Bright Simons, a policy analyst and Vice President of IMANI Centre for Policy and Education, has thrown his support behind the Attorney General’s decision to publicly explain the rationale behind ongoing high-profile prosecutions.
According to Simons, the Attorney General has not only the right but also a responsibility to keep the public informed about legal actions undertaken in its name.
In a post on X (formerly Twitter), Bright Simons described the Attorney General as a legal agent hired by the state to serve the interests of the public. “The Attorney General of Ghana is a lawyer hired to take people who cause harm to the public to court and convince judges that such people deserve to be punished,” he wrote.
His comments come in response to criticism surrounding recent press briefings by the Attorney General, Dr. Dominic Ayine, who has publicly shared details and justifications for several corruption-related prosecutions, including a widely discussed case involving over GH¢560 million in losses at the National Service Authority (NSA).
While some legal commentators and political observers have argued that the Attorney General’s disclosures risk prejudicing cases or politicizing the judicial process, Simons disagreed.
He argued that open communication helps build trust and reinforces democratic accountability.
“The idea that everything should be confined to the courtroom, an adversarial forum, is ridiculous. The proceedings in the courtroom are not always lucid to lay people,” Simons noted.
He said it is not only appropriate, but crucial, for the Attorney General to engage the public ahead of court proceedings, particularly in a political system where such powers are held by an appointee of the ruling government.
Bright Simons emphasized that transparency does not undermine legal processes but rather enhances them by reassuring the public that prosecutorial decisions are grounded in legal merit rather than political motivations.
“This is even more essential in a country where prosecutions are led by a politician, and there are always worries that he will abuse such powers for political reasons,” he added.
Going further, Simons said public resistance to the AG’s transparency efforts may be rooted in a culture of weak civic engagement and passive citizenship. “Such anxieties can only occur in a society where people have become used to being passive citizens. Where people don’t understand accountability. Where citizens don’t know that they have a right to know what is being done in their name by their political agents,” he said.
In addition, his remarks come at a time of heightened public interest in the government’s anti-corruption drive. The Attorney General recently disclosed that over GH¢548 million was lost through a criminal scheme involving ghost names on the NSA payroll during the 2022/2023 and 2023/2024 service years. Investigations under the government’s “Operation Recover All Loot” (ORAL) initiative are still underway.
