Franklin Cudjoe, Founding President and CEO of IMANI Centre for Policy and Education, has raised serious concerns about the government’s apparent move to absorb cases currently under the jurisdiction of the Office of the Special Prosecutor (OSP).
Cudjoe’s remarks come amid a shifting landscape in Ghana’s fight against corruption, where the efficiency of the judiciary and the independence of investigative bodies are under intense public scrutiny.
Directing his concerns to the Attorney General’s Office, Cudjoe highlighted what he described as a stagnation in ongoing high-profile prosecutions.
His critique focuses on two main issues: judicial delays and logistical feasibility. In a Facebook post, Mr. Cudjoe questioned the progress of current cases, noting that “updates on those have stopped.”
While acknowledging that delays are often caused by the courts, he called for clear solutions.
“Are you going to establish new courts or tribunals, or will you have the existing courts operate 24/7?” he asked, highlighting the irony of seeking to take on more cases when the current system is already struggling to process a few.
Cudjoe did not mince words regarding the legal maneuvers enabling this consolidation of power.
Invoking the views of legal scholars Justice Srem-Sai and Dr. Dominic Ayine, he described the situation as a “classic example” of the law being used to ignore reality.
He further labeled the move as “legal plunder,” a term coined by 18th-century French economist and journalist Frédéric Bastiat.
“The law, amplified by a berserk ruling, ignores reality. This, my friends, is what Frédéric Bastiat described as legal plunder!” he stated.
In Bastiat’s philosophy, legal plunder occurs when the law is used to take from some what belongs to them and give it to others, or when it is used to violate the very rights it was meant to protect.
By invoking this concept, Cudjoe suggests that the legal framework is being weaponised to undermine the independence of the OSP, effectively “plundering” the institutional progress made in anti-corruption efforts.
The OSP was established as a specialised, independent agency to bypass the perceived political influence of the Attorney General’s Office.
If its mandate is effectively clawed back into the central government’s fold, critics like Cudjoe argue that it would signal a setback in the fight for transparency.
By 1960news.com
