The member of parliament for the Damongo Constituency Lawyer Samuel Abu Jinapor has facilitated the release and pardon of Alhaji Salifu Mimina Osman who was sentenced to a five-year jail term in 2020 for willfully causing financial loss to the state in what has become known as the National Communications Authority (NCA) scandal.
President Nana Akufo-Addo in consultation with the Council of State granted a presidential pardon to Chief Alhaji Salifu Mimina Osman, a former Deputy National Security Coordinator under the presidency of John Mahama.
It follows a petition he received from the Chief of the Kpembe Traditional Area and facilitated by the Damongo Constituency Member of Parliament requesting that Alhaji Osman be freed from prison custody on the grounds of good behaviour and ill health.
In a letter dated August 1, 2023, and signed by the Secretary to President Nana Bediatuo Asante, the President charged the Minister of the Interior to take the necessary steps to immediately give effect to the presidential pardon.
The letter from President Akufo-Addo said: “…in consultation with the Council of State, the President has exercised the prerogative of mercy in favour of Alhaji Salifu Mimina Osman, and has granted him a pardon, in accordance with Article 72(1) (a) of the Constitution. Kindly take the necessary steps to give effect to the presidential pardon immediately. By a copy of this letter, the Director General of the Prison Service is being notified formally of the President’s decision.”
On May 11, 2020, three former board members of the National Communications Authority (NCA) were sentenced to 16 years imprisonment with hard labour by an Accra High Court for misapplying funds in the purchase of controversial surveillance equipment for the National Security Council Secretariat.
Eugene Baffoe-Bonnie, a former Board Chairman; William Mathew Tetteh-Tevie, a former Director General; and Alhaji Salifu Osman Mimina, a former Deputy National Security Coordinator on the NCA Board were found guilty of 14 different charges, including causing financial loss to the state and contravention of the Public Procurement Act, by the court presided over by Justice Eric Kyei Baffour, a Court of Appeal judge sitting as a High Court judge.
The court also ordered the seizure of the properties of the convicts to defray the three million dollars financial loss caused to the state.
In an announcement from the Ministry of the Interior, it has been confirmed that H.E. the President of Ghana has granted a presidential pardon to Alhaji Salifu Mimina Osman.
The decision was made in accordance with Article 72 (1) (a) of the Constitution and after consulting with the Council of State.
The letter, dated 1st August 2023, received from the Office of the President, cited grounds of ill health, compassion, and good behaviour as the basis for the pardon.
Alhaji Salifu Mimina Osman, who was in lawful custody, will now be released immediately.
The news of the presidential pardon has been met with mixed reactions, with many people praising the Damongo MP and the President’s gesture of mercy.
Meanwhile, the Ministry of the Interior has directed the Ghana Prisons Service to take the necessary action to implement the presidential pardon without delay.
Updates on the situation will be closely monitored as the story unfolds
