The Hypocrisy Of Deputy AG’s EC Bosses Prosecution Claim

Deputy Attorney General, Joseph Kpemka

Ghana is indeed not worth dying for! To be an arbiter of political parties especially New Patriotic Party [NPP] and National Democratic Congress [NDC] requires a great deal of emotional intelligence and tenacity. Show me a transformational leader at a public institution in Ghana and, I will show you a bevy of saboteurs! This partly explains why I have fondness for the beleaguered boss of Ghana’s electoral commission [EC], Charlotte Osei. Howls of outrage on her must stop! It takes a misogynist or a double standard individual to vilify such a woman! As a novice on her job, she did what Napoleon couldn’t do! It appears the propensity for implicating her is escalating at bewildering pace. “The EC Chairperson and her deputies could be prosecuted for corruption upon a review of the report by his outfit, Deputy Attorney General, Joseph Kpemka has said. According to Mr. Kpemka, though the EC Chair and her officials have been removed from office, they could be prosecuted if the Attorney General establishes that allegations made against them as contained in the committee’s report are true” (Source: GHANAWEB.COM, Saturday, June 30, 2018). How many Ghanaian office holders are not complicit in legal infractions?

Data from Ghana Prison service reveals that one third of individuals in prison are on pre-trial or remand. Every now and then, we hear horrifying tales of some remand prisoners staying up to 8 or 10 hell years without trial. Chapter 5 of the 4^th Republican Constitution of Ghana talks about fundamental human rights and freedom. Article 19 (1) states that “a person charged with a criminal offence shall be given a fair hearing within a reasonable time by a court”. 19 (13) went further to stipulate that “An adjudicating authority for the determination of the existence or extent of a civil right or obligation shall, subject to the provisions of this Constitution, be established by law and shall be independent and impartial; and where proceedings for determination are instituted by a person before such an adjudicating authority, the case shall be given a fair hearing within a reasonable time.” Although I concede that “within a reasonable time by a court” is a drawback in the constitution. Attorney general departments and judiciary unduly remand citizens for long years without trial.

Needless to say Ghana is a signatory to the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights [ICCPR]. United Nation General Assembly adopted ICCPR on December 1966. Article 10 (1) of the foregoing covenant states that “all persons deprived of their liberty shall be treated with humanity and with respect for the inherent dignity of the human person.” Besides, 2 (a) states that “accused persons shall, save in exceptional circumstances, be segregated from convicted persons and shall be subject to separate treatment appropriate to their status as un-convicted persons.” How many remand prisoners are crowded in Ghana prisons with convicted prisoners? Charlotte and her deputies have been implicated in the CJ’s committee for violating procurement acts. Are the police, attorney general [AG] and judiciary not equally breaching constitution by dumping people into prisons without trial! Akufu-Addo’s deputy AG is behaving like Queen Victoria who used marijuana for menstrual cramps while accusing other users of wrongdoing.

Almost every year, we have been inundated with breaches of public account regulations from Auditor-Generals report [AGR]. For example, 2017 AGR revealed that Ghana lost about 8 billion Ghana Cedis to violations of public accounts regulations in 2016. “The Auditor General has said the nation lost about GH¢8billion to infractions in the year 2016, mainly due to systematic weakness. Daniel Domelevo said the money is irrecoverable because they were lost due to internal control weaknesses and not cash irregularities. He said the monies that they were going to recover was the ones that people used for personal economic recovery, which is monies they stole or got from bloating of prices” (Source: MYJOYONLINE.COM, December 11, 2017). How many of the individuals indicted in the above report have you prosecuted?

We must eschew emotions when accusing others of wrongdoing! Erstwhile USA Supreme Court Judge, Oliver Wendell Holmes, Jr asserted that “Certitude is not the test of certainty. We have been cocksure of many things that were not so.” During one of my master’s level programs in clinical psychology, clinical assessment professor used to task us to have a hypothetical mental health client! One of my colleagues, became my schizoaffective disorder client! That did not mean that she had the above psychopathological issue! Anas Aremeyaw Anas formed a hypothetical investment company to hoodwink Kwasi Nyantakyi. It means Nyantakyi was only hypothetically corrupt but not actually corrupt! Not until forensic audit from GFA implicate him, we have no good reasons to accuse him of corruption! Only court can establish his intent to commit corrupt act. Yet, look at embarrassments heaped on him from the public! Nyantakyi was the man who lifted the image of Ghana National team to its crescendo. He won under 20, FIFA World Cup for Ghana in 2009. He was doing terrific job on the continental soccer management! Ghanaians must avoid pulling their own down! Like Nyantakyi, let us leave Charlotte Osei and her deputies alone! How many of us can manage EC without implicit political biases?

I think Mr. Kpemka can prosecute EC bosses upon review of the recommendation. All public office holders who have violated right to fair hearing and ICCPR accord must also be prosecuted. All individuals and department heads implicated in annual AGR must equally be prosecuted? So, you see! My fellow countryman, Joseph Kpemba, “the language of judicial decision is mainly the language of logic. And the logical method and form flatter that longing for certainty and for repose which is in every human mind. But certainty generally is illusion, and repose is not the destiny of man” -- Oliver Wendell Holmes, Jr. Let me take this opportunity to express my heartfelt condolence to ex-Prez, JDM, and the bereaved family of ex-VEEP. RIP, Paa Kwesi Amissah Arthur.

By Nana Yaw Osei, Minnesota, USA, [email protected]

2. (a) Accused persons shall, save in exceptional circumstances, be segregated from convicted persons and shall be subject to separate treatment ap propriate to their status as unconvicted persons