Gloria Akuffo
[dropcap]T[/dropcap]he Attorney General and Minister of Justice Gloria Akuffo is not aware of the decision to discontinue the case against the eight members of the vigilante group, Delta Force who raided the court in Kumasi to aid the escape of 13 of their members.
This is according to the Minister of Information, Mustapha Hamid.
As a result, the AG’s department “is investigating circumstances under which a Principal State Attorney in Kumasi decided without recourse to advice from higher authority on a matter of high public interest of this [ads1]nature to drop charges against persons arrested in connection with disturbances in a Kumasi Magistrate’s court in April this year,” said Mr. Hamid in a statement Wednesday.
According to him, “preliminary investigations suggest that the decision was taken without recourse even to the Director of Public Prosecution and may amount to a breach of internal procedures on matters of this nature.”
He added “while the department awaits the full results of the investigation, we will like to reiterate our commitment to ensuring that the rule of law is applied at all times and persons found culpable of any breaches that bring the work and commitment of the department into disrepute will be sanctioned and the appropriate remedies adopted in the interest of the Republic.”
A Kumasi Circuit Court Wednesday presided by her Honour Patricia struck out the case against the eight, discharging them in the process for lack of evidence.
The prosecution today, Wednesday May 17, tendered a response from the Attorney General after a docket was sent previously for advice on the case.
According to the prosecutor, ACP Okyere Darko, the police did not have enough evidence to support the charges leveled against the accused persons.
News of the released of 8 suspects in the Kumasi Delta Force Prosecution saga has come as a shock to the Minority in Parliament who are accusing the Attorney General of bowing to partisan pressure to put up a weak case leading to the release of the suspects.
Addressing a News conference Wednesday Minority Leader Haruna Iddrisu accused the Attorney General Gloria Akuffo of bowing to partisan pressure to put up a weak case leading to the release of the eight.
“The decision by the Attorney General is confirmation of the claim by a leading member of the New Patriotic Party at the time of the lawless action by Delta forces that the culprits will be set free and are they are indeed set free through the state intervention and the Attorney General filing the nolle prosequi .We are of the view that the government is bowing to partisan pressures at the cost of justice delivery in the country.
“We demand, therefore, that the cancerous discretion that has just been exercised will be reversed immediately.”