Private legal practitioner, Mr. Kwame Jantuah has kicked against the idea of having the Office of the Special Prosecutor (OSP) investigate the Will of the late former Chief Executive Officer of the Forestry Commission, Kwadwo Owusu Afriyie, popularly known as Sir John.
The OSP in a statement on Thursday, May 27, 2022, disclosed that it has started probing the Will of the late Sir John in relation to land acquired at the Achimota Forest and Ramsar sites.
“The Office of the Special Prosecutor has commenced full investigations into suspected corruption and corruption-related offences in respect of alleged improper and unlawful acquisition of state lands at the Achimota Forest enclave and Ramstar catchment at Sakumono in Accra by former Chief Executive Officer of the Forestry Commission, Kwadwo Owusu Afriyie alias Sir John (Now deceased) and other persons,” part of a release signed by Special Prosecutor Sir John said.
Reacting to the statement in an engagement on the Key Points show on TV3 on Saturday morning, Mr. Kwame Jantuah said the case requires a probe by an Independent Commission and not the Office of the Special Prosecutor.
“An Independent, nonpartisan Commission of Inquiry must investigate this, it shouldn’t be the Lands Ministry or the OSP,” Mr. Jantuah said.
Mr. Abraham Amaliba, the Director of Legal Affairs of the National Democratic Congress (NDC) shares the same opinion.
According to him, a bipartisan committee should be set up by Parliament to investigate the matter.
He said, “We need a bipartisan committee from parliament to deal with it.
He added, “It should be opened to the public, let us invite people to testify, we will get to know how the forest was distributed to public servants apart from Sir John.”
Amaliba continued, “If you want the OSP to do it he will just limit himself to the will and that will not address our pain. Our pain is that a number of people have acquired state lands which is not just Sir John.”
Source: Modern Ghana
