Dr Dominic Akurutinga Ayine, the Minister of Justice and Attorney-General, on Monday reiterated that he wants “to jail persons who have looted state resources.”
“Finally, make no mistake about my intentions. I want to jail persons who have looted state resources, but at the same time, I am pragmatic enough to know that it is not in every instance that that is possible,” Dr Ayine stated on Monday at the Government Accountability Series press conference at the Presidency, in Accra.
He said: “In those circumstances, I will opt for non-conviction-based asset recovery.”
He reminded Ghanaians that when he announced the investigation into a case involving Kwabena Adu-Boahene, former Director of National Signals Bureau, he was blunt in stating that, “I am open to engaging in plea bargaining with those who have been investigated and found to have looted or stolen state resources.
“I minced no words about my intentions and will therefore not shut the door to any accused person willing to enter into negotiations with my office for purposes of reaching a plea agreement”.
Dr Ayine said his approach aligned with the central plank of the Operation Recovery All Loots (ORAL), which was to recover the loot.
The Attorney-General said, of course, recovering the loot and jailing the looters were not mutually exclusive.
He noted that other words, both could take place and that would be full-fledged accountability, but anyone familiar with plea negotiations would agree that it was rare to go into the negotiation room and come out without giving up something to clinch a deal.
Dr Ayine said their plea-bargain statute captures that succinctly as it contemplates that the Attorney-General may even go to the extent of dropping charges in exchange for restitution.
He said also, under the Courts Act, 1993 (Act 459), an accused may plead guilty to a charge or charges and pay restitution where the offence involves harm to the property of the Republic, including resources.
“In that case, the accused is to be handed a non-custodial sentence. That is a law we have operated for 32 years, but which is rarely used.”
Dr Ayine said as Attorney-General, he would not oppose the use of Section 35 of the Courts Act to achieve the purposes of ORAL.
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