The Politics Of Prosecutions, My Take

There seems to be a dangerous trend unfolding that if care is not taken will render our democracy more of a score settling one, and eventually consume us. The Honorable Attorney general is quoted as saying that she’ll jail Kufour’s men, I thought that statement was unfortunate if she indeed made that, and if that was not the case, then shame on the person who put up such a misleading headline.

Holding public officials accountable is a laudable idea(and a must!, to deter others habouring unholy thoughts) and should be done on a continuous sustained basis and not the way it’s done now where as long as your party remains in power , allegations and auditors reports are shelved until power changes hands. The tone and manner in which its done, colors it politically and in the end the purpose and intent is lost in the political cacophony.

I hope that we’ll have a system soon as is run elsewhere (Israel, Italy, France etc) where a sitting President or official can be taken on and corruption charges brought against them (genuine, not trumped up) and the attorney general will be bold enough to take it up, and not ignore it with the disdain that only a cat can do with perfection. As President Obama intimated, what we need are strong institutions and not strong men, so that whether there’s political will or not the institutions will run, effectively, efficiently and fairy. The Ghana @50 brouhaha would not have arisen if the institutions were strong enough to arrest some of these acts or perceived acts of financial indiscipline. It is only when people are held accountable that , people will fear falling foul of the law and will not seek to hide under the guise of political persecutions especially if and when these institutions are fair and not just that, but seen to be fair, since perceptions are important indicators worldwide.

It is important that no one looks at these prosecutions through political lenses and the players allow it to run its natural course and not taint it with their own selfish parochial agenda. It is only when these things are done that the country can be free and people will not raise eyebrows anytime there’s talk of prosecutions.

Objective statements should be made, devoid of rancor and due process followed, where there’s evidence, follow through, where none is available (as in many cases, if the perpetrators are half as smart), let it go and concentrate on other matters and making sure(in the process) that the Judiciary , CHRAJ and other analogous institutions are freely run in a democratic, transparent manner. Objectivity and fairness will take us far, whereas selfish interests will only serve to derail and delay us, in our fight for economic, social and democratic freedom.

Dr. Charles A. Berko

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