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The Special Prosecutor (SP), Kissi Agyebeng has indicated its resolve to challenge a High Court ruling against his request to freeze the assets of the late CEO of Forestry Commission, Kwadwo Owusu Afriyie, also known as Sir John.

The SP initiated the freezing of the assets as part of his outfit's investigations into the acquisition of state lands and properties that were contained in Mr Afriyie’s will.

Eyebrows Raised

The late Sir John's Will recently surfaced on social media shocking many Ghanaians as it revealed him purportedly giving some State lands to his children, nephews and other relatives.

It is a long list of 75 properties including houses, parcels of land, bank accounts, investments, businesses, guns and clothes.

The Will raised public concerns following the discovery that he owned lands in the Achimota Forest.

Formalise Order

Lawyer Agyabeng followed it up by filing processes in court to formalise the order.

Under Section 38 of the Office of the Special Prosecutor Act, Act 959, the SP is empowered to direct the freezing of assets if he holds the view that it is necessary for investigations. He is then required to apply to a court within fourteen days for a confirmation of the freezing order.

This is what led the SP to file the current processes.

However, on Tuesday, July 12th, Her Ladyship Justice Afia Serwaa Asare Botwe dismissed the application by ruling the Special Prosecutor should have initiated the process under Section 54 of the Act. This provision deals with the procedure where a person dies or absconds.

This ruling has not gone down well with the SP.

Decision To Appeal

Hours after court's decision, the Special Prosecutor who appears undaunted issued a statement sighted by Peacefmonline.com, wherein Lawyer Agyabeng held that Justice Afia Serwaa “misapprehended the application for confirmation of the freezing order and misdirected herself by characterizing the application as that of a confiscation order, which regimes are governed by different considerations.”

Consequently, he said, he has “directed the filing of an appeal against the ruling of Her Ladyship Justice Afia Serwaa Asare Botwe. The net effect of the ruling of the High Court is that a person may, in his lifetime, gleefully acquire property through corruption and then upon his demise happily pass on the corruptly acquired property to his beneficiaries for their benefit and by so doing, extinguishes all scrutiny as to the propriety or otherwise of the acquisition of the property because his corrupt activities were not discovered during his lifetime.”


Read full statement below