Private legal practitioner Martin Kpebu has described the fines imposed on four people convicted in the National Development Authority (NDA) case as overly lenient, arguing that they should have received prison sentences of at least six months.
The Tamale High Court fined former NDA Chief Executive Officer Sumaila Abdul-Rahman, his two former deputies and a private contractor 1,000 penalty units on the counts for which they were convicted.
Although Kpebu considers the convictions a step forward in Ghana’s fight against corruption, he is dissatisfied with the decision to impose fines instead of custodial sentences.
“I would have wished that at least they were given six months or a year imprisonment. Yes, six months or a year imprisonment at least. Then they would feel it a bit more,” he said in an interview on TV3.
He described the punishment as a “slap on the wrist”, adding that it was “very, very lenient” and “overly lenient”.
Kpebu explained that a fine was still a sentence under the law, even though it did not involve imprisonment.
He estimated that each convict would have to pay about GH¢12,000 under the penalty-unit calculation, but maintained that the punishment did not go far enough.
Despite his reservations about the sentences, Kpebu said the convictions themselves were important because they could serve as a warning to others who might engage in similar conduct.
