A former Director of the Ghana School of Law, Professor Kwaku Ansa-Asare, has cautioned the legal team of former Finance Minister Ken Ofori-Atta against antagonising the public in their handling of the Special Prosecutor’s case involving their client.
Speaking on Joy News’ PM Express on Tuesday, June 3, Prof. Ansa-Asare criticised the posture of Ofori-Atta’s lawyers, warning that their strategy is “infuriating” Ghanaians at a time when national tolerance for corruption is low.
“What they are rather doing is antagonising the entire nation. They are infuriating people. They are provoking people,” he said.
He argued that the legal team’s public handling of Ofori-Atta’s reported illness is damaging his credibility and undermining public sympathy.
“It is a very sensational and screaming case which is testing the endurance of the Republic of Ghana in its fight against corruption,” he remarked.
Prof. Ansa-Asare advised the team to submit credible medical documentation if Ofori-Atta is indeed ill, stressing that the law requires evidence to back such claims.
“If you are sick, please produce the document, because under the OSP law, there must be production of documents. After all, the law deals with evidence,” he noted.
He added that no law enforcement officer, including the Special Prosecutor, would pursue a genuinely ill person without cause.
“The Special Prosecutor is a human being. I don’t think he will, by all means, attempt to bring Ken Ofori-Atta to face the rigours of the law if he’s sick,” he said.
However, he raised concerns about the legal team’s communication strategy, particularly their public disclosure of Ofori-Atta’s health condition without formal legal backing.
“Putting out information on the internet that the former Finance Minister has been diagnosed with cancer, and therefore cannot show up physically, I think, will be begging the question,” he stated.
While emphasising his support for fair legal treatment, Prof. Ansa-Asare insisted that public trust in the legal process must be preserved through transparency.
“Perhaps the legal team is not approaching the matter in a way that will attract the sympathy of the nation,” he said.
He concluded with a firm recommendation: “If I were in charge of the legal team, my advice to Ken would be that if you are sick, please produce the document… After all, the law deals with evidence. So if there’s hard evidence, no one can run away from the pieces of evidence that will be available.”
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