Kwasi Kwarteng, a private legal practitioner and leading member of the opposition New Patriotic Party (NPP), has weighed in on conversations regarding two suspicious flights that landed in Accra last March.
Specifically, the former Public Relations Officer for the Education Ministry addressed claims that the Member of Parliament for Assin South, Reverend John Ntim Fordjour, should provide evidence backing his allegation that the flights contained cocaine and laundered cash.
In a social media post on Sunday, April 6, Kwasi Kwarteng argued that the MP only raised a suspicion which must be investigated by security agencies, not himself.
“It is important to distinguish between the act of providing information or raising an alarm about potential criminal activity and the legal burden of proof required in formal legal proceedings.
“A person, including a Member of Parliament, has a civic duty to bring to the attention of the appropriate authorities any information that suggests possible criminal conduct. Such information is often based on suspicion, intelligence, or circumstantial evidence, which may not, at that point, meet the rigorous standards of legal burden of proof in formal legal proceedings,” he stated.
The legal practitioner explained that at the initial stage of raising concern, such a person is only expected to present credible information or reasonable grounds for suspicion that warrant further investigation.
According to him, it is not the duty of the person to conduct a full-scale investigation leading to the presentation of legally admissible evidence.
“The primary responsibility for investigating such claims rests with the state once the information is reported or passed on. Therefore, demanding that the complainant provide conclusive ‘evidence’ at this preliminary stage misrepresents the process and is fundamentally misplaced.
“Even if the state believes that Hon. Ntim Fordjour has not provided sufficient evidence to support his allegations, it is still obligated—especially under the current circumstances—to investigate these claims in the interest of good governance, transparency, and accountability,” he noted.
This comes after the Minority Caucus in Parliament, in a press conference addressed by the former Deputy Education Minister on Wednesday, called on the National Security Ministry to disclose the cargo details of Air Med Flight N823AM and Cavok Air Antonov 12B, alleging they may have carried illicit substances and large sums of money.
However, Minister of Government Communications Felix Kwakye Ofosu insists that the aircraft—one a cargo flight and the other a medical flight—had valid reasons for landing in Ghana and that security checks conducted by the appropriate authorities found nothing illegal on board.
