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Attorney-General Dominic Ayine has given indication he is on the warpath against corruption, but also ready to show commitment as a decent and impartial appointee in the turbulent justice delivery space in which the opposition New Patriotic Party (NPP) has sought to play angels in human rights issues.
By Curtis Blunt
Addressing the press yesterday, Dr Ayine clarified that what transpired in the home of the former Bank of Ghana governor, Ernest Addisson’s was a legal search and not a raid as has been reported or claimed.
The Attorney-General accused the Minority Leader, Alexander Afenyo-Markin, of maligning law enforcement officials and the Attorney General’s office by referring to the search as a raid.
“We have a recording of Dr Addison and what he said about the search. If the Hon. Afenyo-Markin is daring, we will make that recording available. He should desist from maligning law enforcement officers and myself for the work that we are doing,” Dr Ayine cautioned.
“Afenyo-Markin should not abuse his parliamentary immunity by labelling or defaming public officials who are carrying out legally sanctioned public business,” Dr Ayine added.
The Bolgatanga East MP defended that law enforcement agencies followed due process by obtaining the necessary search warrants before conducting their operation.
“There are limits to what you can do by saying that your house should not be searched. So we obtained warrants, and if the media wants, I can make those warrants available. There was no raid on his house, and there was nothing illegal or unconstitutional about what we did … It was a constitutionally sanctioned search,” he asserted.
Dr Ayine also dismissed allegations that security operatives stole GH₵10,000 during the operation, describing such claims as an “insult” to law enforcement officers.
He further stated that as the leader of the Bar, he is committed to upholding ethical legal practices. He affirmed that both the Economic and Organised Crime Office (EOCO) and the National Security had been advised to operate within the confines of the law when conducting investigations.
He also defended the interventions made by ORAL which he said is likely to save the nation billions of cedis in revenue needed for national development, including enhancing educational infrastructure and effective delivery of the strategic health sector.
The A-G assured the media and development partners that investigations by the ORAL were being verified, in ensuring that no human rights abuses were recorded or that innocent appointees or businessmen cronies as well as pubic officeholders will be victimised.
Good governance, he intimated, includes credible corruption fight in which citizen cooperation is needed to help sanitise governance structures.
ORAL
The ORAL is a voluntary good governance citizen investigation and arrest group formed in the heat of the December 2024 presidential and parliamentary elections to prevent rape of national assets, including state property, vehicles, cash and logistics as well as lands belonging to the Lands Commission.
