Member of Parliament for South Dayi and a member of the Constitutional, Legal and Parliamentary Affairs Committee, Mr. Rockson-Nelson Dafeamekpor, has expressed shock over the Attorney General’s (AG) inability to prosecute the former President of the Ghana Football Association (GFA), Mr. Kwesi Nyantakyi, on the basis of insufficient evidence.
Mr. Dafeamekpor indicated that it is not the duty of the Attorney General to gather evidence and conduct investigations but rather, agencies such as the Police Service, Auditor General’s Department, Economic and Organised Crime Office (EOCO), Commission on Human Rights and Administrative Justice (CHIRAJ), Narcotics Control Board (NACOB) and other bodies.
Speaking to ghanajustice.com in an interview, Mr. Dafeamekpor explained that it is the mandate of such specialised institutions to carry out investigations and gather evidence in the course of their everyday work.
He argued that when it is determined that the evidence gathered by these institutions constitute an infraction on our Criminal Laws, a docket is prepared, the suspect involved is charged appropriately, and the docket is handed over to the Attorney General’s (AG) office for advice.
“When the AG, upon receipt of the docket reviews them and comes to a conclusion that such matters are prosecutable, she directs the institution involved in the investigation to proceed with prosecution, or takes over the docket and initiates the prosecution. This is what happens, and it is shocking for the AG to inform the public that she has no concrete evidence on this matter to prosecute”, he averred.
The South Dayi MP, who doubles as a legal practitioner, stated, that upon the arrest of Mr. Nyantakyi, based on a complaint filed by President Nana Addo Dankwah Akufo-Addo, the suspect (Mr. Nyantakyi) provided a written statement to the police and that in such a matter, the statements involved are caution statements and charge statements.
He reiterated that the statement made by Mr. Nyantakyi to the police can serve as a piece of evidence, because it contains the information concerning the matter under investigation.
“The police have the necessary apparatus to gather other extraneous evidence to prosecute. The video coverage of Mr. Anas Aremeyaw Anas constitutes an extraneous evidence the police can gather and add to the statement made by the former GFA boss. Other evidence from witnesses can be included to constitute a sufficient base for a prima facie case to be established by the police in order to prosecute the matter”, he intimated.
He further added that the police has so far kept mute on the progress of the investigation.
In throwing further light on the subject, Mr Dafeamekpor said that ”In some of the cases, when there are several Accused persons, the Court sometimes upon evaluation of evidence made available, will discharge some Accused people, acquit others, and use the same evidence to convict others. The Attorney General should not, by her inactions cause an erosion in the confidence of the AG’s office. When that happens, we are finished”.
In his concluding statement, Mr. Dafeamekpor stressed that the Attorney General should do the needful and stop allowing politics to affect the functions of her office.
The Minister for Justice and Attorney General
The Attorney-General and Minister for Justice, Ms. Gloria Afua Akuffo, disclosed to an Accra based radio station on Wednesday, August 31, 2018, that she has not received sufficient materials to prosecute anybody following the Number 12 exposé by an investigative journalist, Mr. Anas Aremeyaw Anas.
The minister indicated that, she has not received any docket from the Criminal Investigations Department (CID) to engage in the prosecution process.
She explained that the probe is still on going by the police.
Source: GhanaJustice/S.Ayisi
