The opposition New Patriotic Party (NPP) has accused Attorney General and Minister for Justice, Dr Dominic Ayine, of using his office to secure the release of former government officials and allies of the governing National Democratic Congress (NDC) facing corruption-related prosecutions.

The allegation follows Thursday’s Court of Appeal decision to acquit and discharge former Chief Executive Officer of the Microfinance and Small Loans Centre (MASLOC), Sedina Tamakloe-Attionu, overturning her conviction and 10-year prison sentence.

Speaking at a press conference in Accra on Friday, 31 July, NPP National Organiser Henry Nana Boakye alleged that the decision was part of a broader pattern by the Attorney General to discontinue or otherwise undermine prosecutions involving former NDC officials.

“Ladies and gentlemen, let me proceed by stating that it has become the modus operandi of this Attorney General. It was an agenda well-conceived to free all their people,” he alleged.

Mr Boakye cited several high-profile corruption cases, including the prosecution involving former officials of the Social Security and National Insurance Trust (SSNIT), the UniBank case, the Saglemi Housing Project trial and the COCOBOD case.

On the SSNIT case, he claimed the Attorney General entered a nolle prosequi to discontinue proceedings against the former Director-General, Board Chairman and two others after the court had ruled that they had a case to answer.

“The court had ruled that you have a case to answer. So open your defence. Yet the Attorney General… just went to court, entered a nolle prosequi, and acquitted and discharged all of them,” he said.

Mr Boakye similarly alleged that the prosecution in the UniBank case, involving alleged financial losses estimated at GH¢5.7 billion, was withdrawn after the court directed the accused persons to open their defence.

“Again, the court had ruled that they have a case to answer. Yet this Attorney General, because it is already a well-conceived agenda to free their people, again went to court with a stroke of a pen, entered a nolle prosequi, and freed all of them,” he alleged.

He further pointed to the Saglemi Housing Project case involving former Works and Housing Minister Collins Dauda and others, as well as the COCOBOD trial, as examples of what he described as a pattern of discontinuing or weakening corruption prosecutions involving NDC-linked officials.

Mr Boakye said the NPP was therefore not surprised by the Court of Appeal’s decision in the MASLOC case.

“So we are not surprised that from day one, they had already conceived that we are going to free Madam Sedina Tamakloe,” he said.

The Attorney General, however, has indicated that the state intends to challenge the Court of Appeal’s decision before the Supreme Court.

In a statement issued on July 30, the Attorney General said he had directed the Director of Public Prosecutions to immediately file a notice of appeal at the Supreme Court, together with an application for a stay of execution pending determination of the appeal.

The Court of Appeal had overturned Tamakloe-Attionu’s conviction on 78 counts, including conspiracy to steal, stealing, causing financial loss to the state, money laundering and breaches of the Public Procurement Act.

The Attorney General said the Republic had opposed the appeal at the Court of Appeal, arguing in its written submissions that the appeal lacked merit and ought to be dismissed.

“The Attorney-General remains committed to the due process of law and is confident that the appeal before the Supreme Court will succeed,” the statement said.

The planned Supreme Court appeal means the state’s challenge to the Court of Appeal’s decision remains pending, while the NPP has used the ruling to renew its criticism of the Attorney General’s handling of corruption-related prosecutions.