Businessman petitions Attorney-General
A Techiman-based Businessman has petitioned the office of Attorney General and Minister of Justice to intervene and facilitate the speedy prosecution of a criminal case pending before the Wenchi High Court, which he alleges has been suspended by the Court.
Mr Kwadwo Adjei, the petitioner in a signed petition copied to the Ghana News Agency said the case involved the prosecution of Jacob Agongo and Alhassan Issaku, both motorbike dealers in Techiman, who are accused to have fraudulently breached trust, contrary to section 23 (1) and 138 of the Criminal Offences Act 1960, Act 29.
The petition said it suspected foul play in the entire prosecution process and appealed to the Sector Minister, Mrs. Marietta Brew Appiah-Oppong to intervene.
Copies were also sent to the Inspector General of Police (IGP), Bureau of National Investigation (BNI), Director of CID, Commission on Human Rights and Administrative Justice (CHRAJ), and the Ghana Bar Association (GBA).
“I am not happy and I feel I have been denied justice when Justice S K Sarpong Appiah, the presiding judge has for unexplained reasons suspended the prosecution of the case.” the petition added.
The petition said through a personal intelligence gathering by the petitioner, the two suspects were planning to abscond outside the country to escape justice.
The case was last heard on March 11, this year, and the Prosecutor Mr. Theophilus Appoh, a Senior State Attorney informed the court that he had received an order from the Deputy Attorney General, Dr. Dominic Ayine to suspend prosecution, the petition said.
According to the petition, this runs contrary to the Attorney-General’s (AG’s) Department direction last year ordering the Brong- Ahafo Regional Police Command to facilitate the speedy prosecution of two suspects.
It also instructed the police command at Wenchi, where the two were first arrested to forward their caution statements to the A-G’ Department.
The directive was contained in a letter of advice signed by Lawyer Appoh, at the Brong Ahafo Regional Office of the A-G’s Department in Sunyani and copied the Attorney-General and Minister of Justice.
This was in response to a case docket the police command at Wenchi forwarded to the A-G’s office for advice.
A brief background to the case as contained in AG’s letter stated that the Manager of the STE Evame Sarl Group, a Togo-based company that deals in motorbikes, started importing motorbikes into the country in 2008 and engaged the suspects to sell them on behalf of the company on commission basis.
It said in 2012, the complainant had information that the suspects were preparing to make off with the company’s money, so he came to Techiman and lodged a complaint at the Wenchi Police Station and the suspects were arrested.
“Upon their arrest, the suspects claimed that the complainant owed them a commission due them since 2008,” it stated, adding the Police conducted an audit and took separate inventory of the stock at the stores of the suspects, and 441 motorbikes were seized from them.
The letter indicated that in August 2015, the company, through the Power of Attorney, empowered Kwadwo Adjei, (the petitioner), another motorbike dealer in Techiman, to take over and sell the 441 bikes.
It said Agongo admitted that he had sold out the motorbikes and deposited the amount in the company’s bank accounts.
According to the letter, the conduct of the suspects breached the Criminal Offence Act, and therefore asked the Police to immediately prosecute them to serve as deterrent to others.
Source: GNA