Special Prosecutor Kissi Agyabeng has defended the bail conditions imposed on Paul Adom-Otchere in the ongoing investigation involving a revenue assurance contract between Ghana Airports Company Limited and a private firm owned by Strategic Mobilisation Ghana Ltd (SML).
On August 31, the Office of the Special Prosecutor (OSP) announced that Adom-Otchere, former Board Chairman of Ghana Airports Company Limited, and others were detained after failing to meet the bail conditions.
The OSP required Adom-Otchere to present two landed properties registered in his name as part of his bail terms. However, Adom-Otchere informed the OSP that he did not own any landed property in Ghana.
During a working visit by members of the Parliamentary Select Committee on Constitutional and Legal Affairs to the OSP, Kissi Agyabeng explained that the purpose of the bail condition is partly to encourage the suspect to remain available, warning that if the suspect absconds, the property would be confiscated by the state.
He said “The OSP has its suspect, and when it says you do not have any landed property, you can’t bail yourself if you don’t have any landed property. We won’t put a value on it. Bring what you have.”
He added that the condition serves to prevent suspects from fleeing, warning that any property found in their name could be confiscated by the state if they abscond.
He remarked “And it is also to encourage you not to run, because if you run away, that property will be confiscated to the state. So, it is to encourage you to show up.”
“if you do not do that, and you say you don’t have anything, you have placed yourself on the state that anything the state finds standing in your name, it is confiscated. It is as simple as that,” he emphasized.
Source: www.Kumasimail/Kwadwo Owusu
