The Director of Communications for the opposition New Patriotic Party (NPP), Richard Ahiagbah, has expressed his dissatisfaction with how the Office of the Special Prosecutor (OSP) is handling the allegations of corruption against the former Finance Minister Ken Ofori-Atta.
According to Mr Ahiagbah, Special Prosecutor Kissi Agyebeng should allow Mr Ofori-Atta the necessary space to cooperate with the investigation, rather than adopting what he described as a “grandstanding” approach.
He noted that Mr Agyebeng has previously taken a similar stance in other cases, only to later backtrack.
“All this rambo-style stuff he’s doing is needless,” he stated on JoyNews’ The Pulse on Wednesday, February 12.
His comments follow a press conference held by the OSP on the same day, during which Mr Ofori-Atta was declared a fugitive.
The Special Prosecutor accused the former minister of causing financial loss to the state through various dealings, including the controversial construction of the National Cathedral and the Ghana Revenue Authority’s (GRA) partnership with Strategic Mobilisation Ghana Ltd (SML).
Mr Ofori-Atta allegedly authorised the release of a substantial ¢142.7 million for the cathedral project, which remains incomplete.
Commenting further, Mr Ahiagbah stated that legal processes must be followed, and the Special Prosecutor should allow due process to take its course.
He argued that if the Special Prosecutor no longer considers Mr Ofori-Atta a mere suspect and believes he is guilty, he does not have the unilateral power to convict him.
“If he wants to convict him, then he should go to court, secure conviction, an then on the back of that, he can actually have him declared as a fugitive.
“But what he said is not proper, and my basic understanding of the law does not give him that basis to unilaterally declare him a fugitive when he has not secured any conviction from the court,” he added.
Mr Ahiagbah urged the Special Prosecutor to proceed with caution, stressing that there is sufficient time to ensure that justice is served and that anyone who has acted improperly against the interests of Ghanaians is held accountable through lawful means.
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