue any case.
“Those who are in haste to charge His Excellency the President of the Republic as a clearing agent should hasten slowly because he is not responsible for the prosecution,” he stated.
Dr. Ayine explained that most of the cases did not involve corruption, except a charge of bribery in one case, in respect of which no evidence was laid, and none of the persons affected by my decisions so far has looted state resources.
The Attorney-General said his decision to drop charges stemmed from three factors:
“For ethical and professional reasons, I could not in good conscience continue to prosecute some of the cases”
“For some of the cases, my review and analysis of the charges showed clearly that the charges were defective and some were filed against the promptings of plain common sense,” he stated.
Dr. Ayine stated that he did not decide to discontinue the cases but rather consulted widely and reviewed the files diligently before deciding on each of the cases.
Regarding the banking sector cases, Dr. Ayine cited an internal memo that recommended dropping charges against the Governor of the Bank of Ghana, Dr. Johnson Asiamah.
“The professional opinion of the Prosecution Division was very clear, that the charges against the Governor of the Bank of Ghana are unsustainable,” he said.
In the COCOBOD fertilizer case involving Dr. Stephen Opuni, the Attorney-General disclosed that officials at COCOBOD gave statements to the effect that the fertilizer in question was one of the most effective fertilizers purchased by Cocobod and that the farmers preferred it to the granular fertilizer.
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