Tuesday, July 22, 2008

Removal of my name not child’s play -Aggrey

July 21, 2008 (Page 55)

MR Richmond Aggrey, a businessman who has sued Scancom Ghana Limited, operators of MTN, over a shareholding dispute on Monday, July 14, 2008 stated that the removal of his name from the shareholding structure of the company was not “child’s play”.
He told the Commercial Court hearing the case that several incidents took place, including threats from former President J. J. Rawlings, prior to the illegal takeover of his 20 per cent shares in 1999.
The businessman has joined Investment Consortium Holdings, SA (Investcom), the majority shareholders of MTN, and Grandview Management to the suit over unlawful takeover of his 20 per cent shares in Scancom Ghana Limited.
Answering questions under cross-examination from counsel for Investcom, Mr Felix Ntrakwah, the plaintiff stated that he might have missed the date on which former President Rawlings openly threatened him on national television but the events leading to his losing his shares were what mattered.
Mr Ntrakwah had suggested to him that he (Mr Aggrey) had strategically lied to the court on the date on which he said former President Rawlings had made threatening remarks during the Emancipation Day celebration.
Mr Aggrey had earlier stated that he recorded former President Rawlings’s attack on his personality when President Rawlings had accused him of ripping Nigerians off their money and returning home to Ghana with the same intention, saying those threats and others resulted in him transferring his shares to his cousin, Mr Chris Wilmot, in order to save the company from collapse.
The plaintiff had said former President Rawlings made those remarks in front of members of the Diplomatic Corps, chiefs, Africans and African-Americans in the Diaspora, foreign dignitaries and members of the public on state television on Emancipation Day in the first week of August 1999.
However, it emerged through a Daily Graphic publication dated August 1, 1998 that the event took place from July 25 to August 2, 1998 and not in the first week of August 1999.
Rebutting claims by Mr Ntrakwah that he had come to the court to tell lies, Mr Aggrey said he was happy the actual time of the event had been provided because the then Minister of Tourism had informed him that the event took place in 1999 when he (Mr Aggrey) had enquired for the date.
The following transpired between Mr Ntrakwah and Mr Aggrey:
Mr Ntrakwah: You are strategically lying to this court.
Mr Aggrey: I do not understand what you mean unless you are telling me my name was not mentioned in that recording.
Mr Ntrakwah: You have done this to deceive this honourable court. You have woven a story around a 1998 event in order to deceive this court.
Mr Aggrey: I do not agree. Several events, including phone calls, board meetings, etc eventually made me transfer my shares. The time line is another matter.
According to Mr Aggrey, the events leading to his transfer of shares happened 12 years ago and it was, therefore, not strange for him to have missed dates.
He said what was important were the issues at stake and the fact that his shares had been taken away illegally, noting that in any case the threats from the former President and other related matters took place before 1999 when he transferred his shares in the interest of the company.
He, nevertheless, apologised to the court for mixing up the date of the Emancipation Day celebration.
Hearing continues on Thursday, July 24, 2008.
Mr Aggrey began giving evidence on April 28, 2008, following the non-attainment of a settlement between him and the three defendants at a pre-trial conference under commercial court rules, resulting in the matter being referred for trial.
The plaintiff sued Investcom, the majority shareholder in Scancom, and Grandview when Scancom decided to engage in a merger deal with MTN Incorporated of South Africa.
The deal has, however, been concluded, following the transfer of all shares in Scancom to MTN.
That was after a High Court order on July 14, 2006 which restrained Scancom and other respondents from "continuing, progressing and or concluding the merger with and/or acquisition of Investment Consortium Holdings by MTN, without taking into account and/or providing for the plaintiff's 20 per cent shares in Scancom Limited".
The closure of the acquisition, according to Mr Aggrey, would occasion the loss of his shareholding in the company by reason of the accrual of the rights of the MTN Group as a third party.
Mr Aggrey's contention was that his name had been removed from the shareholders list of Scancom without any explanation, adding that the particulars of the directors and shareholders of Scancom obtained from the Registrar General's Department, dated June 2, 2006, and signed by Mr K.A. Ohene-Obeng, a Chief State Attorney, for the Registrar of Companies, showed that Mr Aggrey's name was not included in the shareholders list.
It said the onus was on the company to explain how Mr Aggrey ceased to be a shareholder.

Case against AMA boss dismissed

July 15, 2008 (Page 3 Lead)

