The Office of the Special Prosecutor has lost the case it brought against former Municipal Chief Executive for Juaben Alexander Kwabena Sarfo-Kantanka. The High Court in Kumasi has acquitted and discharged the President Akufo-Addo’s nominee for Juaben Municipal Chief Executive in the Ashanti Region.
The OSP slapped 26 counts of corruption in relation to a public election since May 2022 on Mr. Sarfo-Kantanka after he was seen in a viral video demanding the return of his money from assembly members following his failure to secure confirmation.
In the said viral video the MCE nominee is heard allegedly demanding the return of monies he reportedly paid to assembly members to secure confirmation of his nomination.
The OSP thus took the matter up resulting in the 26 charges brought against the disappointed MCE.
In November 2014, Justice Priscilla Dikro Ofori, a judge presiding over the criminal trial was transferred just when she was due to deliver judgment. The decision to transfer the Judge raised eyebrows with some analysts questioning the motive of the then Chief Justice Gertrude Torkornoo. The criticism drew out the Judicial Service to publicly defend the new suspended Chief Justice.
The Judge has however returned to deliver her judgment. In her judgement, Justice Priscilla Dikro Ofori held that the video did not establish that the monies were intended to influence the votes of the assembly members.
