Musings from Abakrampa 2

Dear readers, I hope you are still with me as we continue from last week the explanation of the Social Security and National Insurance Trust (SSNIT) case.

The case centred around various changes which the prosecution said had been made to a contract and which had inflated the cost over and above what was credible.

The price of the contract, for a software system known as Operational Business Suit (OBS) to digitalise SSNIT operations, had risen well over the initial estimated amount of the project.

Of the 18 counts that Mr Thompson faced, 16 were dismissed for lack of evidence. It is worthy of note, therefore, that at the time the “nolle prosequi” was entered by the Attorney General, the accused person, whose cases had been discontinued as a result of it, was left with only two counts to defend.

They were definitely going to surmount the remaining charges and the prosecution would have struggled to prove them beyond the criminal standard of proof — proof beyond reasonable doubt.

Indeed, in giving the ruling of the submission of no case, the learned judge said the prosecution had failed to provide a prima facie case.

The judge described the evidence of SSNIT’s star witness, Kwadzo Ladzekpo, as bizarre. He said he had a “very dangerous and treacherous character” and “lied through his teeth”.

This clearly showed that the prosecution had not properly evaluated the evidence before commencing the trial.

In the future, it is essential that the Attorney General critically evaluates the evidence and makes sure that they assail the evidential threshold before bringing any prosecution — ORAL or other corruption cases.

Second

This was not the only incident at Abakrampa related to the problems within the criminal justice system. The second incident relates to the problems in the Ghana Police Service.

A family member, visiting from the UK, making her journey from Accra with her driver, encountered no less than 10 police checkpoints.

The first encounter with the police was when they were stopped on the brow of a hill by a policeman wielding an antiquated speed gun.

He marched over to the driver and barked that he was “over speeding” (an unnecessary expression since speeding is in itself a crime in an area with a designated speed limit and does not require the quantifier of ‘over’).

Luckily, her driver, with years of experience, knew that this was totally incorrect.

The policeman was crestfallen when he asked to see the date when the speed gun was last calibrated which should have been written on the device to prove that it had been recently checked to make sure the readings were accurate.

Obviously, knowing that no such calibration had been done in many a long year, the policeman waved them on angrily.

The rest of the encounters with the police at roadblocks were, she said, mostly questions which had nothing to do with police highway duties — checking documentation to do with the legality of driving licences and other related matters of insurance, drug trafficking etc.

Rather, she said, the many nuisance check-ups seemed to be an exercise ‘fishing’ for grounds to arrest and/or money.

The police officers wanted a driving licence, insurance documents, roadworthy certification, breakdown triangles, fire extinguishers etc.

When she was able to show these items, one officer in particular went on to demand whether the driver had a machete in the car “in case a tree had fallen in the road”.

Coming from the UK where one could be done for having an offensive weapon in a public place, she was shocked.

When all these questions failed to provide a basis for arrest, this particular policeman sighed and plaintively asked, “So have you nothing for me? You people coming from a ‘aburokyire’ are so “strong-willed” (clearly meaning tight-fisted or stingy).

Prevalent

These incidents, which are by no means isolated, are prevalent along our highways.

Why is it necessary to have roadblocks every few miles along the main roads?

If the true reason for the roadblocks is to identify criminals, fugitives and those carrying contraband, why are not proper searches carried out?

It seems a flash of the torchlight is merely there to identify those who might be intimidated into parting with hard cash.

Why do the officers rarely display their names and numbers on their uniforms?

It would be very easy for criminals to masquerade as policemen.

In the context of “Resetting Ghana” in criminal justice circles, we hope the  Interior Minister will address some of these matters.

The writer is a lawyer.
E-mail: georgebshaw1@gmail.com