THE Accra Fast Track High Court yesterday dismissed an application for contempt filed against the Chief Executive of the Accra Metropolitan (AMA), Mr Stanley Adjiri-Blankson, by an Accra-based businessman.
The AMA boss was dragged to the court by Mr Labib C. Seraphim, who was praying the court to imprison the AMA boss for contempt for failing to evict hawkers from the Knustford Avenue in the Central Business District.
Mr Seraphim had also implored the court to impose a heavy fine on the AMA as an entity for refusing to carry out the judgement of the court, two years after it had been ordered to evict hawkers on the Knutsford Avenue.
The High Court, on April 10, 2006, ordered the defendants to evict hawkers on the Knutsford Avenue because their occupation was unlawful and hampered the business activities of Mr Seraphim and other shop owners.
It further restrained the assembly from converting the Knutsford Avenue into a market for hawkers.
Dismissing the application after listening to arguments from counsel for the plaintiff, Mr Godfred Yeboah Dame, and counsel for the AMA, Ms Selina Fenteng, in Accra yesterday, the court held that the AMA had ejected the hawkers as directed by the court.
Mr Dame had argued that the AMA had flouted the court’s orders by refusing to evict the hawkers but Ms Fenteng insisted that the AMA had carried out the order as directed by the court in 2006 and for that matter it could not be held liable if the hawkers had returned.
The court upheld the AMA’s submission and ruled that it could not be held liable if the hawkers had returned to the Knutsford Avenue.
It also ruled that there was no perpetual injunction on the AMA.
Mr Adjiri-Blankson walked out of the courtroom a free man after the court’s ruling.
However, counsel for the plaintiff, Mr Dame, said he would apply for a judicial review of the court’s decision because it misconstrued the judgement of April 10, 2006.
He said there was a perpetual injunction prohibiting the AMA from converting the avenue into a market for hawkers.
According to him, the AMA was enjoined to ensure that the hawkers did not return to the Knutsford Avenue.
In his application, Mr Seraphim claimed that the AMA had flouted the court’s orders by refusing to evict the hawkers, adding that they continued to exercise absolute dominion over the Knutsford Avenue, with the active connivance and complicity of the respondents.
“The respondents’ wilful violation of the orders of this court, contained in its judgement, is infringing on the constitutionally guaranteed property rights of myself and other property owners on the Knutsford Avenue,” Mr Seraphim averred.
According to him, the situation was gravely hampering his lawful business activities and those of other property owners.
He further averred that in spite of the court’s clear order for the provision of vehicular accessibility for him and other property owners, there were still in place certain pillars erected by the AMA which should have been removed as part of the process of executing the court order.

Five jailed 148 years for robbery

July 14, 2008 (Page 43)

THE Accra Fast Track High Court yesterday sentenced five persons to a total of 148 years imprisonment with hard labour after it found them guilty of conspiracy and robbery charges.
The convicts robbed their victim at gunpoint at Lashibi, a suburb of Accra, on May 5, 2002 and made away with cash and items valued at GH¢9,200.
Four of the convicts, namely, Isaac Thompson, alias Papa, 38; Wisdom Kworshie Akpeke, 24; Kwame Akuffu, 30, and Dela Anyigba, 28, were each sentenced to a term of 30 years imprisonment with hard labour.
They had pleaded not guilty to two counts of conspiracy and robbery but they were found guilty by the court after the prosecution had led evidence to prove their guilt.
The fifth accused person, Tetteh Dekpey, 29, was sentenced to 18 years imprisonment on the grounds that he had pleaded guilty to the charges of conspiracy and robbery from the onset of the trial.
Each of the accused persons is expected to serve his sentence from the day of arrest.
A sixth accused person, Alfred Adjei, has been on the run since 2002.
The trial judge, Mr Justice E. K. Ayebi, said the prosecution had succeeded in proving a prima facie case against the convicts.
He said robbery, which was on the ascendancy, had now become a daily occurrence and for that matter it was important that the convicts be given a deterrent sentence.
The brief facts, as presented by a State Attorney, Mr Augustines Obour, were that the convicts attacked their victim around 1.30 a.m. on May 5, 2002.
The convicts, upon entering the victim’s house, led one of the residents of the house at gunpoint to the victim’s room and took away GH¢3,500, one counting machine, jewellery, a video deck, a Sony sound system and other items.
On May 8, 2002, Dekpey was arrested and he in turn led the police to arrest the other accomplices at their hideouts.

Supreme Court to hear appeal against EC

June 28, 2008 (Page 31)

