Commonwealth Council appeals for clemency for Ato Essien

 The Head of Missions at the Commonwealth Enterprise and Invest­ment Council and Board Member of the Commonwealth Human Rights Office for Africa, Dr John Apea, has appealed to the gov­ernment to grant clemency for William Ato Essien, the founder of the defunct Capital Bank, who is currently serving a 15-year prison sentence.

He said the President, Mr John Dramani Mahama, should intervene as Mr Ato Essien is facing health challenges and should be released to receive bet­ter medical care, as he is currently in a wheelchair at the Nsawam prisons.

Addressing the press on Friday in Accra, Dr Apea announced that a formal peti­tion would be submitted to the President, requesting a thorough review of Ato Essien’s case, highlighting concerns regarding his human rights.

He indicated that the Com­monwealth Human Rights Office for Africa would, from next month, petition some state institutions, including the Office of the Attorney-General and Minister of Justice, Dr Dominic Akuritinga Ayi, to reconsider freeing Mr Essien.

Again, he pointed out that there are several inmates current­ly serving their convictions who the state should consider for a presidential pardon, as they are not getting the necessary medical care due to the inadequate logis­tics and resources of the Ghana Prisons Service.

Dr Apea stated that the Com­monwealth Human Rights Office for Africa would do everything in its power to ensure that Mr Essien received the necessary medical care in order to en­sure his human rights were not infringed.

Furthermore, he noted that the Commonwealth Human Rights Office would be coming up with an online platform where inmates who are facing health issues and feel their human rights had been violated could send their petition to be looked at, stressing that families of inmates could fill out these petitions on behalf of inmates.

On October 12, 2023, Mr Ato Essien was sentenced to 15 years in prison by an Accra High Court.

Mr Essien was convicted of stealing over GH¢90 million of Bank of Ghana’s liquidity sup­port to the now-defunct financial institution.

This comes after his inability to fully pay the said amount back to the State after agreeing to do so despite being afforded the opportunity.

He earlier paid GH¢30 million upfront in December 2022 and was required to pay GH¢20 million as the first instalment of the GH¢60 million outstanding amount by April 28, 2023.

But he was only able to pay GH¢5 million. In May, the found­er was given until July 4 to liqui­date his assets and pay the state GH¢$55 million. This deadline elapsed without any payments made.

 BY BERNARD BENGHAN

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