The Association of State Attorneys have voted to dismiss their National Secretary, Charles Ofori, over some comments he made in relation to the judges indicted in Anas Aremeyaw Anas’ judiciary corruption saga.
The association took the decision to dismiss Mr. Ofori after an emergency meeting on Tuesday, where the majority in a vote concluded that the comments he made were derogatory and did not represent the views of the association.
Mr. Charles Ofori, according to a report by the Daily Graphic and other news portals, called for the prosecution of judges implicated in the corruption scandal because he found their actions a criminal offence.
“We are not angels but anytime we meet these temptations, we should be guarded by the values that we were taught in the law school,” he said in an interview with Accra-based Joy FM.
He further stated that the development had cast a serious dent on all legal practitioners and that steps ought to be taken towards image repair.
But the President of the State Attorneys Association, Francisca Tetteh Mensah, who confirmed Mr. Ofori’s dismissal in an interview with Accra-based Top FM, said it is not the association’s responsibility to call for the prosecution of anyone since that was solely the prerogative of the Attorney-General.
She said Mr. Ofori’s explanation that he made those specific comments in his personal capacity and not as the National Secretary of the Association is unacceptable.
“The radio station called him and introduced him as the National Secretary of the association of State Attorneys so he cannot say he made those comments in his personal capacity. It was only when he was ending the interview that he said that in his personal opinion he thinks the judges found culpable should be prosecuted. He is not our spokesperson and the association did not hold any meeting on the judges’ issue so he didn’t have to go out there to say anything to put the association in that light as was headlined by the Daily Graphic.”
“We have voted at our emergency meeting and majority of us agreed that his action has embarrassed us so we have removed him from that position. He is no more the Secretary of the association so the media should not call him to speak for us. His action did not embarrass the association alone but all other state attorneys who are even not members of the association”.
When asked to comment on the works of Anas in relation to the latest exposure, Francisca Tetteh Mensah said she could not comment since she has not had the privilege to watch the much-talked about video.
Some 22 lower court judges are currently serving a suspension placed on them by the Judicial Council, after they were captured in a video taking bribes in a two year investigative piece.
Twelve other high court judges have also been implicated and have been queried after which appropriate sanctions would be taken against them; together with over 100 judicial service staff also believed to have played various roles in the bribery scandal.
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