Attorney-General and Minister of Justice Godfred Yeboah Dame has said the government is taking measures to do away with delays in criminal prosecutions.
According to him, a bill which expedite the delivery of justice is currently before cabinet and will be presented to parliament for passage.
Mr Dame made this known when the family of the late Major Maxwell Mahama visited his office to express appreciation of the verdict on his murder.
“The length of time that we took has also resulted in the further amendment of the criminal procedure laws of the country and just two months ago, I was compelled to place before cabinet a bill to reform the criminal justice system of the country to ensure that all the delays that occur in the course of criminal justice delivery will be eliminated and so we are seeking to reform the jury system,” he announced.
Major Mahama tragically lost his life in May 2017 when he was gruesomely killed by a mob in Denkyira-Obuasi, located in the Central Region of Ghana.
After almost seven years, 12 of the accused persons were on Monday, January 29, 2024 sentenced to life imprisonment.
But the Attorney General has noted that they were avoidable delays, hence the need for a major reform in the jury system.
“It is because of the jury system that the trial lasted this long. If you have observed, two years ago, we filed charges of treason against certain citizens of the country, and even though that charge is more serious, it took two years to clear because it did not have the involvement of a jury,” he said.
However, he expressed regret it had to take this unfortunate incident to prompt the reforms.
“It’s very unfortunate that your son had to sacrifice his life only for us to learn this lesson. I believe the nation has learnt a lot from it. The passage of the vigilantism act even shows our commitment to ensure that vigilantism or any form of mob violence will have no place in Ghana going forward,” he added.
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