CID to conduct criminal investigations into US $ 5,000,000 corruption allegation against Chief Justice

Chief Justice Kwasi Anin-Yeboah

• Chief Justice Kwasi Anin-Yeboah refuted allegations of corruption against him

• He asked the CID to launch investigations into the case

• He wants to ensure that the case is dealt with to its logical conclusions

Ghana’s Chief Justice Kwasi Anin-Yeboah has asked the Police Criminal Investigation Department (CID) to investigate a corruption allegation against him.

This was in a petition signed by the Judicial Secretary, Judge Cynthia Pamela Addo, on Monday July 12, 2021 and spotted by GhanaWeb.

The Chief Justice called the US $ 5,000,000 corruption allegation sad because his reputation had been dragged in the mud.

Speaking on the corruption allegation, the chief justice said: “To ensure this matter is fully investigated, His Lordship has ordered that a formal complaint be filed with the Criminal Investigation Department. Ghana Police Service for investigations and any necessary action. “

He further ordered that a complaint be filed with the Disciplinary Committee of the General Legal Council regarding this specific matter.

Meanwhile, Chief Justice Kwasi Anin-Yeboah said he was available to assist with any investigations into this case to ensure the case is dealt with to its logical conclusions.

Below is the Chief Justice’s response, petition and lawyer Kwasi Afrifa’s statement.

Background

Chief Justice and lawyer Akoto Ampaw were named in a statement by a certain Kwasi Afrifa of O&A Legal Consult, addressed to the Disciplinary Committee of the General Legal Council, in which he [Afrifa] alleges that his client, Ogyeedom Obranu Kwesi Atta VI, once told him that “the Chief Justice demanded a bribe of $ 5,000,000 to bring his case to fruition.”

Kwasi Afrifa’s statement dated July 8, 2021 is a response to a claim by Ogyeedom Obranu Kwesi Atta VI that he [Afrifa] during the processing of his case – Ogyeedom Obranu Kwesi Atta VI v Ghana Telecommunications Co. Ltd. – suggested to him [Ogyeedom] to “provide a sum of US $ 100,000 to enable him to do some ways and means (gymnastics)” on the case “so that we can obtain a favorable decision”.

Ogyeedom in his petition to the GLC on March 1, 2021, said he knew he had a good case in the Supreme Court of Ghana, he heeded his lawyer advice. However, he later realized that the money was not being used for its intended purpose.

“… so I fired him from the case and asked him to pay back the money, but he has since refunded me $ 25,000, leaving a balance of $ 75,000 owed to me.” All efforts to recover the amount have failed, ”said Ogyeedom Obranu Kwesi Atta VI as he appealed to the president of the General Legal Council to help him recover the remaining amount from lawyer Kwasi Afrifa.

In a three-page response available to GhanaWeb, Kwasi Afrifa unequivocally denied all the allegations. According to him, he never suggested to Ogyeedom Obranu Kwesi Atta VI to provide an amount for what he described as “ways and means”.

While Kwasi Afrifa admitted to being Ogyeedom Obranu Kwesi Atta VI’s former lawyer, he refuted the latter’s claim that he requested and took funds to bribe the Chief Justice.

“At the end of July 2020, the Applicant informed me that friends of his who were very politically connected had taken him to see the President of the Supreme Court who had agreed to help him win his case on condition that he let me fall as the lawyer in charge of the case. case for him and hire Akoto Ampaw Esq in my stead, ”said Kwasi Afrifa.

“He further informed me that the Chief Justice had demanded a bribe of $ 5,000,000 for a favorable outcome of his case and that he had already paid $ 500,000 to the Chief Justice. He further indicated that he was having difficulty collecting the remainder of the 5,000,000 USD and that I therefore had to reimburse part of the 300,000 GH which had been paid to me as fees because, in accordance with the judge’s advice in chief, he had hired Akoto Ampaw Esq as a lawyer to pursue the case before the Supreme Court, ”Afrifa added.

After the said request was made, Afrifa said he instead made the decision to reimburse the amount Ogyeedom Obranu Kwesi Atta VI paid him for the processing of his case. This, he argued, he did out of a sense of dignity.

He said: “We aggregated the GH ¢ 300,000 that was paid to me as the equivalent of USD 50,000 that I had to reimburse him without any deadline being given. He said he wanted the payment in dollars because he collected the rest of the money to be paid to the Chief Justice, and that currency was the currency of choice.

“On January 27, 2021, I paid the petitioner an amount of US $ 25,000 and subsequently paid him US $ 15,000 for a total of US $ 40,000, so the unpaid amount I owe him is US $ 10,000. I am ready and able to make said payment of US $ 10,000 when I appear before the Committee on July 15, 2021. ”