THE Supreme Court will on July 15, 2008 hear an appeal filed by the Electoral Commission (EC) which is seeking interpretation into a case brought against it by three members of the National Democratic Congress (NDC) on the publication of the 2004 presidential results.
The court, presided over by Ms Justice Sophia Akuffo, fixed the date after directing parties in the matter to serve the Attorney-General in order for him to respond appropriately to issues raised.
Other panel members are Mr Justice S. A. Brobbey, Dr Justice Date Bah, Mr Justice Julius Ansah and Mrs Sophia Adinyira.
The plaintiffs, Mr Rojo Mettle-Nunoo, Squadron Leader Clend Sowu (retd) and Mr Kofi Portuphy, all members of the NDC, have sued the EC at the Fast Track High Court in Accra claiming that the commission was bound by law to publish the full and complete results of the December 7, 2004 presidential election.
They claim that the EC failed to gazette the 2004 presidential election as required by the law.
However, the EC stated that the Fast Track High Court had no jurisdiction to hear the matter and accordingly decided to take the matter to the Supreme Court for interpretation.
Consequently, the Supreme Court in 2006 ordered the Fast Track High Court to refer the matter to it for interpretation.
The Supreme Court’s order followed the decision of the trial judge at the Fast Track High Court to take evidence, look at disputed facts, re-look at the constitutional provisions being sought and then take a decision before referring the matter to the Supreme Court for hearing.
The Accra Fast Track High Court had since adjourned the case sine die, pending the outcome of the appeal at the Supreme Court.
The EC is seeking interpretation into the matter which resulted in the Supreme Court ordering the trial judge to refer the matter to it for interpretation.
The court, accordingly, reminded the defendant that it had the right to appeal if, at the end of the day, the court refused to make the referral being sought for.
It further reminded the defendant that it had the right to appeal against the court’s decision not to stay proceedings pending the outcome of the appeal.
The court, on December 14, 2005, ordered the EC not to destroy any electoral material relating to the December 7, 2004 presidential election until the final determination of a suit brought against it by the three members of the NDC.
The court order followed a motion on notice for interlocutory injunction filed on behalf of the plaintiffs.
In a statement of claim accompanying the writ, the plaintiffs prayed the court to declare as illegal the refusal or neglect of the EC to publish the results.
The plaintiffs further urged the court to give an order “compelling the defendant to publish the full and complete results of the presidential election of December 7, 2004 in the Ghana Gazette or by any method permitted by law”.
The three further prayed the court to compel the EC to furnish them with the details of the total number of registered voters, total number of voters and total number of valid votes counted from the 21,005 polling stations, as well as the distribution of the valid votes cast among all the presidential candidates, the total number of rejected ballots, the percentage of valid votes for each presidential candidate, the voter turn out, among other reliefs.
According to the plaintiffs, they would contend that the failure of the defendant to publish the full and complete results of the presidential election of December 7, 2004, together with the details of the results, was an infringement on the provisions of Article 45 of the 1992 Constitution and Section Two of Act 451 which imposed on the EC the duty of the conduct and supervision of all public elections and referenda in the country.
They contended that the EC had also infringed on the electoral laws of the country by failing to publish the results in detail.
The EC, on the other hand, stated that the two press conferences which declared the winner of the presidential election were based on the fact that more than 50 per cent of the total number of valid votes had been cast in favour of His Excellency John Agyekum Kufuor, adding, “And regarding the total votes in the remaining constituencies , even if all were cast in favour of the second-placed candidate, Professor J. E. A. Mills, there would have been no change in the result.”
The EC contended that it had performed its constitutional duty by publishing the Declaration of President-elect Instrument, 2004.
A statement of defence filed on behalf of the defendant by Lynes Quashie-Idun and Company, legal practitioners, described as misconceived the plaintiffs’ declaration that the EC had failed to perform its constitutional duty, adding that “the defendant contends that upon a true and proper interpretation of Article 64 (10) of the 1992 Constitution, any citizen who was aggrieved by, or dissatisfied with, the declaration contained in the Declaration of President-Elect Instrument, 2004 had 21 days within which to present a petition to the Supreme Court in challenge of the said declaration”.






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Thursday, July 10, 2008

Justice Asante to hear Nana Konadu’s case

July 10, 2008 (Page 55)

A new judge has been assigned to hear the case in which Nana Konadu Agyeman Rawlings and four others are standing trial at the Accra Fast Track High Court for allegedly causing financial loss to the state.
The judge, Mr Justice Edward Asante, took over from Mr Justice K. Acquaye, who has been promoted to the Court of Appeal.
At the court’s sitting in Accra yesterday, Mr Justice Asante informed the prosecution and the defence that yesterday was his first time on the case and for that matter he needed time to study the docket before trial could commence.
The matter was, accordingly, adjourned to Friday, July 18, 2008.
Nana Konadu is standing trial with Sherry Ayittey, the Managing Director of the Caridem Development Company Limited (CDCL), the CDCL as an entity, Emmanuel Amuzu Agbodo, a former Executive Secretary of the Divestiture Implementation Committee (DIC), Thomas Benson Owusu, a former accountant of the DIC, and Kwame Peprah, a former Minister of Finance and former Chairman of the DIC.
All the accused persons, except Owusu, were present in court yesterday.
They are facing various charges of conspiracy, causing financial loss to public property, conspiracy to obtain public property by false statement, obtaining public property by false statement and altering forged document.
They have denied the offences and have been admitted to self-recognisance bail.
The accused persons were alleged to have caused losses to public property in 1995 running into billions of cedis following the divestiture of the GIHOC Cannery at Nsawam, a government cannery acquired by CDCL, which is owned by the 31st December Women’s Movement (DWM).
Nana Konadu, Sherry and CDCL as an entity filed an application for permanent stay of proceedings because the subject matter for which they were standing trial was being contested in another court in a civil suit brought against the DIC and the Attorney-General by CDCL over the take-over of GIHOC.
However, on December 18, 2007, the court dismissed the application for stay of proceedings filed by the defendants to enable them to pursue the civil aspect of the matter.
According to the court, where there were both civil and criminal proceedings pending over an issue, the criminal action outweighed the civil one and, therefore, refused the application.
Counsel for Nana Konadu, Mr Tony Lithur, prayed the court on November 15, 2007 to stay proceedings in the matter because of a civil suit between CDCL and the Attorney-General over the ownership of the company, which was pending at the High Court, or, in the interim, dismiss the case.
He argued that the criminal proceedings brought against his clients amounted to an abuse of power by the Attorney-General.
Mr Lithur said the court had power to question the activities of the Executive, of which the Attorney-General was part, and if that was not done, it would place the Attorney-General above the Constitution of the land.
The court ruled that the civil suit and the instant case were not related, neither did they merge, because the latter involved a declaration of ownership and abrogation of contract, while the ingredients required to prove them were different.
It said although it was not for counsel to speculate the probable findings, the court was bound to protect itself from abuse.
Regarding an assertion by counsel that the Attorney-General, as a public officer and member of the Executive, was exercising arbitrary power to abuse the court process, the court ruled that the Constitution mandated the Attorney-General, as a duty, to initiate and conduct all criminal proceedings in the country.
The court admitted that while the A-G was bound to do that, he must not be arbitrary or capricious and stated that the trial in both cases had not commenced.
It said although the arguments put up by the counsel were ingenuous, they did not impress the court because once and until it was progressing, the Attorney-General was entitled to substitute the charges and those rights of the A-G could not be taken away from him.
Counsel had argued that the residual power of the Supreme Court was superior to any legislation and for that reason if the court did not accept what the Attorney-General was doing, then it meant the Executive could not be checked.
The Attorney-General, Mr Joe Ghartey, had described the application as unmeritorious because it was totally unknown in criminal law and the Constitution.
He said the institution of criminal action against the five was based on the Auditor-General's report on the malfeasance they committed in the acquisition of the GIHOC/Nsawam Cannery.

