BAGBIN TO RESIST REPEAL OF LAW

The Minority Leader in Parliament, Hon. Alban S.K. Bagbin, has served notice that he would oppose any move for the repeal of the Law on Willfully Causing Financial Loss to the State.

He thinks that the First Parliament of the Fourth Republican Parliament was right in passing the law and therefore it should be retained. “ I think Parliament was right in passing the law on Causing Financial Loss to the State and I will resist any move to repeal it,” he declared.

Hon. Bagbin made these remarks when commenting on an answer by Justice Jones V.M. Dotse, an Appeals Court Judge who appeared before the Appointments Committee of Parliament on Tuesday on his nomination by the President as a Supreme Court Judge.

When asked about his views on the Law on Causing Financial Loss to the State, Justice Dotse said it was “dangerous” for him to comment on the law since some of the cases before him in court border on it. However, he believes that the law has had “a negative backlash considering the manner it has been applied”, and if Parliament thinks in its wisdom that it should be repealed then he has no objection.

Three other judges who appeared before the committee included Messrs Justice Anin Yeboah, Justice Paul Baffoe-Bonnie and Ms. Justice Rose Constance Owusu. Justices Yeboah and Baffoe-Bonnie also shared similar sentiments when they were confronted with the same question. “ If the House thinks it should be repealed then so be it, “ Justice Yeboah said.

In the past, the MP for Tema West, Hon. Abraham Ossei Aidooh was reported in the defunct Evening Newspaper, Friday, May 16, 2003 edition as warning that any attempt by government to introduce a bill aimed at amending or repealing the law on “Willfully causing financial loss to the state” will be rejected by Parliament.

“I will personally vote against the bill because I see nothing wrong with the current law,” the paper quoted him as saying at a symposium in Tema.

According to Hon. Aidooh, who is now the Majority Leader and Minister for Parliamentary Affairs, he had been in touch with most of his colleagues from both sides of the House and their opinions were that any such bill would be defeated, the paper said.

Similarly, when Papa Owusu-Ankomah was the Attorney General and Minister of Justice in 2004, the Ghanaian Chronicle also reported him to have said that the review or repeal of the law on willfully causing financial loss to the state from our statute books was not on his priority list.

“Why the call for the review or repeal of this law from our statute books. Is it because a few ministers in the NDC government have been tried and convicted under the law? Look I am also a politician but we are talking about timing here...”

The Law of Causing Financial Loss to the State was passed in 1993 as amendment to the Criminal Code. It was sparingly applied under the National Democratic Congress (NDC) Administration, but under the New Patriotic Party (NPP) regime the country has witnessed the trial and conviction of some ex-Ministers and functionaries of the NDC era.

Those jailed under the law and pardoned include; Kwame Peprah and the late Victor Serlomey, Finance Minister and Deputy respectively, Dan Abodakpi, Trade and Industry Minister, Ibrahim Adams, Food and Agriculture Minister and George Sipa Yankey, a government official. The former Chief Executive of Ghana National Petroleum Corporation (GNPC), Tsatsu Tsikata, is currently on trial for the same offence.

Those who have called for the repeal of the Law on Causing Financial Loss to the State argue that it is a highly controversial law that could be subjected to elastic interpretation. In addition, they claim that it could stifle official initiative and discretion. Leading the call for the repeal is Dr. Sam Jonah, former CEO of AngloGold Ashanti.

The appearance of the four justices before the Appointments Committee is a constitutional requirement as per Article 144(2) of the 1992 Constitution, which stipulates that besides the Chief Justice, “ The other Supreme Court Justices shall be appointed by the President acting on the advice of the Judicial Council, in consultation with the Council State and with the prior approval of Parliament.”

Article 128(1) provides that, “ The Supreme Court shall consist of the Chief Justice and not less than nine other justices of the Supreme Court”.