Hot!
Courts treating OSP with hasty dismissiveness, no regard – Kissi Agyebeng
The Office of the Special Prosecutor (OSP) has taken on the judiciary for some rulings made with regard to suspected corruption and corruption-related cases being investigated.
According to Kissi Agyebeng, the court is exhibiting some disregard for his office’s powers with what he sees as hasty dismissiveness of its cases.
Speaking at a press conference held in Accra on Wednesday, Mr Agyebeng described the trend as troubling.
He further rubbished arguments made by the court that the OSP breached the law in the handling of these cases.
“We do not force feed cases, we do not force feed our prosecutions. It is our belief that it is not a matter of us going beyond our mandate but rather a case of hasty dismissiveness and lack of regard because if you take the four cases I tabled out over a period of time spanning from July 2022 to Monday, there is a troubling trend.
“In one of the cases, I said a judge injuncted us from arresting a person. Mind you, we were not in court. We had declared the person wanted as a fugitive from justice, there was absolutely no enquiry as to why we believed that the person was a fugitive from justice so it is not as if we breached the law.
“No one asked us why we declared the person wanted. Then we were served with an injunction order that we cannot arrest the person meanwhile we know that in our law no one has the right not to be arrested. You cannot say you are granting a person a right not to be arrested.
“So when we receive judicial decisions like that it makes us assume that we are being prevented from arresting someone who is a fugitive from justice.
“What if we were not investigating corruption? What if the person was a suspected murderer or a suspected armed robber? The person will be running around in the street with an injunction not to be arrested.
“This is not a breach of law by the OSP, this is dismissiveness of his work” Mr. Agyebeng stressed.
The assertion by the Special Prosecutor follows the dismissal of some requests and applications made by the OSP in its fight against corruption.
In July 2022, an Accra High Court dismissed a request by the Office of the Special Prosecutor (OSP) to freeze the assets of the late Kwadwo Owusu Afriyie, popular called Sir John, a former CEO of the Forestry Commission.
This was after the OSP froze all the assets of Sir John as part of investigations into the acquisition of state lands and properties that were contained in his will.
Although the OSP applied to the court for a confirmation of the freezing order, Justice Afia Serwaa Asare Botwe dismissed the case.
Again, an Accra High Court in June ordered the Office of the Special Prosecutor (OSP) not to proceed to execute an arrest warrant against former Presidential staffer, Charles Bissue.
Apart from the execution of the arrest warrant, the court further restrained the OSP from applying for a further arrest warrant or publishing notices declaring Mr Bissue as wanted within the 10-day period that the interim injunction would be in force.
These dismissals were followed by another one involving former Sanitation Minister, Cecilia Dapaah.
In August, the Financial and Economic Division of an Accra High Court ordered the Office of the Special Prosecutor to return all monies seized from the embattled former Sanitation Minister.
The Court orders that this ruling be complied with within seven days.
The Court also said it cannot confirm the freezing of her bank accounts and other properties.
Finally, a High Court in Accra quashed a report by the Office of Special Prosecutor (OSP) that found wrongdoing by two individuals in the Labianca case. The court also awarded costs of GHC 10,000 against the OSP.
The OSP’s report had accused Colonel Kwadwo Damoah, a former Commissioner of the Customs Division at the Ghana Revenue Authority (GRA), and Joseph Adu Kyei, a former Deputy Commissioner of the Division, of wrongdoing in the case.
The report alleged that the two officials had used their positions to grant favourable tax treatment to Labianca Company, a frozen foods company owned by Council of State member, Eunice Jacqueline Buah Asomah-Hinneh.
But in its ruling, the High Court said the OSP had exceeded its authority in making the adverse findings.
The court also granted an order of prohibition restraining the OSP from further investigating Damoah and Kyei in connection with the Labianca case.
Reacting to these developments, the OSP emphasised that the court cannot prevent the Office from investigating people.
“A judge is seeking to prohibit investigations, it is unheard of. You may disagree with us with the outcome of our investigation; that is a debate of the law. But no one has a right in Ghana not to be investigated,” Mr. Agyebeng added.
Source: Myjoyonline.com
Hot!
Swedru All Blacks back to winning ways, Roshan humble King Faisal
Sekondi Rospak FC made it eight wins in eight successive home games after three second-half goals from John Amoah, Joseph Ntow and Stephen Anthony Kofi. John Amoah opened the scoring in the 55th minute after a barren first half. Joseph Ntow added to the tally in the 56th minute before Stephen Anthony Kofi rounded things up in the 74th minute to give Rospak a 3-0 win over former Premier League side King Faisal.
Elsewhere at Swedru – leaders Swedru All Blacks humbled PAC Academy in an emphatic 2-0 win. Zayat Bubakari scored first for Swedru All Blacks in the 27th minute before Rudolf Junior Nana Kwasi Mensah made it 2-0 in the 34th minute. Swedru All Blacks are top of the table with 36 points – 4 points ahead of second placed Rospak FC.
Meanwhile, Former Premier League side Cape Coast Mysterious Dwarfs recorded their fourth successive home victory after beaten New Edubiase United 2-1 at the Robert Mensah Park. Enoch Odoom struck first for Cape Coast Mysterious Dwarfs in the 19th minute but Steven Asante equalized for New Edubiase United before halftime. After the interval, Godfred Eshun scored from distance in the 65th minute to help Cape Coast Mysterious Dwarfs secure all the points.
Here are the results in Zone Two
Hot!
Cervical Cancer alert: Avoid sex at early age
The Programmes Manager of Non-Communicable Diseases (NCDs) of the Ghana Health Service (GHS), Dr Mary Efua Commeh, has advised young girls to avoid sex at an early age.
This, she explained, will give the cervix the opportunity to mature before they become sexually active.
“You need to delay what we call the first sexual intercourse as much as possible to give the cervix the opportunity to mature before the person becomes sexually active,” she said.
Dr Commeh stated this in an interview with The Spectator in Accra on Tuesday as a part of the Cervical Cancer awareness month.
According to her, cervical cancer was the second leading female cancer in Ghana with a total of about 3,072 cases annually, and out of that, 1,815 deaths are recorded, representing more than 50 per cent.
She indicated that “If young girls are going to be sexually active, then you need to talk to your parents about being vaccinated.”
She explained that vaccinating young girls against human papillomavirus (HPV) has been found to be a very effective way of preventing cervical cancer.
“There are countries that started HPV vaccination years ago and they are not seeing any cervical cancers now because they would have eliminated most of the high-risk HPVs in their women. So if the high-risk HPV is not there, then obviously the results on cervical cancers are going to go down,” she added.
Dr Commmey said the HPV vaccination is recommended for young girls aged nine to 14 years, adding that it had been found to be highly effective, not just for cervical cancers but for other HPV-related cancers, such as anal cancers, cancers of the vagina, genital warts, amongst others.
She further elaborated that the idea is to put up a barrier before the HPV comes in and that once a young female encounters it, she is already protected.
She also mentioned that for cervical cancers, the main cause is called HPV infection, saying generally, all sexually active women acquire HPV at some point in their lives.
However, the Programmes Manager of NCDs at the GHS mentioned that the body has a way of clearing the HPV, explaining that it is a natural mechanism that goes on, unfortunately, there are a few women whose HPV persists.
Moreover, she noted that the numbers for Cervical Cancer tend to be much higher because at times, clients would wait, and try all sorts of medications before they finally report to the health facility saying “we actually lose some women before they get to the hospitals with over 75 per cent of the cases coming in its third and fourth stages.”
Dr Commey, therefore, called for public awareness while ensuring the availability of information for prevention and control.
By Jemima Esinam Kuatsinu
