Allegations Against AG: Srem-Sai Demands Commission Of Inquiry

Srem-Sai Demands Commission Of Inquiry Into Allegation Against AG

A private legal practitioner and law lecturer, Dr. Justice Srem-Sai, has called for the establishment of a Commission of Inquiry to investigate allegations that the Attorney-General, Godfred Yeboah Dame, asked an accused person in the ongoing ambulance procurement trial to incriminate the Minority Leader.

The allegations were made by Richard Jakpa, the third accused in the trial, who said that the Attorney-General previously approached him to help build a case against the Minority Leader and former Deputy Finance Minister, Dr. Cassiel Ato Forson.

This issue has raised a debate about the conduct of the Attorney-General and its implications for the country’s criminal justice system.

Dr. Srem-Sai believes that a special probe is necessary to bring a closure to the controversy.

He stated that when strange things happen in a country and they have never happened before, it is often necessary to set up a Commission of Inquiry to have an open conversation about the matter.

“When strange things happen in a country and they have never happened before, what we often do is to set up a commission of inquiry.

So if you look at all the commissions of inquiry from May 9 disaster, it is when things like this happen which have never happened before and we want an honest and open conversation about them.

And we want a permanent solution to some of these things, we set up a Commission of Inquiry to have an open conversation,” Dr. Srem-Sai said.

Samson Lardy Anyenini, a lawyer and host of Newsfile on JoyNews, also agrees with Dr. Srem-Sai’s view.

He stated that the allegations must attract the attention of the relevant state institutions.

“He may be frustrated but to say the things he says, and considering the consequences of the things he says, I will think that they are serious enough, warranting the attention of the right institution for what has to be done,” Mr. Anyenini said.

However, spokesperson for the Attorney-General’s Department, Isaac Wilberforce Mensah, has defended the Attorney-General’s actions, stating that he met with Mr. Jakpa during the pre-negotiation stage and that Mr. Jakpa was not represented by counsel at the time.

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“At the material time that these meeting took place, Mr. Jakpa was not represented by counsel.

If you look at Act 10 (79), an Attorney-General can do these plea negotiations either with the accused person or his counsel.

Now this particular accuse person in the course of this trial has changed lawyers about four times,” Mr. Mensah said.

A former Director of the Ghana School of Law and private legal practitioner, Ansah Asare, has called for the resignation of the Attorney-General, citing his experience and knowledge of the law.

“My candid opinion is that the learned Attorney General knows or is deemed to know the law.

Apart from the judges, I think the other person we can say the law rest in his bosom, is the Attorney-General.

The Attorney-General ought to know where, how and when he has to meet accused persons and in the residence of a sitting justice of the Supreme Court, this is scandalous and the Attorney-General must resign or the president must fire him,” Mr. Asare said.

Richard Jakpa himself also spoke out during his trial, saying that he had previously met with the Attorney-General on several occasions to help him build a case against Dr. Ato Forson.

“The A-G has on several occasions engaged me at odd hours to help him make a case against A1 and I have evidence for that.. If he pushes me, I will open the Pandora’s box.

I don’t understand why the Attorney General will accuse me of defending A1 when I’m here to defend myself,” Mr. Jakpa said.

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