Former Attorney-General and lawyer for former National Food Buffer Stock Company (NAFCO) Chief Executive Officer Hanan Abdul-Wahab, Godfred Yeboah Dame, has rejected claims that his client attempted to access funds in a frozen bank account, insisting no valid court order existed to freeze the accounts at the time of his arrest.
Speaking on Channel One Newsroom on Sunday, July 5, Dame challenged the justification offered by the Attorney-General’s Office for Abdul-Wahab’s arrest at the Kotoka International Airport.
Deputy Attorney-General Dr. Justice Srem-Sai had earlier stated that Abdul-Wahab’s arrest was triggered by an alleged attempt to use “false means” to access funds in a frozen Republic Bank account.
However, Dame argued that the claim was legally untenable because the freezing order being referred to had long ceased to exist.
“How can one attempt to withdraw money from a frozen account? The point is that it is even incorrect to say that there is an order freezing the account because the order freezing the account was granted over a year ago under the earlier arraignment of Hanan before court, and that order lapsed when the Attorney-General withdrew all the charges and he was re-arrested,” he said.
According to Dame, when the state withdrew the earlier charges against Abdul-Wahab and later filed fresh charges, all orders connected to the previous case, including bail and account-freezing orders, automatically lapsed.
“Pursuant to his re-arrest, if you recall, he was presented before court again and there had to be a fresh bail application. In the same way, all the orders made under the earlier arrest also lapsed,” he explained.
He maintained that if the Attorney-General wanted Abdul-Wahab’s accounts frozen under the new proceedings, the proper legal step would have been to seek a fresh court order.
“If the Attorney-General desires a fresh freezing order, all they need to do is apply. Why doesn’t he want to apply for a fresh freezing order? Why is he resorting to this means of violating the rights of an accused person?” Dame questioned.
The former Attorney-General also expressed concern over what he described as an unprecedented interference with an accused person’s right to travel after obtaining judicial approval.
“I am surprised the Attorney-General will be doing that. I served in that office. Never once did I authorise the arrest of any person. Never once did I authorise the curtailment of a person’s right of movement,” he said.
Dame noted that several accused persons who were standing trial during his tenure, including Dr. Stephen Opuni, Seidu Agongo, Dr. Kwabena Duffuor, Dr. Cassiel Ato Forson and Collins Dauda, were permitted to travel abroad pursuant to court orders without interference.
“There was never an occasion I authorised any arrest at the airport, never at all. What is happening? We live in a different republic now,” he added.
He further revealed that after Abdul-Wahab’s arrest, he and the former NAFCO boss’s wife were denied access to him.
“I was not granted access to my client. They said they do not work on weekends. So I asked how they picked a person on a weekend and don’t work on weekends. I was there with Hanan’s wife. We were denied access. I don’t know what they are doing to him,” he stated.
The latest comments add to the growing dispute between Abdul-Wahab’s legal team and the Attorney-General’s Office following his arrest on July 4, despite a High Court order granting him permission to travel to the United Kingdom for a medical appointment.
Dame and his legal team have already challenged the Attorney-General’s allegations and announced plans to initiate contempt proceedings against the Attorney-General, Deputy Attorney-General and the Director of the Bureau of National Investigations (BNI), arguing that the arrest amounted to a violation of a valid court order.
