5 criminal cases that are likely to be dropped by Mahama’s government
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The Attorney General and Minister of Justice-designate, Dr Dominic Akuritinga Ayine, was vetted by the Appointments Committee of the Parliament of Ghana on Monday, January 13, 2024.
If approved, Dr Dominic Ayine, as the principal state prosecutor of the country, would take over the prosecution of all criminal cases started by his predecessor, Godfred Yeboah Dame.
Some of these cases involve key members of the National Democratic Congress (NDC) who were charged with crimes they were accused of during the first term of President John Dramani Mahama, from 2013 to 2016.
Other cases involve the prosecution of some renowned Ghanaians for crimes they allegedly committed during the reign of former President Akufo-Addo.
Through the prosecution of these cases, Godfred Dame and his boss, former President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo, were accused of using the judiciary to persecute appointees of the Mahama government and other persons who dared to challenge their government.
It will, therefore, not be surprising to see an Attorney Dr Dominic Ayine discontinuing some of these cases.
Below are some of the cases the Mahama government is likely to drop:
COCOBOD case:
Former COCOBOD CEO Dr Stephen Opuni
Former Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of COCOBOD, Dr Stephen Opuni; businessman Seidu Agongo, and Agricult Ghana Limited are facing 27 charges, including defrauding by false pretenses, willfully causing financial loss to the state, corruption by public officers, and contravention of the Public Procurement Act.
These persons have been accused of causing financial loss of more than GH¢271 million to the state in a series of lithovit foliar fertiliser transactions.
Dr Opuni, who was CEO under the Mahama government; the Managing Director of Agricult Ghana Limited, a fertiliser manufacturing company; and Agricult Ghana Limited are standing trial for conspiracy to commit crime and procurement breaches.
The prosecution of the case, which has been going on since 2017, has seen a lot of twists and turns, with allegations of judges being transferred on the eve of pronouncing their judgements.
Saglemi Housing Case:
Asutifi South MP Alhaji Collins Dauda
Alhaji Collins Dauda, the former Minister of Water Resources, Works and Housing, and four others have been charged with 70 counts of causing financial loss to the state over the Saglemi Affordable Housing project.
Alhaji Collins Dauda, along with Dr Kwaku Agyemang-Mensah, a former Minister of Water Resources, Works and Housing; Alhaji Ziblim Yakubu, Chief Director at the Ministry for Water Resources, Works and Housing; contributed to the Saglemi Housing deal when it was prepared and signed.
Also implicated are businessman Andrew Clocanas, Executive Chairman of Construtora OAS Ghana Limited (now deceased), and Nouvi Tetteh Angelo, Chief Executive Officer and owner of Ridge Management Solutions Ghana Limited.
The charge sheet, filed on January 24, 2023, included charges of intentionally misapplying public property and causing financial loss to the state in the $200 million Saglemi Housing Project scandal.
While Alhaji Collins Dauda was admitted to self-recognizance bail, Kweku Agyeman-Mensah and Alhaji Ziblim Yakubu were granted bail in the sums of $65 million each. In addition, they were to produce three sureties, one of whom should be a public officer.
Andrew Clocanas, the fourth accused person, was also admitted to bail in the sum of $179 million with three sureties, one of whom should be a public servant.
Nouvi Tetteh Angelo, the fifth accused person, was admitted to bail in the amount of $13 million with three sureties.
The judge presiding over the case in June 2024 told state prosecutors to take the case out of court if they are not ready to go on with it after accusing them of delaying the trial.
Assin North Case:
Assin North MP James Gyakye Quayson
The Member of Parliament of Assin North, James Gyakye Quayson, who was ousted from parliament in 2023 after the Supreme Court of Ghana ruled that he was ineligible to contest in the 2020 parliamentary election, still has a criminal case against him.
He was accused by the Office of the Attorney General, under Godfred Dame, of deceiving public officers to acquire state documents to contest in the 2020 parliamentary election.
On February 12, 2022, the state charged James Gyakye Quayson with five counts: deceit of a public officer, forgery of a passport, knowingly making a false statutory declaration, perjury, and false declaration.
The last hearing of this case was when the Supreme Court threw out Gyakye Quayson’s application for the court to strike out the High Court ruling that his criminal trial should be heard daily.
Gyakye Quayson, through his lawyers, filed a certiorari application, arguing that the trial judge had erred in denying their request to direct the Attorney General’s office to provide additional disclosures.
The lawyers stated that the high court judge erred in allowing the application for the trial on a daily basis to be heard. They added that the judge took his decision on a document that lacked an accompanying affidavit.
But the Supreme Court panel that sat on the case ruled that it lacked merit.
Treason Felony Case:
Oliver Barker-Vormawor
Private legal practitioner, Oliver Barker-Vormawor, is also being prosecuted by the state for his “I would organise the coup myself” post on social media in 2020 following the passage of the controversial Electronic Transfers Levy (E-Levy).
Barker-Vormawor, a leading member of the #FixtheCountry Movement was arrested in February 2023 for allegedly threatening to stage a coup.
The state charged him with the crime of treason felony.
The accused person in July 2023 asked that the court hear his case on a daily basis but the request was declined.
Ofosu Ampofo Leaked Tape Case:
Former NDC chairman Samuel Ofosu Ampofo
Former Chairman of the National Democratic Congress, Samuel Ofosu Ampofo, has also been on trial alongside Anthony Kwaku Boahen, a Communications Officer of the NDC, since December 2019.
Ofosu Ampofo is in court for a leaked tape in which he allegedly planned to commit crimes in the country and turn around to blame them on the ruling New Patriotic Party (NPP).
Among the strategies on the leaked tape are the creation of a general state of insecurity in the country through kidnappings and arson, and verbal attacks on public officials like the Chairman of the National Peace Council, Prof Emmanuel Asante; and the Electoral Commission boss, Jean Mensa.
