Alfred Paapa Darkwah, a private lawyer, has contested the Office of the Special Prosecutor’s (OSP) decision to charge former Finance Minister Ken Ofori-Atta as wanted.
It comes after Mr. Ofori-Atta was formally declared wanted by the OSP due to many financial misconduct charges. The private attorney believes that the Special Prosecutor should go to court instead of making a wanted declaration if he has sufficient evidence to bring charges against Mr. Ofori-Atta.
In an interview with Joy FM’s Top Story on Monday, February 17, Darkwah questioned the OSP’s activities’ legal foundation.
“I think what we should all be asking the OSP is, what is Ofori-Atta wanted for? What are the offenses that he has committed that justify this declaration? Does the OSP have enough evidence to proceed with prosecution? If yes, then the OSP should proceed to court and prosecute him,” he stated.
Mr. Darkwah went on to say that the OSP should trial Ofori-Atta in absentia rather than adding him to a wanted list if it thinks it has a good case.
“Absolutely, because with what is happening, you’d see that Mr. Ofori-Atta’s lawyers have made some correspondence with the OSP. They have informed the OSP of his whereabouts and the difficulty in his returning to the jurisdiction. If the OSP is not satisfied, why should it put him on a wanted list?” he questioned.
Given that the OSP has some police-like capabilities, Mr. Darkwah was asked if the agency had overreached its legal bounds.
“No, the powers that the OSP has as a police authority are based on reasonable grounds of suspicion that Mr. Ofori-Atta has committed an offense. So, the first thing is that there has to be an offense committed. Now, in all the correspondence from the OSP, do we know the offense that has been committed by him?”
Source: myjoyonline.com