The Attorney-General, Dr. Dominic Ayine, has asked the Ghanaian public, particularly those who have tagged him as the ‘Chief Clearing Agent,’ to exercise constraint.
The Justice Minister explained that he was not instructed by the president to drop the case he dropped, nor was he under pressure to drop these cases.
He said the cases he dropped lacked enough evidence, but the prosecution pressed on under the previous administration.
Addressing the press on Wednesday, February 12, 2025, the minister stated that the charges against these accused persons in the cases were defective, and that there were no valid reasons to proceed with the cases in a professional or ethical manner.
“I am keenly aware of the need to balance the public interest against the interests and rights of the accused persons.”
Also, as Attorney General, I take absolute responsibility for all the decisions taken so far. I am not under any instructions or pressure to discontinue any case or to bring charges against one. Those who are in a haste to tag the President as a clearing agent should hasten slowly because he is not responsible for prosecutions and has not directed me to drop any case.”
I wish to make it clear that I did not take these decisions lightly. As I indicated above, I consulted widely and reviewed the files diligently before coming to a decision on each of the cases. You would note that in some cases, such as the SSNIT case and the banking cases, I withdrew charges against some of the accused persons while others are under consideration.”
He further indicated that some of the cases he dropped were guided by professional integrity and legal principles.
“For ethical and professional reasons, I couldn’t in good conscience continue to prosecute some of the cases. The second was that some of the cases, in my own review and analysis of the charges, showed clearly that the charges were defective and some were far against the promptness of plain common sense,” he stated.
“The third was that in some of the cases, the evidence led so far showed that there was a reasonable doubt, as to the guilt of the accused persons and no prosecutor should continue to pursue a case in the face of overwhelming doubt regarding the guilt of accused persons.
“In most of the cases I had terminated proceedings, the conduct of some of the individual judges left so much to be desired.”
By: Rainbowradioonline.com/Ghana