Renowned legal expert Tsatsu Tsikata has opened up about the events leading to his imprisonment, pointing fingers at former President John Agyekum Kufuor for orchestrating what he describes as grave injustices against him.
In a candid interview with GHOne TV, Tsikata alleged that Kufuor was resolute in his efforts to see him behind bars, employing every means to ensure his incarceration.
Despite these events, which he perceives as a violation of his fundamental human rights, Tsikata emphasized that he harbors no bitterness toward the former president. He shared that he has maintained a cordial demeanor during their encounters, choosing forgiveness over resentment.
“There is nothing to forgive. I say to people, I have never had any bitterness or grievance against President Kufuor. He did atrocious things against me for whatever reason. He was determined to have me go to prison, and I did go to prison.
“It was orchestrated by him on June 18, 2008. I was in prison for five months, but by God’s grace, I didn’t die in prison. I was evacuated to the hospital, and by God’s grace, I’m still alive,” he added.
Tsatsu Tsikata also opened up on why he rejected a presidential pardon from Kufuor, stating that the former president acted in bad faith.
“On his last day in office, he offered me a pardon, but I rejected it because it was in bad faith. It was clearly in bad faith. He had orchestrated everything. The day I was being sentenced, the court had not even announced it was going to give a decision because the trial hadn’t ended. It had been set up for me to go to jail, and I went,” he stated.
Sharing his lessons from the ordeal, Tsatsu Tsikata stated that the five months at the Nsawam Medium Security Prison exposed him to the horrible incidents and injustices of Ghana’s criminal system.
According to him, while there, he crossed paths with people who had been on remand for more than a decade with their cases not heard.
The legal luminary stated, “I actually thank God for that experience. I tell people that going to Nsawam Prison took me to another faculty of law. I engaged with many who were in prison, and I realised that there were people suffering injustices who did not have the kind of recourse that I had.
“I had the opportunity of a lawyer who gave it all to protect my rights. A lot of those people didn’t have that. I saw people who were in prison for 12 years, and nobody has gone to court on their behalf,” he said.
Tsatsu acquitted and discharged by Court of Appeal
After eight years of legal battle, Tsatsu Tsikata was cleared of the charges, and the conviction was reversed unanimously by the Court of Appeal, which acquitted and discharged him.
Justice Dennis Adjei said there was a miscarriage of justice when an Accra Fast Track High Court on June 18, 2008, found him guilty on three counts of willfully causing financial loss of GH¢230,000 to the state and another count of misapplying public property.
In a 2021 interview with KSM, he said of the saga: “I think I said it nicely. I wrote him a letter on my hospital bed, and I said I will not accept his pardon, and I wouldn’t accept it.
“By then, I already had an appeal pending against the decision that had been taken. I wanted to be vindicated, not pardoned. When you are pardoned, it means that your conviction still stands, but the penalty has been wiped away.”
Expressing delight at the overturned verdict, Tsikata quoted Psalm 94:15: “Justice will again be found in the courts, and all righteous people will support it,” and emphasised that, indeed “justice has been found in the courts.”