Wednesday, July 9, 2008

Accused forged CEO’s signature -Investigator

JULY 9, 2008 (Page 31)

THE investigator in the GH¢33,850 theft case involving three former workers of Yasarko Printing Press Limited, a printing firm in Accra, has informed the Circuit Court in Accra that one of the accused persons admitted forging the signature of the company's chief executive to steal money from the company's accounts.
Detective Corporal Eric Ofori said the accused person, Hanson Lawrence Agyare-Sefah, admitted in his caution statement that he (Agyare-Sefah) sneaked into the office of the Director of the company, Mr Yaw Sarkodie, to steal an unspecified number of leaflets from the Standard Chartered Bank cheque books.
D/Cpl Ofori, who is stationed at the Korle Bu Police Station, said Lawrence admitted in his caution statement that he used part of the stolen money to purchase two Nissan Urvan buses.
He said the vehicles had been retrieved and accordingly tendered the documents covering them in evidence as exhibits.
The investigator was giving his evidence-in-chief in the case in which Agyare-Sefah, a former security officer of the Yasarko Printing Press Limited, and Joseph Oppong and Christian Aban, both former drivers of the company, were alleged to have acted together to steal GH¢33,850 belonging to the company.
Agyare-Sefah faces 34 counts of conspiracy and stealing while Oppong and Aban are each charged with one count of abetment of crime.
They have all pleaded not guilty and have since been granted bail.
Continuing with his testimony, the investigator informed the court that Agyare-Sefah wrote three caution statements on August 17, 19 and 27, 2006 respectively, in the presence of an independent witness.
Agyare-Sefah, whose counsel was absent, admitted in open court that he wrote down the caution statement himself.
The statements were tendered in evidence as exhibits.
According to the investigator, Agyare-Sefah led him to the bank to retrieve a total of GH¢3,100. He also tendered the money in evidence after Agyare-Sefah had admitted in open court that he (Agyare-Sefah) led the investigator to retrieve the money from his bank accounts.
D/Cpl Ofori told the court that Oppong and Aban denied any wrongdoing in their caution statements.
The investigator told the court that he took the accused persons to the Dansoman branch of the Standard Chartered Bank where a video clip showed the accused person receiving moneys on different dates and times for 15 times reflecting on the stolen cheques.
He said he also saw Oppong and Aban withdrawing GH¢2,000 and GH¢900 respectively on different dates and times reflecting on the stolen cheques.
D/Cpl Ofori said he took specimen handwritings of the director of the company, as well as that of Agyare-Sefah and Aban, and forwarded them to the Police Crime Laboratory for examination.
According to him, the results proved it was Agyare-Sefah who wrote the cheques by forging the director's signature.
He tendered the Police Laboratory report in evidence and explained that he did not take specimen handwriting from Oppong because Oppong was not literate.
He said during investigations, it emerged that Agyare-Sefah had given GH¢17,000 and $3,000 to a policewoman to purchase a Mazda saloon car and quantities of bathroom accessories.
He said the policewoman returned the items and documents covering them and accordingly tendered them in evidence as exhibits but Agyare-Sefah denied the claims.
D/Cpl said it also came to his notice that Agyare-Sefah signed the cheques and gave them to Oppong and Aban to withdraw.
He has since completed with his evidence-in-chief.
The court ordered the accused persons to apply for the proceedings and give them to their lawyers to enable the lawyers to cross examine the investigator on the next adjourned date.
Hearing continues on July 9, 2008.

