Executive Director of Transparency International Ghana, Mary Awelana Addah, says the Court of Appeal missed an opportunity to strengthen accountability after overturning the 10-year prison sentence handed to former MASLOC Chief Executive, Sedina Tamakloe.
Speaking on JoyNews’ Newsfile on Saturday, August 1, during a discussion on the Court of Appeal’s decision to acquit and discharge Sedina Tamakloe, Ms Addah said that although the court had performed its judicial role, it missed an important opportunity to address broader concerns about public accountability.
“It’s really becoming depressing for some of us in the anti-corruption fight when we hear humble, very dedicated, learned persons speaking this way,” she said of arguments ignoring the alleged crimes and focusing on the technicalities alone.
“It is true that the court has done its job. The evidence that is available for me, that is it,” she said, and insisted that the judgment should not have stopped at the criminal issues alone.
“So when would our courts then begin to identify that people cannot just get away with some of these atrocious crimes? In fact, they are crimes,” she stated.
Ms Addah questioned how public officials could procure buses that were never requested by the intended beneficiaries and face no consequences when the vehicles were left unused and deteriorated.
“How is it that somebody initiates a process, procures vehicles and buses when the people who needed them indicated clearly that we want something else? They are procured, they come in, nobody uses them, they remain waste, and we go to court and come back with this decision. And we do not have any issue with the issue of accountability to talk about?”
According to Ms Addah, the perception that politically connected individuals can escape sanctions continues to undermine public confidence.
“The fact that if you belong to a certain party or the other, you can get away with murder if you belong and you are associated and connected.”
She further cited other procurement concerns, including alleged price inflation involving mobile phones and irregular payment practices.
“We see mobile phones that were inflated. If the buses were inflated, the mobile phones were inflated. We see payments that are made which are not through the proper process.”
Questioning the handling of financial transactions highlighted during the case, she said the explanations offered did not stand up to common sense.
“We are not children in this country. We all know for a fact that if there is a repayment… where does it happen that somebody says they don’t want a loan anymore and then asks for the money to be returned in cash after it was paid by cheque? Are we children? We don’t want some of these things to be said.”
While acknowledging that the Court of Appeal found the criminal evidence insufficient, Ms Addah said that the judges could still have recommended measures to strengthen accountability within public institutions.
“I believe the court could have gone further to say that for some of these issues, some accountability measures could be preferred going forward. Some administrative sanctions could be explored.”
She warned that simply acquitting public officials without addressing questionable conduct could create the impression that similar actions would carry no consequences.
“But just to dismiss and acquit, for me, I believe was not the right way to go. Whoever is sitting there today will say, ‘Okay, so if Sedina got away with this, I can also do it and get away.'”
Ms Addah said that the fight against corruption should not focus solely on criminal convictions but also on promoting institutional reforms and better governance.
“It is not always about criminality. Our courts have in the past also pronounced on some of these issues.”
She also acknowledged that civil society organisations and the public often push for swift prosecutions, but said this should not come at the expense of thorough investigations and stronger legal processes.
“I believe the court could have ensured that they were promoting some level of institutional learning.”
She added that investigators and prosecutors must improve the way corruption cases are prepared to avoid similar outcomes in future.
“For me, I believe that prosecutors must improve case preparation.”
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DISCLAIMER: The Views, Comments, Opinions, Contributions and Statements made by Readers and Contributors on this platform do not necessarily represent the views or policy of Multimedia Group Limited.
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