A leading member of the Movement for Change, Solomon Owusu, has criticised the grounds on which the Attorney General and Minister of Justice, Dr. Dominic Ayine, over the discontinuation of prosecution against former Finance Minister, Dr. Kwabena Duffuor.
According to him, the Attorney General should have stuck to the principle of nolle prosequi without offering an explanation, rather than providing the reasons stated in a release dated July 22.
Speaking on Accra-based TV3’s New Day on Wednesday, July 23, Mr. Owusu described the Attorney General’s justification as “damning” to Dr. Duffuor’s credibility.
“I don’t have a difficulty with what the Attorney General has done, especially since he’s under no compulsion to explain his decision. But if you go ahead to give explanations, then we are entitled to scrutinise them.
“I think the most damaging blow to Dr. Duffuor’s credibility is actually the statement issued by the Attorney General. The statement says he has paid 60%, but fails to tell us how much that 60% constitutes,” he said.
He added, “The same statement also says this does not exonerate him of wrongdoing. So you admit there’s wrongdoing, but why should the state accept partial recovery and not pursue the full amount?”
Mr. Owusu argued that in such cases, the state should demand full recovery with interest, not just 60%.
“For instance, in the National Service scandal involving GHS548 million, by this principle, are we only going to take 60% of the amount? What sort of precedent is this?” he questioned.
His comments follow the Attorney General’s decision to discontinue a financial crimes case against Dr. Duffuor and seven others, citing significant recoveries of alleged losses.
The Attorney General’s office explained that a 60% recovery threshold has been adopted as a benchmark to guide decisions on prosecuting similar cases.
