Former Executive Vice President of Unilever Ghana and Nigeria, Yaw Nsarkoh, has called for reforms to Ghana’s prosecutorial system.
The executive warned that the Attorney-General must not be perceived as a mouthpiece for the political agenda of the government in power.
He says the current arrangement, under which the Attorney-General is a member of Cabinet and appointed by the President, creates concerns about the independence of prosecutorial decisions, particularly in politically sensitive cases.
Speaking at a JoyNews and An Amalgam of Professionals event in Accra on Tuesday, October 20, Mr Nsarkoh called for the establishment of an independent prosecutor at Cabinet-rank level or its equivalent to strengthen accountability and reduce the risk of political interference in criminal prosecutions.
He argued that the Attorney-General’s position within the Executive could fuel suspicions that decisions on which cases to prosecute, or discontinue, are influenced by political considerations.
“Our Attorney General (AG) is a member of cabinet, appointed by the president, living in that role at the pleasure of the president. He or she is usually, in a Santa Claus democracy, as partisan as they come,” he said.
Mr Nsarkoh warned that the arrangement could create the impression that prosecutorial powers are being deployed against political opponents rather than exercised independently in the public interest.
“ It is deeply important that no AG is allowed to look like a veritable megaphone of the contemporary incarnations of partisan political projects,” he said.
He maintained that such concerns could not be adequately addressed by relying solely on the personal integrity of individuals occupying the office, arguing that institutional reforms were necessary to safeguard prosecutorial independence.
Mr Nsarkoh stressed that the problem was not limited to a particular political party, saying successive governments had contributed to the wider governance challenges he outlined in his address.
He called for constitutional and systemic changes to protect the prosecutorial process from partisan influence and strengthen public confidence in the administration of justice.
His remarks formed part of a wider argument that Ghana’s democratic institutions need stronger safeguards against the concentration and possible abuse of executive power.