Bright Sowu, a senior research officer at the Anti-Corruption Coalition, has described the withdrawal of the case from courts involving Bawku Central MP, Mahama Ayariga, by Special Prosecutor, Kissi Agyebeng, as one which will affect the credibility of the office.
According to him, the withdrawn case from the courts which involved Mr Ayariga’s alleged procurement breaches of ambulances and tax evasion in importing some “luxurious” vehicles defeats the work done by the former Special Prosecutor, Martin Amidu, in his gathering of evidence to pursue the matter.
That notwithstanding, Mr Sowu explained that it is well within the power of Mr Agyebeng to “be able to do that” despite the case being brought against Mr Ayariga by Martin Amidu.
“To have the OSP take cases to court and withdraw it, it affects the credibility of the office. However, we must take certain things into consideration that it’s not the same OSP that we have in the office. Mr Amidu is no more, we have Mr Kissi Agyebeng now and he is coming as a new person. He has reviewed the case, looked at the evidence, goes to court to say, ‘looking at the evidence that we have, we don’t want to prosecute this case’”.
Mr Bright Sowu
Mr Sowu revealed that the move by Mr Agyebeng “certainly has redeemed the prosecutor’s power to be able to do that”. He noted that the outcome of the case offers an “opportunity for education” for the public to learn how these things are really done.
The anti-corruption campaigner emphasized that Mr Agyebeng has “every right to review” and withdraw the case as he deems fit.
“Because we have so much corruption in the country, anytime we have a case like this, people will expect it to travel the full distance. I think for this particular case, it will appear that the change in the Special Prosecutor also might have affected the travel of the case. Whatever Mr Amidu stood on which [he] gathered strong evidence, it seems that Mr Agyebeng had a different opinion how that strong evidence is whether that one that can give them a win”.
Mr Bright Sowu
Special Prosecutor withdraws case against Mahama Ayariga
Special Prosecutor, Kissi Agyebeng, has dropped the case involving Bawku Central MP Mahama Ayariga. According to him, it will be a waste of the state’s time to go to “a length where it will only be dismissed on the submission of no case”.
The charges were brought against the Bawku Central MP by former Special Prosecutor Martin Amidu, who resigned in November 2020.
Counsel for Mr Ayariga, Godwin Edudzi Tamakloe, welcomed the decision saying he was not surprised by the outcome.
“He [Special Prosecutor] indicated that the evidential standard required in a criminal trial is proof beyond a reasonable doubt. And he is unable to do that with the evidence available to him. So, we are grateful to him and the courts for what has happened today”.
Godwin Edudzi Tamakloe
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