A former state attorney says the Attorney General and political heads must be held responsible for the serial defeats the state has suffered in high profile cases. Augustine Obour who is now in private practice told Joy News unnecessary interference by the political heads has led to this debacle. The state has lost close to 15 high profile cases, with the performance of some of the state attorneys said to be nothing more than comical. In some of the cases the judges have had to direct the prosecution as to which charges it ought to have filed against the defence. The competence of the state attorneys has in recent times been called into question, with some government spokespersons charging them to be up and doing or go into private practice. But the attorneys say some of the criticisms against them have been unfair. They have blamed the poor performances on the poor facilities and poor remuneration. But Augustine Obour said there is more to the serial defeats than just poor facilities and remuneration. “If state attorneys are not doing well it is not because of poor conditions of service at the department. It is due to interference or it is due to the Attorney General not allowing state attorneys or prosecutors to be independent to do the job they have to do. “Sometimes you don’t think like taking a case to court but the political head will ask you to go to court. You have no choice because he is the boss. Sometimes before you even go to court you know you are going to lose. This has nothing to do with conditions of service. He conceded however that the conditions at the AG’s department are not attractive enough to retain competent lawyers. The Bar Association Secretary Tony Forson said arguments about poor facilities are untenable. He said even in private practice he is able to resource himself for cases and win urging the government to resource the department as best as it possibly can. Forson said the GBA has put in place some measures to ensure that lawyers everywhere be they in public or private practice are adequately resourced.