By Nathaniel Nartey
Facebook: Nathaniel Nartey
Twitter: @Annertey_Nartey
Stakeholders in the fight against corruption have backed the Special Prosecutor Kissi Agyabeng on his decision to discontinue the case against the Bawku Central MP Mahama Ayariga. Mr. Ayariga was being investigated by the office of the Special Prosecutor for allegedly using public office for private gain, in a case that was started by former Special Prosecutor Martin Amidu.
Mr Kissi Agyebeng’s first official act as Special Prosecutor was to drop the case against the Bawku MP citing lack of adequate evidence. Head of Programmes at the Ghana Anti-corruption Coalition Bright Sowu expressed surprise at the decision. He was quick to add that Mr Agyabeng has the right to drop any case he feels has no merit upon review.
“Mr Kissi Agyebeng did not start this particular prosecution, it was started by his predecessor and if you look at clause 11 of the regulation that guides the Special Prosecutor’s office, there is some power given to the Special Prosecutor to make a decision whether or not to prosecute. So legally he has the power to stop a prosecution…..one lawyer can look at a set of facts and evidence and say this is good I can get a conviction another can look at the same facts, evidence and say I cannot get a conviction with this so there is an element of subjectivity with this”.
Head of Programmes at the Ghana Integrity Initiative, GII Mary Adda said it is important for the Special Prosecutor to re-examine available evidence to determine whether each case has any merit before acting on it to avoid wasting state resources.
“As the Special Prosecutor he has the opportunity to review the docket he received and based on his judgement, if he believes that he has no evidence to prove beyond reasonable doubt that the MP for Bawku Central is indeed culpable then it’s the best decision he has taken in the interest of the state. we should be doing things based on what is currently available to us and based on the evidence that the Special Prosecutor now has to work with”, she said