Judgement in MV Benjamin case postponed

July 9, 2008 (Page 31)

THE Accra Fast Track High Court yesterday postponed judgement in the case in which five persons, including the owner of the MV Benjamin vessel which was allegedly used to cart 77 parcels of cocaine, have been accused of narcotic offences.
Consequently, judgement has been fixed for Wednesday, July 23, 2008.
The court was expected to deliver its judgement yesterday but the trial judge summoned the prosecution and the defence team to his chambers and informed them that he had not finished writing the judgement.
Sources close to the case later informed waiting journalists and the interested parties that judgement had been postponed.
Following the development, the accused persons, namely, the owner of the vessel, Joseph Kojo Dawson; Isaac Arhin and Philip Bruce Arhin, both Ghanaians; as well as Cui Xian Li and Luo Yin Xing, both Chinese, were escorted by prison officers back to lawful custody.
The MV Benjamin was allegedly used to cart 77 parcels of cocaine for the alleged cocaine fugitive, Sheriff Asem Dakeh, alias The Limping Man, who hired the vessel in February 2006.
The cocaine later disappeared after the vessel was impounded in March, 2006.
Dawson, Arhin, Bruce Arhin, Xian Li and Yin Xing have been standing trial for the past two years for allegedly playing various roles in the importation of the cocaine.
However, on Tuesday, October 16, 2007, a sixth accused person, Pak Bok Sil, a Korean national, was acquitted and discharged by the court, which ruled that the prosecution had failed to prove a case against him.
The accused persons have been charged with various counts of using property for narcotic offences, engaging in prohibited business relating to narcotics and possession of narcotic drugs without lawful authority.
Each of them has pleaded not guilty to all the charges and has been remanded in prison custody.
A total of 13 prosecution witnesses testified against the accused persons.
However, in their defence, the accused persons denied any wrongdoing.
The trial of the accused persons began in November 2006 and ended in March 2008.
The court, presided over by Mr Justice Anin Yeboah, ordered both the prosecution and the defence to file their addresses, after which it fixed yesterday for judgement.
On Tuesday, October 16, 2007, the court ordered Dawson and the four others to open their defence and answer charges levelled against them.
Giving its ruling in a submission of ‘no case’ by counsel for the accused persons, the court held that the prosecution had succeeded in proving a prima facie case against the accused persons.

Tuesday, July 8, 2008

Court decides on MV Benjamin case today

July 8, 2008 (Page 31)

THE Accra Fast Track High Court will today, July 8, 2008, decide the guilt or otherwise of five persons, including the owner of the MV Benjamin vessel which was allegedly used to cart 77 parcels of cocaine.
The MV Benjamin was allegedly used to cart 77 parcels of cocaine for the alleged cocaine fugitive, Sheriff Asem Dakeh, alias The Limping Man, who hired the vessel in February 2006.
The cocaine later disappeared after the vessel was impounded in March 2006.
Kojo Dawson, the owner of the vessel, Isaac Arhin and Philip Bruce Arhin, both Ghanaians, as well as Cui Xian Li and Luo Yin Xing, both Chinese, have been standing trial for the past two years for allegedly playing various roles in the importation of the cocaine.
However, on Tuesday, October 16, 2007, a sixth accused person, Pak Bok Sil, a Korean national, was acquitted and discharged by the court, which ruled that the prosecution had failed to prove a case against him.
The accused persons have been charged with various counts of using property for narcotic offences, engaging in prohibited business relating to narcotics and possession of narcotic drugs without lawful authority.
Each of them has pleaded not guilty to all the charges and has been remanded in prison custody.
A total of 13 prosecution witnesses testified against the accused persons.
However, in their defence the accused persons denied any wrongdoing.
The trial of the accused persons began in November 2006 and ended in March 2008.
The court, presided over by Mr Justice Anin Yeboah, ordered both the prosecution and the defence to file their addresses, after which it fixed today for judgement.
On Tuesday, October 16, 2007, the court ordered Dawson and the four others to open their defence and answer charges levelled against them.
Giving its ruling in a submission of ‘no case’ by counsel for the accused persons, the court held that the prosecution had succeeded in proving a prima facie case against the accused persons.

Tsikata files motion against judge

July 5, 2008 (Page 19)

