The Deputy Attorney-General, Justice Srem-Sai, has rejected claims by the Office of the Special Prosecutor (OSP) that the Attorney-General’s Office has refused to collaborate on corruption cases.
According to the Deputy AG, the Attorney-General’s Office has no choice, as its office is bound to make sure that all the agencies that are fighting crime do their work and do it properly.
Speaking to JoyNews at the Supreme Court, Justice Srem-Sai dismissed the claim, saying, “There has never been any tension between OSP as far as the Attorney-General is concerned”.
“My boss has no desire whatsoever to struggle with anyone over a job or what to do. What my boss knows and what he’s always asking us to do is to ensure that we fight crime and fight crime properly, respecting the rights of accused persons,” he said.
He argued that the Attorney-General’s Office had no reason to single out the OSP for a different working relationship from other law enforcement and anti-corruption agencies, adding that the OSP was only one of several institutions involved in Ghana’s fight against crime and corruption.
He argued that the Attorney-General’s Office works with the National Commission for Civic Education (NACOC), the Ghana Immigration Service, the Ghana Police Service and other state agencies as institutions.
“Why should there be some particular tension between us and them?” he asked.
“OSP is another agency created by legislation to fight crime. And like the way we work with all the other institutions, we work with the OSP the same way,” he said.
“But to say you have come to collaborate with us and we said no, there wouldn’t be any need for that approach in the first place”.
“We don’t have a choice. It’s not about being ready to welcome [the OSP]. We are bound as the Office of the Attorney-General to make sure that all the agencies that are fighting crime do their work and do their work properly,” he said.
“We are all creatures of law, either by the Constitution or by legislation. And the law determines our place in the greater scheme of things,” he said.
He further maintained that the Attorney-General’s Office remained focused on its mandate and had no interest in creating friction with the OSP.
His comment follows Samuel Appiah Darko, the Director of Strategy, Research and Communications at the Office of the Special Prosecutor (OSP), saying the Attorney-General (AG) has declined several requests from the office to collaborate on cases.
According to Samuel Appiah Darko, the OSP on several occasions approached the Office of the AG for cooperation, but their request was rejected.
He disclosed that although the OSP generally has a good working relationship with the Attorney-General and other stakeholders, there have been instances where its requests for case-specific collaboration were turned down.
Samuel Appiah Darko disclosed that several developments occur behind the scenes, but the OSP does not consider it necessary to make them public.
Speaking on JoyNews’ Newsfile on Saturday, August 29, Samuel Appiah Darko stated, “There are so many issues the OSP has kept quiet and not talked about. Look, there are instances where the OSP has approached the Attorney General’s office and said, let us collaborate in this matter, and we have been turned down.”
“When you are managing a state institution, a very sensitive one, it is not all the information you will come out to the public to talk about,” he noted.
He further rejected perceptions of a strained relationship with the Office of the Attorney-General.
“The reason why I have called on the show is to talk about these things. First of all, the issue that the OSP is not collaborating with the AG, I think that it is a wrong perception,” he said.
“Is that not obvious from your press conferences?” the host of the show, Samson Lardy Anyenini, asked him.
He replied, “I know that people think that there is tension between the AG and the OSP. There could be tension, but you cannot also deny the OSP from also telling Ghanaians about some of the things that it is doing, and it wants to do. For instance, if the OSP needs to respond to some information that has already been put in the public domain that may not be accurate and the OSP clarifies that, that does not mean that the OSP is breeding a fight or tension.”
Watch the video below:
@ghnow_ Driver’s tyre bursts on Tema–VALCO Road due to deplorable road condition #GHNow #fyp #FixValcoKponeRoad ♬ original sound – NDCMUSICHQ
@ghnow_ “I go to the mechanic every week because of this road” — Driver shares his story #GHNow #fyp #FixValcoKponeRoad ♬ original sound – GHnow
