The Attorney General and Minister for Justice, Godfred Dame, has justified the words he used to describe the ruling by the Court of Appeal.

Speaking in an interview on Asempa FM’s Ekosiisen program, Godfred Dame stated that his comments were not intended as insults and that they had been misconstrued.

According to him, those words are permissible in court, suggesting that the controversy surrounding his comments is unnecessary.

“These are words that are allowed in the court of law. They are not insults in the manner that they have always sought to use against, when I say they, I mean the lawyers for the accused persons. You heard even the kind of words that they use on me. Not a single word which is not permissible in a court of law was used in my press release.

“I said that number one, it's 'grossly unfair.' Is grossly unfair a wrong word to use or a wrong expression to use? It is not the phrase grossly unfair. I meant to only say that it’s very unfair and nothing wrong with that.

“When I say it's inimical to the fight against public accountability or fight against impunity, I am saying that it militates against the effort to stamp out impunity in the public service. And when I say so, what I mean is that the essence of causing financial loss offence is to prevent public officers from abusing their discretion unnecessarily.

"It's to prevent public officers from acting recklessly or negligently. If you act recklessly in public service, that’s impunity because indeed, you are supposed to safeguard the public interest and public purse…” he explained.

Background

Following a 2-1 ruling by the Court of Appeal on July 30, to acquit and discharge Minority Leader Cassiel Ato Forson and Businessman Richard Jakpa in the ambulance procurement trial, Godfred Dame described the ruling by the Court of Appeal to be perverse and grossly unfair.

“The Office of the Attorney-General considers the decision of the Court of Appeal to be perverse in the quest for public accountability and the rule of law. The decision clearly is heavily against the weight of the cogent evidence led by the prosecution in substantiation of all the charges against the accused persons at the trial.

“The Office of the Attorney-General considers the decision of the Court of Appeal grossly unfair to the nation and inimical to the fight against impunity and abuse in public office. The Office will promptly file an appeal in order to erase the effect of this erroneous decision of the Court of Appeal,” parts of the statement read.

He has since come under heavy backlash from key personalities and institutions, notably the Ghana Bar Association, over his remarks.

MAG/AE