THE former Chief Executive of the Ghana National Petroleum Corporation (GNPC), Tsatsu Tsikata, has filed a motion at the Accra Fast Track High Court to disqualify the judge who jailed him for five years from hearing his application for bail pending the outcome of an appeal he filed against his sentence.
According to him, the trial judge, Mrs Justice Henrietta Abban, had persistently been biased towards him and therefore she was not qualified to hear his bail application.
“The issue of bias by a judge is indeed a serious matter that is provided for in Article 296 (b) of the Constitution. It is fundamental to the ends of justice that a judge proceed with open judicial mind, untainted by bias which is not the case with Mrs Justice Abban as far as this application is concerned,” a hand-written affidavit in support of Tsikata’s motion stated.
He has, therefore, requested for a mini trial to determine his allegations of bias against the trial judge.
At the court’s sitting in Accra yesterday, the Registrar of the Fast Track High Court informed the parked courtroom that the court would not sit because the trial judge was indisposed.
He, therefore, informed both the prosecution and the defence that he had been instructed to adjourn the case to July 9, 2008 but the case was eventually adjourned to July 10, 2008 after deliberations between parties.
Tsikata, who represented himself, wondered why a fresh motion should be put before a judge who was indisposed.
A brother of Tsikata, Mr Fui Tsikata, who is also a lawyer, informed journalists on the court premises that it was improper for the same judge to be made to hear Tsikata’s application for bail.
He said the trial judge had exhibited too much bias to be made to hear the bail application and further stated that his brother had written to the Chief Justice on the matter.
He also took the opportunity to announce that the Tsikata family had nothing to do with a Prosper Tsikata whom he claimed was going about defrauding hundreds of people.
Mr Tsikata said the family had reported the conduct of the said Prosper Tsikata to the police and wondered why he had not been arrested yet.
As usual, hundreds of Tsatsu’s sympathisers including leading members of the National Democratic Congress (NDC) thronged the court premises to show their solidarity.
The Supreme Court on June 25, 2008 suspended judgement on whether or not the International Finance Corporation (IFC) should be ordered to testify in the case in which Tsatsu Tsikata was accused of causing financial loss to the state.
This followed a request by Tsikata to the court to “arrest” its judgement and invoke its supervisory jurisdiction by quashing his conviction by the lower court.
According to the convict, while waiting for the Supreme Court’s decision on the matter, “the trial judge at the Fast Track High Court has embarked on a number of steps in danger of undermining the authority of the Supreme Court”.
Tsikata, who represented himself, said his motion was to enable the court to ensure that the administration of justice was not brought into disrepute by the desecration of justice that occurred on June 18, 2008 (the day of his sentence).
Following his application, the court, presided over by Mr Justice William Atuguba, in consultation with other panel members, adjourned the case indefinitely to enable the court, as well as the Attorney-General, to be served with the motion paper.
Other members of the panel were Mr Justice S. A. Brobbey, Mr Justice Julius Ansah, Mrs Justice Sophia Adinyira and Mr Justice S. K. Asiamah.
Before his conviction, Tsikata had prayed the Supreme Court to compel IFC to testify in the case.
His earlier applications at the Fast Track High Court and the Court of Appeal regarding the evidence of the IFC were dismissed on the grounds that the IFC was immune from judicial processes.
Tsikata was found guilty on three counts of wilfully causing financial loss of GH¢230,000 to the state and another count of misapplying public property and sentenced to five years’ imprisonment on each count to run concurrently.
Tsikata had gone to the court without his lawyer who, he said, was outside the jurisdiction on the day of his incarceration, and had sought to take a date for the hearing of a fresh motion on notice to take further evidence that he had filed at the court.
The motion sought an order granting leave for the defence to call further evidence in the case and, upon the evidence being heard, for counsel for the parties to be heard in respect of the legal effect of the further evidence adduced.
The former chief executive of the GNPC was charged in 2002 with three counts of wilfully causing financial loss of GH¢230,000 to the state through a loan he guaranteed for Valley Farms, a private cocoa-producing company, on behalf of the GNPC, and another count of misapplying GH¢2,000 in public property.
Valley Farms contracted the loan from Caisse Francaise de Developement in 1991 but defaulted in the payment and the GNPC, which acted as the guarantor, was compelled to pay it in 1996.
Tsikata pleaded not guilty to the charges and was granted a self-recognisance bail.
He has since appealed against his conviction, as well as petitioned the Chief Justice, alleging bias and unjudicial conduct against the judge.

Bawku Conflict : Fourteen remanded

July 5, 2008 (Front Page - Second Lead)

FOURTEEN people were yesterday arraigned before the Accra Fast Track High and the Osu District Magistrate courts for playing various roles in the Bawku conflict, resulting in the death of people.
The 14, including a juvenile and a police constable, were charged with different counts of conspiracy, murder, possessing firearms and ammunition without lawful authority and dishonestly receiving after they had been arrested on different occasions by a joint military and police task force deployed in Bawku to restore law and order.
Six of the accused persons, namely, Daniel Yeboah, the Police Constable; Nuhu Fuseini, 15; Sumaila Seidu, Issaka Fuseini, Awumbila John Ndego and Alhassan Hamza, were arraigned before the Fast Track High Court charged with possessing firearms without authority, among others.
Apart from Nuhu Fuseini who was remanded at the Osu Juvenile Home, the rest were remanded in police custody.
All the accused persons pleaded not guilty to the charge of possessing firearms and ammunition without lawful authority and were remanded to reappear on August 4, 2008.
At the Fast Track High Court’s sitting, the prosecutor, Assistant Superintendent of Police Mr Patrick Morkeh, prayed the court to remand the accused persons for a month to enable the police to complete investigations into the matter.
Presenting brief facts on the case, Mr Morkeh said Sumaila Seidu was caught by security forces when he was in possession of a locally manufactured pistol loaded with live cartridges around 8.00 p.m. on February 4, 2008, while Nuhu Fuseini was arrested in possession of 16 rounds of ammunition.
According to the prosecution, on May 13, 2008, Daniel Yeboah allegedly stole an AK 47 assault rifle and 30 rounds of ammunition, while Ndego was caught in possession of two AK 47 assault rifles on June 27, 2008.
Issaka Fuseini and Daniel Yeboah were charged with dishonestly receiving and possessing firearms and ammunition without lawful authority, while Alhassan Hamza was charged with possessing firearms without lawful authority.
At the Osu District Magistrate Court, eight of the accused persons, namely, Alhaji Fuseini Abugri, Amadu Abugri, Alidu Abugri, Imoro Salifu, Adamu Salifu, Haruna Ibrahim, Tanim Adam and Adamu Salifu, were charged with various counts of conspiracy and murder.
They all pleaded not guilty to the charges and were remanded by the court to reappear on July 29, 2008.
The prosecutor informed the court that Alhaji Fuseini, Amadu and Alidu Abugri, all siblings, allegedly slit the throats of an 80-year-old man and children at a village in Bawku on June 25, 2008 in retaliation over the death of their relative.
The prosecution said Imoro and Adamu Salifu shot and killed a contractor who was returning from the mosque on May 4, 2008 without any provocation, while Haruna Ibrahim, a Kusasi, was accused of ambushing Muniru Adam and chopping off his head in the process on May 5, 2008.
Tanim Adam, a revenue mobiliser, was accused of using an object to kill Yeremin Alhassan, a 53-year-old educationist, on May 13, 2008.
Adamu Salifu was alleged to have vandalised property, killing one person in the process, at a festival in Bawku on December 31, 2007.
The prosecution informed the two courts that other accomplices were on the run, for which reason investigations were ongoing to apprehend them.

