Managing Editor of the Insight newspaper, Kwesi Pratt Jnr says he does not understand why President John Mahama is being criticised for remitting the sentence of the Montie 3 contemnors when he is not the first President to have done so.
According to him, other Heads of State have granted pardons in the past yet were hardly castigated; but “President Mahama does the same thing and he is challenged…what is it about President Mahama that brings about these things? The president has not under any circumstance supported what the Montie 3 did…the remorse being showed by the montie 3 is clear, yet President Mahama’s decision to grant remission of sentence to the montie 3 is being challenged…very strange".
Montie 3 (Mugabe, Alistair Nelson and Godwin Ako Gunn), were released from prison on Friday following the remission of their four-month sentence after they were convicted of contempt and jailed by the Supreme Court.
Several people have given their take on whether or not it was right for President Mahama and the Council of State to have taken the decision to remit their sentence.
Contributing to a panel discussion on Radio Gold, Kwesi Pratt said "I am happy the President did not exercise his power capriciously…he received the petition, considered it carefully and passed it on to the Council of State and afterwards acted on the advice of the Council of State and so there is no capriciousness in the exercise of that power".
Council of State
Other views have also condemned the Council of State for recommending that the trio be released. According to them, the Council of State is a white elephant because the President would have freed the trio if he wanted no matter their recommendation. Others also feel they are on the side of the ruling National Democratic Congress (NDC)
But Kwesi Pratt disagrees. He says the Council of State is a highly respectable body and will not go by the whims and caprices of a political party.
"I know some of the members of the council of state and I can state publicly that their integrity is above board…we should not be taking decisions of the Council of state lightly" he said.
Even though we can disagree with their decisions, “I do not think it is proper to make statements which deliberately undermine the sincerity and the credibility of persons who sit on these bodies. And that is why I feel very sad we’ve got to this level"
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