General News of Thursday, 2 May 2024

Source: www.ghanaweb.com

'The A-G has joined in the protection of the looters of the state' – Dr. Amoako Baah laments

Dr. Richard Amoako Baah is a political scientist Dr. Richard Amoako Baah is a political scientist

Political scientist Dr Richard Amoako Baah has lamented the trajectory that the Attorney General is taking regarding matters of interest to the public, particularly those about corruption.

Reacting to a correspondence between the AG, Godfred Dame, and the CEO of the Economic and Organised Crime Office (EOCO) concerning the Cecilia Dapaah (a former Minister of Sanitation and Water Resources) case, Dr Amoako Baah could not hide his disappointment that the AG has joined hands with people looting the country.

In the correspondence, which GhanaWeb sighted on Wednesday, May 1, 2024, it stated that there was no evidence of corruption or procurement breaches against Cecilia Dapaah and her husband, Daniel Osei Kufuor.

The details also said that the AG's office's review of the OSP case found no evidence of corruption-related offences or procurement violations on the part of the former minister and her husband.

But unconvinced, Dr. Richard Amoako Baah stated that those assertions were nonsensical and an attempt to cover-up.

"The AG's assertions are baseless, nonsensical, and a corrupt attempt to cover-up, which every juror or logical person would treat with contempt. Would the AG venture to tell us where her great wealth came from, as others have shamefully suggested it came from funeral donations or family inheritance, even though the family is as poor as others? If he can't, then it can safely be assumed to be from her official duties. If that is the case, it is illegally acquired wealth, called bribes, kickbacks, side dealing, or other ways they are referred to. They are all the children of corruption!

"Unsubstantiated source of cash must be automatically assumed guilty until legal or reasonable substantiation makes it not guilty," he said in a statement made available to GhanaWeb.

He further questioned the AG's role in all this, accusing him of siding with the 'looters' in such cases.

He also questioned President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo's role in all this, indicating that if this case is left to die, it will question the President's pedigree as a lawyer of good standing.

"I don't see where the AG's illegality stems from. The AG, who should at least be looking at issues like tax evasion, has joined in the protection of the looters of the state. This is a bogus attempt for further corruption. EOCO must disregard this advice since the Special Prosecutor is legally right.

"If the President sits idly by and allows this to go on, where are his credentials as a good lawyer? He has become part of the endemic corruption that is killing the country. For once, do what we worked so hard to elect you president for: PROTECT THE PUBLIC PURSE," he added.

Cecilia Dapaah has been under investigation since it emerged in 2023 that some huge amounts of money, running into millions of US dollars and other foreign currencies, were supposedly stolen from her house by her house helpsdomestic workers.

The Office of the Special Prosecutor (OSP) eventually took up the case.

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