Court to decide fate of lotto operators

July 3, 2008 (Page 3 Lead)

THE Supreme Court will, on July 23, 2008, decide the fate of the Ghana Lotto Operators Association (GLOA) which is challenging the constitutionality of the National Lottery Authority (NLA) (Act 722).
The GLOA instituted the legal action against the NLA on the constitutionality or otherwise of the National Lotto Act which gave the NLA the exclusive right to operate lotto.
According to the GLOA, the NLA had taken over the assets of the Department of National Lotteries (DNL), instead of overseeing the operations of the NLA and DNL, thereby resulting in the cessation of the existence of the DNL.
At the court’s hearing in Accra yesterday, the presiding judge, Mr Justice S.A. Brobbey fixed the date after parties had filed the necessary documents to support their case.
According to the court, although parties in the matter defaulted in filing references, the court had decided to pardon them and give judgement in view of the immense public interest in the case.
It, therefore, directed counsel for both parties to make photocopies of references made and file them accordingly to assist the court in delivering its judgement.
Other panel members are Dr Justice Date Bah, Mr Justice Julius Ansah, Mr Justice Anin Yeboah and Mr Justice P. Baffoe-Bonnie.
According to the GLOA, the National Lotto Act, which outlawed the operations of lotto business by private lotto operators, infringed the constitutionally guaranteed right of the private lotto operators to free economic activity.
The plaintiffs — Obiri Asare and Sons Limited, Rambel Enterprise Limited, Dan Multi-Purpose Trading Enterprise Limited, Agrop Association Limited, Star Lotto Limited and From-Home Enterprises — argued that the creation of the NLA to take over and monopolise the operation of the lotto business in Ghana infringed the constitutional injunction to the government to ensure a pronounced role for the private sector in the economy.
They are, therefore, praying the Supreme Court to declare that “the National Lotto Act (Act 722), in so far as it prescribes the operation of lotto by persons other than the State, is inconsistent with and in contravention of the letter and spirit of the 1992 Constitution of the Republic of Ghana, especially the fundamental human rights provisions and the directive principles of State policy, and is consequently null and void”.
The GLOA is also praying the court to set aside or strike down as null and void the offending sections of the said National Lotto Act, 2006 (Act 722).
According to the GLOA, the Constitution had stated categorically that “every person, particularly the private person, has the right to economic activity and that right cannot be lawfully taken away, save in the manner provided by the said Constitution”.
The plaintiffs said some time in July 2007, the NLA caused to be issued media publications which declared the NLA as the only body authorised to do lotto business in Ghana.
The GLOA argued that all sectors of the economy, ranging from the media, telecommunications, health, banking, among others, had been liberalised, thereby promoting free economic activities, to the benefit of all Ghanaians, adding that that must be seen to be done in the lotto business.
However, the NLA insisted that the law was constitutional and, therefore, did not infringe on the rights of the GLOA.
The NLA further argued that the Lotto Act did not monopolise its (NLA’s) operations and that district weekly lotto operators, popularly known as “banker-to-banker” operators, pirated on numbers drawn by the DNL for their private gain and thereby operated without regard to existing laws and regulations.
The Accra High Court, on March 14, 2008, granted an interlocutory injunction filed by the GLOA to restrain the NLA from interfering with the property rights of lotto operating businesses of those concerned.
According to the court, the outcome of the case at the Supreme Court would guide it in its decision in the case because the issue of constitutionality had been raised by the NLA.

