The New Patriotic Party (NPP) Minority in Parliament has advised the Attorney-General (A-G) and Minister for Justice, Dr Dominic Ayine, to stop his unconstitutional media trial against the accused persons.
The caucus slammed the A-G for undermining the constitutional rights of these accused persons by publicly labelling them as criminals before due process is completed in court.
Consequently, the Minority maintained that the Attorney-General should be called to order to ensure that prosecutorial actions remain within the confines of the law and the courtroom.
Addressing journalists in Parliament on Tuesday, October 28, 2025, the Legal Counsel to the Minority Caucus and Member of Parliament (MP) for Suame, Mr. John Darko, stressed that the Attorney-General’s utterances under the guise of “Accountability Series” on ongoing prosecutions are tantamount to “pronouncing suspects guilty before a fair trial.”
“By this press prosecution, the Attorney General has violated his oath to be fair to all manner of persons.
“By this press prosecution the Attorney General has violated a core constitutional provision in our criminal jurisprudence. He has, by his press prosecution, prejudiced the fair trial principle under Article 19 of the Constitution, 1992,” Mr. John Darko emphasised.
The Minority’s address followed Dr. Ayine’s recent labelling of the former CEO of the National Food Buffer Stock Company, the Ashanti Regional Chairman of the NPP, and others as “lawless looters” involved in criminal acts.
The caucus argued that such statements compromise the integrity of the justice system and violate the presumption of innocence.
Guilty narrative
The Attorney-General, the Minority further bemoaned, is engaging in all these pressers and pushing a guilty narrative without the ability of these accused persons, like Osei Assibey, Oware, Wontumi, Adu Boahene, and Hanan, getting the opportunity to respond in equal measure to their defences in the public domain.
“If the AG has already pronounced them guilty, then why do we have to go to court?”, Mr John Darko quizzed.
He also averred that, “Competent Attorneys General don’t prosecute their cases in the court of public opinion.”
Minority supports accountability
The Minority reaffirmed its commitment to ensuring accountability within the confines of the law.
“Let’s be clear here, we in the minority are not against accountability; indeed, we believe that everyone should be accountable for his or her stewardship. Indeed, as a government in 2029, the next NPP government will hold the current NDC government accountable.
“What we are against is the biased press trial, which the attorney general seems to revel in to the extent that he is virtually pronouncing the guilt of the accused persons before they even have the chance to open their cases.
“The AG says he is into this media circus because he does not want to be referred to as an incompetent AG. Mr AG, competent AGs don’t engage in media trials. They don’t try their cases in the court of public opinion; they try their cases in the courtrooms. “And to you, my brothers and sisters in the media, please be careful so that you don’t unknowingly amplify this grand populist agenda
“As a people, we must all rise up and challenge these constitutional violations of this administration; the gradual tearing down of the constitutional guardrails for limited government portends great danger to the liberties of Ghanaians, all of you, ladies and gentlemen in the media, religious and chieftaincy institutions, and civil society organisations, must rise up otherwise we will wake up one day and we will have no democracy left,” Mr John Darko urged.
He urged journalists to avoid amplifying what he described as a “grand populist agenda” by the Attorney-General, warning that such commentary could weaken the country’s constitutional protections.
“You publish and amplify these presses, thinking you are doing your job, but what you are doing is amplifying the violation of the Constitution.
“These constitutional violations… should not be tolerated. It is gradually tearing down our constitutional guardrails.”
