The Honorary Vice President of IMANI-Africa, Bright Simons says the criminal case against the former Deputy Governor of the Bank of Ghana, now acting BoG governor, Dr Johnson Pandit Asiama was baseless.
He says he sees no issue with the new Attorney General, Dr Dominic Ayine dropping the case against him.
Speaking on JoyNews’ Newsfile on Saturday with Samson Lardy Ayenini, Bright Simons said, “To turn all these policy matters into a criminal indictment is, I think abyssal, completely abyssal.”
He explained that Dr Asiama was merely “executing policy that his colleagues at the Bank of Ghana had agreed upon.”
The Attorney-General, Dr Dominic has withdrawn all charges against Dr Asiama, who had been standing trial in two separate cases for his alleged involvement in the collapse of UniBank and UT Bank.
Dr Asiama, along with other accused individuals, faced charges of fraudulent breach of trust, money laundering, conspiracy to commit a crime, and violations of the Bank of Ghana (BoG) Act since 2020.
In the UT Bank case, the former second deputy governor was charged alongside five others, including the bank’s founder, Prince Kofi Amoabeng. Other accused individuals in that case included Raymond Amanfu, UT Holdings Ltd., Catherine Johnson, and Robert Kwesi Armah.
In the UniBank case, former Finance Minister Dr Kwabena Duffuor, his son Dr Kwabena Duffuor II (who was the CEO of UniBank before its collapse), and other executives were also charged with money laundering.
Recently, President Mahama appointed Dr Asiama as the new Governor of the Bank of Ghana. However, members of the opposition New Patriotic Party (NPP) have argued that he is not fit for the role due to the criminal cases against him.
The party, including the former Attorney General, has again raised concerns about the new Attorney General’s decision to drop the case against him, describing it as a political move to free wrongdoers linked to the NDC.
Read also: AG’s discontinuation of cases a ploy to whitewash implicated NDC officials – Godfred Dame
Dr Dominic Ayine has also dropped six additional high-profile cases, including the Saglemi Housing case involving former Works and Housing minister Collins Dauda.