Ataabadze "coke" men before court

July 3, 2008 (Centre Spread)

FOUR persons who were caught in possession of 380 parcels suspected to be cocaine at Ataabadze Junction in the Central Region were yesterday arraigned before the Accra Circuit Court.
The substance, which was concealed in 19 travelling bags, was intercepted on June 29, 2008 by personnel of the Cape Coast Regional Motor Traffic and Transport Unit (MTTU) of the Ghana Police Service who were on duty.
The four — Samuel Agoe Mills Robertson, 49, auto mechanic; Derick Armah Kwarteng, 48, civil/cable contractor; David Agyemfra, alias Chukwu Owura, 30, herbalist and orthopaedic specialist, and Charles Lartey, 33, trader — were remanded to reappear on July 17, 2008 to enable the police to conduct further investigations into the matter.
Two others, namely, Mike Ben, alias Osu, and Javi, a Colombian, are on the run.
The accused persons were each charged with two counts of conspiracy and possessing narcotic drug without lawful authority.
Their pleas were not taken.
Presenting the facts of the case, Assistant Superintendent of Police (ASP) Mr George Abavelim informed the court that on June 28, 2008, Robertson allegedly sought Kwarteng’s services to carry cocaine from Asankragua in the Western Region to Accra for a fee of $40,000, to which Kwarteng agreed.
Robertson allegedly recruited Agyemfra and Eben as escorts for the drug haul.
According to the prosecution, on that same day, Robertson used his private car, a Toyota saloon car, with registration number GW 31 Z, to convey Agyemfra and Eben to Asankragua, where they met Kwarteng at the Melody Hotel.
At the hotel, Kwarteng allegedly handed over his (Kwarteng’s) private car, a Toyota 4 Runner, with registration number GR 1204 Y, which was loaded with 19 travelling bags, each containing 20 slabs of cocaine, totalling 380 slabs, to Robertson and his escorts.
The prosecution said Kwarteng then took over Robertson’s saloon car, while Robertson drove Kwarteng’s Toyota 4 Runner, with Agyemfra and Eben staying on board as security escorts.
The three allegedly stayed overnight in Takoradi and continued their journey the following day, June 29, 2008. On their way they were intercepted at Ataabadze Junction on the Cape Coast highway by police officers of the Cape Coast Regional MTTU who were on duty.
Robertson was arrested but Agyemfra and Eben escaped into a nearby bush.
A search conducted in the vehicle revealed 19 travelling bags containing 380 slabs of a whitish powdery substance suspected to be cocaine.
Robertson was then taken to the Regional Police Command for interrogation and at a point he offered to pay $6,000 to the police in exchange for his freedom.
The police feigned interest and encouraged him to call Lartey, who was then in Accra, on phone to bring the said $6,000 to Cape Coast.
Lartey was, however, arrested when he got to the Police Command and a search conducted on him revealed 60 pieces of 100 dollar bill notes, totalling $6,000, as well CFA 220,000.
The prosecution informed the court that Agyemfra and Kwarteng were later spotted at the police station premises in Robertson’s saloon car, with registration number GW 31 Z.
According to the prosecution, the two were subsequently arrested on suspicion of being accomplices.
The prosecution prayed the court to remand the accused persons, since investigations were ongoing to ascertain the source of the drugs, as well as arrest other accomplices.
It said the substances had since been forwarded to the Ghana Standards Board (GSB) for testing.

Geoffrey Bing, Attorney-General on Republic Day

July 1, 2008 (Page 29)

GEOFFREY Henry Cecil Bing, a British, was Ghana’s Attorney-General from September 9, 1957 to September 9, 1961.
He was popularly known as one of the the most “sinister” advisors of Ghana’s First President, Dr Kwame Nkrumah and was said to have devoted his time to ensuring that Dr Nkrumah remained in power.
On the backbenches, Bing was, according to his Time magazine obituary the unrestrained leader of a small group of radicals, never fully trusted by their colleagues and known as "Bing Boys".
Mr Bing was a close friend of Dr Nkrumah leading to his appointment as Ghana's Attorney-General. He was said to have defended Dr Nkrumah’s decision to deport two Ashanti Moslem leaders on the grounds that their presence was "not conducive to the public good." When the Moslems sued to claim their citizens' rights in court, Mr Bing argued that Ghana's Parliament had "absolute and complete power to legislate on any subject whatever," and no court may review any act not specifically forbidden by the Constitution. (He was referring to a Bill that was passed to sanction the expulsion of the two Moslems).
He was arrested and maltreated when Dr Nkrumah was overthrown in 1966, before being sent home some months later. His memoir of Nkrumah's Ghana, Reap the Whirlwind, was published in 1968.
Born on July 24, 1909 at Craigavad near Belfast, Mr Bing was a British barrister and politician who served as the Labour Member of Parliament for Hornchurch from 1945 to 1955.
Bing was educated at Tonbridge School before going on to Lincoln College, Oxford, where he read history.
Always a radical and a member of the socialist left, Mr Bing was active in the Haldane Society and the National Council for Civil Liberties. During the Spanish Civil War, he joined the International Brigades as a journalist and was also known to be an early anti-Nazi. He was also known to have supported Communist China and took a keen interest in Northern Ireland.
During World War II, he served in the Royal Signals, attaining the rank of major. A 1943 experiment with parachutes at the GSO2 Airborne Forces Development Centre left him disfigured and he bore the scars for many years.
At the 1945 general election, Bing stood for Labour in Hornchurch, winning the seat. He was re-elected in 1950 and 1951, serving until 1955.
He died on April 24, 1977.