Kwadwo Owusu Afriyie aka Sir John
AN ACCRA High Court has dismissed an application filed by the Special Prosecutor to indefinitely freeze the will of former Chief Executive Officer of Forestry Commission, the late Kwadwo Owusu Afriyie, popularly known as Sir John.
The Special Prosecutor had initiated corruption related investigations into the late NPP stalwart’s acquisition of state lands at the Achimota Forest enclave, as well as the Sakumono Ramsar site, which were contained in his will and passed on to his relatives.
The Office, as part of its investigations on May 30, 2022, directed the freezing of the estate of Sir John and subsequently filed an application before an Accra High Court on June 9, 2022, for confirmation of the freezing order.
The court, presided over by Justice Afia Serwaa Asare-Botwe, however, dismissed the application yesterday, saying it did not find merit in it.
The Office of the Special Prosecutor has expressed its dissatisfaction with the court’s decision and has subsequently taken steps to file an appeal against the decision at the Court of Appeal.
A statement signed by the Special Prosecutor, Kissi Agyebeng, indicated that the judge inexplicably dismissed the application because she misapprehended the order which sought to freeze the assets of the one-time General Secretary of the NPP.
“The judge, with respect, totally misapprehended the application for confirmation of the freezing order and misdirected herself by characterising the application as that of a confiscation order, which regimes are governed by different considerations,” the statement said.
It continued that the regime for an application for confirmation of a freezing order is designed to facilitate an investigation or a prosecution to avoid dissipation of the property in question, while a confiscation order is designed to permanently deprive the owner of the property.
“The Special Prosecutor asked for the freezing order to be confirmed to facilitate the investigation into the circumstances of the purported acquisition by the deceased of protected lands in the Achimota Forest enclave and the Sakumono Ramsar site. The Special Prosecutor did not apply for confiscation of the estate of the deceased,” it noted.
The statement added that “the net effect of the ruling of the High Court is that a person may, in his lifetime, gleefully acquire property through corruption and then upon his demise happily pass on the corruptly acquired property to his beneficiaries for their benefit and by so doing, extinguish all scrutiny as to the propriety or otherwise of the acquisition of the property because his corrupt activities were not discovered during his lifetime. If this decision is left to stand, the Republic will lose the fight against corruption in unimaginable ways. The investigations into the estate of Kwadwo Owusu Afriyie alias Sir John will still proceed.”
The Special Prosecutor initiated investigations into Sir John’s estate following public outcry about the number of assets acquired by him, which were contained in a leaked document believed to be his Last Will and Testament.
Sir John became the CEO of the Forestry Commission from March 2017 until his demise on July 1, 2020, and within that period was able to amass a very considerable amount of wealth and properties which has set tongues wagging.
His Last Will and Testament discloses that he owned about 11 different expensive buildings in ‘Category A’ communities in Accra, with as many as six of such buildings located in or near East Legon, a first class residential area in Accra.
Sir John’s Last Will and Testament became a topic for discussion for weeks, and of particular interest to many Ghanaians is the alleged acquisition of several acres of state lands situated within the Achimota Forest and at Ramsar sites in Sakumono in the Greater Accra Region, all under the Forestry Commission.
The concerns raised by many Ghanaians relate to the propriety of the former Forestry Commission boss acquiring a state land on the Achimota reserved area and a Ramsar site, an internationally recognised site, due to its value and importance.
BY Gibril Abdul Razak