Former Attorney-General Martin Amidu has accused successive governments of using law enforcement and the courts to weaken political opponents instead of focusing on justice and accountability.
He says the treatment of former Finance Minister Ken Ofori-Atta is part of a wider political pattern that has continued under different administrations.
In an open letter titled “The Continued Political Witch-Hunt Against Ken Ofori-Atta in the Media Is Nauseating”, Amidu said governments often try to shape public opinion before court cases are concluded.
“The Government came into office targeting Ken Ofori-Atta for political persecution in the court of public opinion to set the tone for the criminalization of the entire New Patriotic Party (NPP) government of former President Nana Akufo-Addo as part of its short game towards the 7 December 2028 elections,” he stated.
He said this practice is not new and has been used by different governments over the years.
“The government was copying again from the playbook of the Kufuor, Mills/Mahama, and Akufo-Addo governments’ modus operandi against predecessor governments,” he wrote.
Amidu argued that investigations should focus on individuals and evidence, not broad accusations against entire governments or political groups.
“The use of the dragnet fishing approach of criminalizing all previous political public office holders until they each can exonerate themselves of having committed any potential crimes while in office constitutes an abuse of constitutional power,” he stated.
He added that this cycle repeats whenever there is a change of government and weakens trust in anti-corruption efforts.
“One cannot escape the preponderance of cogent and credible evidence pointing to the unavoidable conclusion that the modus operandi of each succeeding government since 7 January 2001 has been to weaponize the law enforcement and criminal justice system as a political tool for demonizing its adversaries as criminals for the purpose of the next elections,” he stated.
He said justice should be based on evidence and not political narratives.
