It appears that remand/refusal of bail, which is specifically prohibited by law from being used as a form of punishment, is being employed arbitrarily in Ghana.
Of course, people who have committed crimes must be punished, but an accused is not the same as a guilty person.
There is always a presumption in favor of granting bail, which is something that courts all around the globe, including Ghana, follow.
Refusing bail and holding Shatta Wale and Medikal in custody for “small” legal breaches, misdemeanors, only to release them bail a few days later looks to lack any sense of justice, instead punishing the accused for something they haven’t been convicted of.
If the IGP wants to be considered as a man of genuine justice or law and order, he should stay out of what seems to be “illegal” legal maneuverings by the Ghanaian police and subordinate courts.
No one should be delighted about this since it may be you who is being punished unfairly because of a little transgression.
You file a bail application, it is denied, and you are remanded for a week or so—then you re-file the same application with a higher court, with the same or similar reasoning, and you are granted bail—this appears to be the typical pattern.
In Ghana, the police always argue that the matter is under investigation and that more time is needed, so the suspect should be held in remand—but why do you arrest someone when you haven’t finished or are close to finishing your investigation, but plan to hold him for weeks while the investigation is ongoing?
Outside the prison walls, there are a plethora of techniques to keep a suspect under control.
Curfews, mobility limitations, and other measures can be employed to regulate a suspect’s behavior as long as he or she is not a flight danger.
What if your investigations turn up nothing to justify prosecuting or convicting this person after weeks of detention? You would have just infringed on the person’s freedom/rights for no reason at all, when you might have prevented it.
Our democracy is still in its infancy, and those responsible with enforcing law and order are not calling for lawlessness and disorder.
Legally, the remand was unnecessary because it appears to be part of a never-ending cycle of bail penalties.
Source|osimpamfm.com|Richard Owusu Tawiah
