{"id":110503,"date":"2026-01-09T10:58:12","date_gmt":"2026-01-09T10:58:12","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/sotnews.agency\/?p=110503"},"modified":"2026-01-09T10:58:12","modified_gmt":"2026-01-09T10:58:12","slug":"dont-interfere-with-the-rule-of-law-power-is-not-a-license-for-crime-atta-akyea","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/sotnews.agency\/?p=110503","title":{"rendered":"Don\u2019t interfere with the rule of law; power is not a license for crime \u2013 Atta Akyea"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Former Member of Parliament for Abuakwa South, Samuel Atta Akyea, has warned against political interference in the administration of justice, insisting that democracy demands strict respect for the rule of law, regardless of who is in power.<\/p>\n

Speaking on JoyNews<\/strong>\u2019 AM Show<\/em> on Friday, January 9, 2026, the leading member of Dr Mahamudu Bawumia\u2019s campaign team said being in government does not grant anyone immunity from accountability when they are found culpable.<\/p>\n

\u201cIf you understand the ethos of democracy, don\u2019t interfere with the rule of law,\u201d he said. <\/p>\n

\u201cThe fact that you are in power does not license you to be criminal.\u201d<\/p>\n

Mr Atta Akyea expressed concern over past decisions by the Attorney-General, Dr Dominic Ayine, to enter nolle prosequi in cases involving individuals who had already been arraigned before courts of competent jurisdiction, describing such actions as troubling and politically motivated.<\/p>\n

\u201cI was very disturbed when the Attorney-General entered nolle prosequi for people who had been properly arraigned, immediately they were ushered into power,\u201d he noted.<\/p>\n

He stressed that accountability must be consistent, irrespective of political affiliation, and said a New Patriotic Party (NPP) government under Dr Bawumia would allow due process to take its course.<\/p>\n

\u201cIf Bawumia should be president and it is found that an NPP individual has fallen foul of the law, my view is that due process must run,\u201d he stated.<\/p>\n

Responding to questions about whether the issue lies with the law itself or with individuals occupying the office of Attorney-General, Mr Atta Akyea argued that the problem is largely political rather than legal.<\/p>\n

According to him, while the law permits an Attorney-General to enter nolle prosequi, the decision to do so, especially in cases with serious financial implications and ongoing trials, is a matter of democratic posture and political will.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt is the democratic posture of the government. Attorney-General will not function\u00a0that way, that of entering nolle prosequi, when it has serious financial consequences as well,\u00a0and people have been arraigned, and even some were on trial,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

\u201cSo it is a political\u00a0decision. It\u2019s not because of the fact that you have the power to enter nolle prosequi, but that is a decision of the NDC. We don\u2019t believe that these individuals should be prosecuted.\u201d<\/p>\n

He added that the absence of a legal requirement for the Attorney-General to justify such decisions raises serious concerns and could one day be tested at the Supreme Court.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m sure\u00a0one of these days, it will be tested in the Supreme Court as to whether or not it could be\u00a0at the whim and caprice of the government, and by extension, the Attorney General,\u201d he cautioned.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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\"Don\u2019tFormer Member of Parliament for Abuakwa South, Samuel Atta-Akyea, has warned against political interference in the administration of justice, insisting that democracy demands strict respect for the rule of law, regardless of who is in power.<\/div>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"rop_custom_images_group":[],"rop_custom_messages_group":[],"rop_publish_now":"initial","rop_publish_now_accounts":{"facebook_2277560469115098_106292521332774":"","twitter_aToxNzczMzI3Njk4OTg4ODUxMjAxOw==_1773327698988851200":""},"rop_publish_now_history":[],"rop_publish_now_status":"pending","_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1951,1883,10,9,7739,702],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-110503","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-hp-news-1","category-national","category-politics","category-popular","category-rule-of-law","category-samuel-atta-akyea"],"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/sotnews.agency\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/110503","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/sotnews.agency\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/sotnews.agency\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sotnews.agency\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sotnews.agency\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=110503"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/sotnews.agency\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/110503\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/sotnews.agency\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=110503"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sotnews.agency\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=110503"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sotnews.agency\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=110503"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}