A-G wants Tsatsu's sentence extended

August 20, 2008 (Page 3 Lead)

THE State has called for an enhancement of the five-year sentence imposed on Tsatsu Tsikata by the Accra Fast Track High Court for causing financial loss.
“The sentence is not proportionate, having regards to the gravity of the offence,” a notice of appeal filed by a Chief State Attorney, Ms Valerie Amate, pointed out.
According to the state, it was dissatisfied with the sentence imposed on the former Chief Executive of the Ghana National Petroleum Corporation (GNPC) and it would, therefore, seek the Court of Appeal to aggravate the sentence.
The notice further stated that additional grounds of appeal would be filed upon receipt of certified true copies of the judgement and record of proceedings.
Tsikata was, on June 18, 2008, found guilty on three counts of wilfully causing financial loss of GH¢230,000 to the state and another count of misapplying public property.
The court, presided over by Mrs Justice Henrietta Abban, a Court of Appeal judge sitting with additional responsibility as a High Court judge, accordingly sentenced Tsikata to five years’ imprisonment on each count to run concurrently.
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 of public property.
Valley Farms contracted the loan from Caisse Francaise de Development in 1991, but defaulted in the payment and the GNPC, which acted as the guarantor, was compelled to pay it in 1996.
He has since filed an appeal against his conviction.
Mrs Justice Abban, on July 30, 2008, dismissed a bail application filed by Tsikata, pending an appeal against his five-year conviction.
According to the trial judge, Tsikata’s refusal to move the motion for bail pending appeal was an indication that he (Tsikata) was no longer interested in pursuing the application for bail.
She had earlier refused to decline jurisdiction in the hearing of the bail application on the grounds that she was not biased, as was being alleged by Tsikata.
Meanwhile, the Supreme Court has fixed October 16, 2008 to give its ruling on Tsikata’s application seeking the court to quash the Fast Track High Court judgement.