Prof. Kwadwo Appiagyei-Atua, a law lecturer at the University of Ghana, has defended Attorney General Dr. Dominic Ayine against criticism from the Minority New Patriotic Party (NPP) over his public remarks on the investigation into former National Signals Bureau (NSB) Director-General, Kwabena Adu-Boahene.
Speaking on Eyewitness News on Citi FM, Prof. Appiagyei-Atua argued that the Attorney General’s statements were appropriate and did not imply guilt on the part of Adu-Boahene.
“I think what the AG did was right in the sense that the office is not pronouncing the accused person guilty. In fact, he is not even an accused person at this point because charges haven’t been proffered against him yet,” he explained.
He stressed the need for transparency in a democratic society, noting that the Attorney General was fulfilling his duty by informing the public.
“In the name of democracy, there has to be transparency, there has to be information flow. That is what the AG is doing,” he stated.
Prof. Appiagyei-Atua also argued that failing to provide updates could have led to public dissatisfaction.
“I am very sure that if he had not done so, the people would still turn against him and say, ‘Why did you arrest this person? We don’t know what has happened to the person,’ and so on,” he added.
Dismissing concerns that the Attorney General’s remarks were inappropriate, he said, “It is not about pronouncing the person guilty before the case actually goes to court, and it is also not embarrassing.”