General News of Sunday, 15 March 2015

Source: Daily Guide

Comment: After the Judgment

It is our prayers as it is other Ghanaians’ that the level of impunity and the wanton ripping of the state coffers would in the not-too-distant future be confined to the dusty pages of history literature.

They should not remain permanent features of our body politic; after all, such aberrations have a lifespan. Nature has a way of intervening in such matters which have the tendency to destroy what a nation has achieved during its glorious years.

Until then, we would just have to make do with the rising level of adrenalin in most Ghanaians as they come to terms with the reality of Alfred Agbesi Woyome’s freedom from the clutches of the law, against the backdrop of the myriad socio-economic challenges the country is enmeshed in.

The day of the infamous judgment which set Alfred Agbesi Woyome free of criminality in a case between him and the state saw most Ghanaians enraged. They could not comprehend the complex technicalities of the law.

Fortunately, with the elapsing of the days they are beginning to understand how the state, represented by the Attorney General, did not provide all the needed inputs for the judge to make the necessary judgment.

It would be recalled that in the course of the trial the judge had to whinge over what was a deliberate feet-dragging on the part of the state prosecutors.

Questions are being posed as to whether the outcome of the case was not what the state preferred, having declined to provide the necessary witnesses required to assist the judge in making an informed judgment.

The announcement of an appeal against the judgment has expectedly received a widespread sneering by Ghanaians, in whose opinion it is nothing but a ruse intended to put dust into the eyes of the people.

It is all well and good to tell angry Ghanaians about an appeal against the judgment but whether such an announcement would assuage the pain and regret triggered by the wishy-washy prosecution which let go Woyome is another thing. The truth is that nobody cares a hoot about any appeal anyway; so the Attorney General can relax.

We would continue to urge our compatriots to be hopeful for a better tomorrow. We can appreciate their forlornness as mindboggling aberrations continue to be unleashed by those who should be mounting guard over the interests of the state.

Let us with a prayerful demeanour hope that no crazy adventurists, unable to contain the nonsense any longer, turn to the untoward to effect a change.

Once more we wish to tell former President Jerry John Rawlings that we are not amused by his ranting about the outcome of the trial. He should have screamed about the political iniquities long ago. Let him recall how he caused citizens of this country to be executed over paltry amounts of money and juxtapose same with the Woyome story.

Hmmm!