The counsel for one of the two accused men standing trial on four counts of wilfully causing financial loss to the state over the celebration of Ghana’s 50th anniversary in 2007 has hinted his client will possibly file a stay of prosecution. Mr Egbert Faibille, a member of the legal counsel for Mr Kwadwo Mpiani, said charges against his client flout “serious procedural” concerns, arguing that the prosecution should have first cleared certain substantive issues bordering on the constitutional rights of the accused before proceeding to court as stipulated under Article 280(5) of the 1992 Constitution. “Speaking as a lawyer, I just want to envisage a situation where the accused persons may invariable, once they filed the appeal, bring an action for stay of prosecution,” he cautioned. Speaking on Joy FM’s flagship programme, Newsfile, hosted by seasoned journalist Kwaku Sakyi-Addo on Saturday, Mr Faibille posited that the state should have at least respected the constitutional right of the accused persons to contest the government’s whitepaper on the report of the Commission that investigated the activities of the Ghana@50 celebrations – those accused, he said, have six months after the issuance of the report to appeal against it. The former Chief of Staff and Chairman of the National Planning Committee (NPC) of the Ghana@50 celebrations, Mr Kwadwo Mpiani, and the former Chief Executive Officer of the Ghana@50 Secretariat, Dr Charles Wereko-Brobby, were on Thursday arraigned before the Fast Track High Court, presided over by Mr Justice Samuel Marful-Sau, an Appeal Court judge sitting as an additional High Court judge for wilfully causing financial loss to the state . They pleaded not guilty to all the charges and the court admitted each of them to a GH¢35 million self-recognisance bail. Mr Egbert Faibille, who is also the Editor of the Ghanaian Observer newspaper, noted that the accused persons are being prosecuted unjustifiably for doing their work. He said, “Spending in excess of, if you like, a budget but delivery on the actual of what you are mandated to do, for me cannot connote [willfully causing financial loss].” He further posited: “This will also mean that when a public servant delivers on a mandate in strict terms but he overspent and the project is there, can you say it is a loss?” Asked about his client’s (Mr Mpianim’s) demeanour, he answered: “He is ok, he is very ok, very relax, he is very confident…I can tell you for a fact that we are relax because there is a certain conviction that we came to serve God and country, and to the best of our abilities that was done with approval, so that if somebody, for that matter the state today, thinks that, no, it was without approval and it was over expenditure, so be it.” But Kofi Adams, special aide to former President Rawlings, commenting on the issue, warned all, especially those without any legal background, to be mindful of what they say, in order not to impugn the process and facts of the case. “Nobody will attempt to embark on a criminal prosecution when he is not sure whether he or she is going to get conviction. So in the minds of the prosecution and the state they are convinced beyond reasonable doubt that they will be proven in their case that many things happened that were not approved or that were below the belt.” Mr Adams, who is also the Deputy General Secretary of the ruling NDC, said the state is only seeking accountability by asking those involved to answer certain questions, by following the due process, and discounted any act of witch-hunting. For Malik Kweku Baako Jnr., Editor-in-Chief of the New Crusading Guide, the state has “poorly handled” the case, and appealed to it to exercise restraint in prosecuting former government officials to avoid “shoddiness”. Story by Isaac Essel/Myjoyonline.com/Ghana