The controversy surrounding the Attorney General’s handling of high-profile cases has taken a new turn, with Richard Ahiagbah, the Director of Communications for the New Patriotic Party (NPP), raising serious concerns about the government’s prosecutorial focus.
He has questioned why the Attorney General, Dr. Dominic Ayine, appears to have abandoned the Saglemi housing case, which involves a staggering $200 million, while aggressively pursuing a $7 million case linked to Kwabena Adu Boahene.
“He came to clear them. He came to let them go, to not answer anything in court under the pretext that somehow the evidence did not permit him to continue the case”
Richard Ahiagbah, Director of Communications for the NPP
For Ahiagbah, this selective approach to prosecution raises fundamental questions about justice and accountability.
He expressed his dismay at what he sees as an attempt to protect individuals affiliated with the National Democratic Congress (NDC) while prioritizing cases that serve political narratives.
Ahiagbah argued that the Attorney General had failed to demonstrate consistency in his application of the law.
He accused Dr. Ayine of dismissing legitimate cases against former NDC officials while focusing on allegations that are politically convenient, like the case of Kwabena Adu Boahene, former head of the National Signals Bureau (NSB).
“I’m saying that that gentleman has been working there long before the NPP came to office. He became a deputy DG under the National Democratic Congress.
“That he (Attorney General) created an impression that this man is an NPP operative. That everything he’s ever gotten in his life was obtained after 2018 when the NPP came to office, when he became the Director General (DG)”
Richard Ahiagbah, Director of Communications for the NPP
For him, the issue is not just about Adu Boahen but about the broader integrity of Ghana’s justice system. He criticized the Attorney General for using his prosecutorial discretion to protect certain individuals while aggressively pursuing others.
“In the midst of all this abuse, I am wondering and I’m shocked and completely flabbergasted, in seeing that the Attorney General’s first orders that he gave were to file a series of nolle prosequi in cases to do with NDC people who had legitimate questions to answer in court”
Richard Ahiagbah, Director of Communications for the NPP
The Saglemi Housing Scandal
Ahiagbah’s frustration stems from the unresolved Saglemi housing project, a case that has long been a subject of public scrutiny.
The project, initiated under the NDC government, was supposed to deliver 5,000 housing units to address Ghana’s housing deficit.
However, only 1,500 incomplete structures stand at the site, with the government having spent $196 million out of the total $200 million allocated.
“If your ears were plugged for years, your eyes, you’ve been in a trance for years, and you just woke up in our country today and somebody told you that sometime in 2012, there was a contract to build some 5,000 houses.
“And now, this time, they are standing you in the premises at Saglemi. And they are telling you the details of that contract and say that the Republic of Ghana contracted a fund, $200,000,000, to build some 5,000 housing units”
“And where you are standing, there’s about 1,500 out of the 5,000 that have been built, none of them habitable, none of them completed, they are shells, standing. How?”
Richard Ahiagbah, Director of Communications for the NPP
His frustration was compounded by the Attorney General’s assertion that there was insufficient evidence to prosecute those responsible for the mismanagement of the project.
“196,000,000 has been spent to build those shells that you are standing and looking at. And then you’re also told just out of your trance that the Attorney General of this country, Dr. Dominic Ayine, says that he doesn’t have evidence to prosecute that person”
Richard Ahiagbah, Director of Communications for the NPP
Ahiagbah contrasted the Saglemi case with the Adu Boahene matter, questioning why the Attorney General found it easier to pursue the latter despite the vast difference in scale.
“$200,000,000 versus $7,000,000, and he can’t go to sleep. $7,000,000 and two hundred million—that one is easy, it doesn’t have evidence. What evidence does he need? Look at the contract”
Richard Ahiagbah, Director of Communications for the NPP
For him, the facts of the Saglemi case were straightforward. The contract stipulated the construction of 5,000 housing units, nearly all the funds had been disbursed, yet the project remained incomplete.
“Why is Dr. Ayine telling us that he doesn’t see the evidence?”
Political Bias or Legal Oversight?
Ahiagbah’s remarks reflect a broader sentiment within sections of the public who see political bias in the administration of justice.
He accused the Attorney General of prioritizing cases based on partisan interests rather than legal merit.
“He feels that person should go free, and then somebody who has not been convicted, yet with evidence he has accumulated from his own sources, sources biased to him, given him evidence, and so therefore, he now says that that one is what Ghana should focus on.
“That is not an update. That’s not transparency. That’s abuse”
Richard Ahiagbah, Director of Communications for the NPP
While some argue that his decisions are based on legal considerations, others, like Ahiagbah, believe they reflect deeper political calculations.
The disparity between the abandoned Saglemi prosecution and the renewed focus on Adu Boahene raises critical questions about fairness and accountability in Ghana’s justice system.
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