The Office of the Special Prosecutor (OSP) has released its report into the Charles Adu Boahen alleged bribery saga, and unsurprisingly the former Minister of State has been cleared.
According to the final OSP report, Charles Adu Boahen did not engage in any corruption or corruption-related offenses in which the special prosecutor has the mandate to act.
The report, delivered almost a year after the initial brouhaha unleashed by the Tiger Eye PI investigation, does very little to restore the reputation of a man who has been proven innocent of any offenses but unjustly smeared.
Adu Boahen was entrapped, smeared, and tried in the court of public opinion, rather than with a cold and dispassionate look at the facts.
Any unbiased examination of the Tiger Eye PI video, the sole source of the harsh and rushed indictment against Adu Boahen, clearly shows unending coercion and cajoling, a clear case of entrapment.
The political world – including the high seat of the Presidency somewhat condemned him by following the mob mentality rather than carrying out cogent analysis, and the former rising political star has now suffered almost irreparable harm.
Who pays for this grave sin? Nobody will but this should teach us lessons about rushing to judgment when issues come out – and also in examining the motives of institutions like Tiger Eye PI which engage in what legal luminaries like former Special Prosecutor Martin Amidu have labeled investigative terrorism.
The Background
Tiger Eye PI, the Ghanaian investigative firm run by Anas Aremeyaw Anas, released an exposé, Galamsey Economy, in November 2022.
The so-called expose was headlined by a clandestine meeting with the now-former Minister of State at the Finance Ministry, Charles Adu Boahen.
The meeting, held in a hotel room in Dubai, was between a Sheik, ostensibly looking to invest in Ghana, and Charles Adu Boahen, then Deputy Finance Minister and until recently, a Minister of State.
The topic was supposed investments into Ghana, and the discussion ended with Adu Boahen being given a cash gift of $40,000 for shopping by the ‘Sheik’.
The release of the expose had immense consequences for Charles Adu Boahen, with the Presidency taking swift action to dismiss him from his position as a Minister of State.
He was publicly denounced as a corrupt government official, despite serious issues with the methodology of Tiger Eye PI being raised by people such as yours truly and the former Special Prosecutor, Martin Amidu.
It was also clear to discerning minds that there were massive holes in the claim of the $40,000 gift being a bribe, a distinction that was clearly demarcated in this brilliant article looking at things from a legal perspective.
Whilst to the layman and the political mob everything looked straightforward and condemning Adu Boahen seemed even just, discerning minds said otherwise and they have eventually been proven right.
The OSP’s findings
The Office of the Special Prosecutor commenced an investigation into the Adu Boahen saga upon receiving a complaint from Tiger Eye PI and a referral from the office of the President.
On 30th October 2023, the Office of the Special Prosecutor concluded that:
“The conduct of Mr. Adu Boahen amounts to trading in influence or influence peddling. This is the practice of using one’s influence or connections in public office or with persons in public office to obtain favours or preferential treatment for oneself or for another person, usually in return for payment.”
“Though the conduct of Mr. Adu Boahen amounts to trading in influence or influence peddling, which is closely associated with corruption, there is no actual criminal prohibition of his acts in respect of which the OSP has a mandate to further act,” the OSP said.
“On that reckoning, the Special Prosecutor directs the closure, at this time, of the investigation in respect of allegations of corruption and corruption-related offences involving Charles Adu Boahen contained in the investigative documentary titled Galamsey Economy published by Tiger Eye P.I.
“The investigation may be re-opened should the circumstances and further facts so dictate,”
Conclusions
Irreparable harm has been suffered by Charles Adu Boahen, simply on the back of a faulty investigation and relying on the fleeting wisdom of the mob.
Inasmuch as the Special Prosecutor makes some recommendations for updating the criminal code of Ghana, the political conversation of this country needs a similar upscaling in intellectual rigor. When issues arise, they necessitate dispassionate perusal of the facts, to ensure that the proper conclusions are reached.
Otherwise, we end up with a reputation needlessly ruined, as has happened to Adu Boahen.
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