Attorney General commences prosecution of cases; On phone with Emmanuel Wilson Jnr #metronews

Added: 2026-05-12

[00:00:00]Anti-corruption campaigner, Emmanuel Wilson, joins us now for a conversation on the steps government is taking by prosecuting some accused persons involved in the aura investigation this week. Good afternoon to you.

[00:00:17]Emmanuel, if you are able to hear us, good afternoon to you.

[00:00:21]Good afternoon. I can hear you. Can you hear me? Yes, we are able to hear you clearly. Now, we are told that government will be taking certain steps in prosecuting some accused persons involved in the aura investigations.

[00:00:35]How is it really going to pan out?

[00:00:38]Well, if you are making reference to what trends I indicated on his Facebook page, then that I don't really see it as any particular step. It is just a due process that is supposed to happen.

[00:00:52]Okay. Indeed, if you look at the the the submissions on his Facebook page, it just talked about schedules for some cases that need to be in court of competent jurisdiction. And rightly so, if you are investigating any Tudor borders on corruption, it is expected that after investigation, if you believe that you have enough and adequate or trainable evidence, you take it to a court of competent jurisdiction for you to go and argue your case out. If it so happened that there's substance in your evidence, the court will rule in your favor. But, if it happened that there's no substance in your evidence, the court will then uh rule otherwise. That is, if we believe that the rule of law is taking place. Now, having said that, it is important to indicate that beyond what trends I have put on his Facebook page, one can deduce that it has to do with the pressures that probably are coming from citizens regarding the outcome or the state of the aura cases that has been or that was mentioned when John Mahama's government took office.

[00:02:01]And so it is more of communicating to the public the stage of the process.

[00:02:06]I believe that if you do a census or you do a casual interrogation with public or citizens in the public space, majority will tell you that it is not so much about going to court that is of interest to them. But what is of interest to them is to ensure that there's due process one and the due process has led to one, prosecuting individuals who are found culpable, and then two, retrieving the money if indeed there are some money that needs to be retrieved according to the aura report that came into the public space. Those money must be retrieved. These are the two things that citizens are more interested in. I don't think citizens are enthused about coming to mention that you are going to court other than they being appreciating the fact that you are updating them. Yes, it's going to update. It's a form of transparency, but beyond the update, what citizens, including myself and everyone, is so interested in is the successful prosecution, successful retrieval of money, and most importantly, ensuring that this process will serve as a deterrent so that individuals who intend engaging in corrupt practices will be warned and they will desist from it.

[00:03:21]Okay, you mentioned uh as one of the important things for the public is how we are able to recover the money. Now, you spoke about prosecution as well.

[00:03:31]Now, after they have been prosecuted, if tangible evidences have been found against them, how long do you think that these money will be retrieved?

[00:03:42]Well, it is it is the court it is for the court to determine. When the court determines and gives judgment, the court will then prescribe ways by which it should be done. Remember that the Attorney General or the Prosecutorial Offices, they also have mandate and powers to go into negotiations with whoever will be pronounced guilty or money is to be retrieved. And they can go into their own arrangements and agreements whether there's going to be a payment by installment, there's going to be property seized and and and sold for payment to be done. So, the payment aspect it is not so much complicated as compared to the Attorney General making sure that he has tangible evidence that will convince the court for his case to be successful.

[00:04:33]Now, we are looking at evidences. We are If we are unable to get that because these are alleged cases so far. Once it gets to the courts and they have they have at the end of the day aren't prosecuted, there are no tangible evidences, then what happens?

[00:04:50]Well, it tells us two things. The first one is that the oral activities was just a waste of time, a waste of public time and public resources. And so, it is possible that the oral that is the committee or the members that constituted the oral, they did not do their work as they were expected to do. Or if they did their work, their report is misleading and it was just based on perception and not actual. That is one aspect. There's also a possibility just as we have found in many cases that involve the special prosecutor and the republic or the court, there are there are that instance is also there where we it may happen that the Attorney General probably or I did its work well, but the Attorney General failed to do the necessary investigation to get the adequate evidence for us to receive or to get the judgment that is expected of us. So, if it so happened, coming back to your question, if it's so happened that the the individuals involved in the other cases are acquitted and are discharged by the court, then two things. The other committee just came out to to speak based on perception and not actual, which would then mean that they have wasted everyone's time and have just given us false hope, or they may have done their work, but the Attorney General and the investigating body did not gather proof to get the necessary evidence that will give us the judgment we need in court.

[00:06:21]We appreciate your time this afternoon.

[00:06:23]Thank you very much. That was Emmanuel Wilson Jr., who is an anti-corruption crusader.