The Attorney General’s Department has freed three officials of the Electoral Commission (EC) who tried to get some unsigned Pink Sheet validated in Savelugu in the Northern region.
Deputy Northern Regional Director of the EC Godfrey Okclcy, the Savelugu-Nanton District Electoral Officer Akumant Benjamin Akanda, and Salamatu Osman, a purported national service personnel were arrested by angry supporters of the opposition New Patriotic Party (NPP) and handed over to the police in their bid to authenticate some pink sheets on February 17, 2013.
The three were immediately taken to the regional police headquarters in Tamale where their statements were taken and later released on self-recognizance bail.
The police indicated that this was to enable them prepare a docket of the case formally lodged by the NPP and to seek the advice of the Attorney General. However the AG’s department informed the police last week that the matter was not worth prosecuting.
According to the Northern regional Crime Officer, Superintendent Alhaji Mahama Arhin, they can do nothing in this case than to respect the legal prowess of the AG.
The policeman told the Daily Guide newspaper that no cogent evidence could be established against the accused persons and therefore the prosecution might not be able to establish that a crime was committed.
Based on this, he said, the police were directed to free the three EC officials as the case, when put before court, could easily be thrown out.
But the Northern regional scribe of the NPP, Dr. Clifford Braimah, says he is disappointed in the AG, accusing him of bias.
Mr Braimah believed the matter was worth prosecuting, considering that the suspects were tampering with evidence in a case pending before the Supreme Court.
The NPP scribe said the party would advise itself accordingly since it had emerged that the AG’s Department was being selective in the cases to prosecute. “This is very unfair and a slap in the face of our growing democracy?” he remarked.
Source: GhanaWeb
