Thursday, August 27, 2009

A-G's Dept to move for stay motion Sept 3

Thursday, August 27, 2009 (Page 3)

THE Attorney-General’s (A-G’s) Department will on September 3, 2009 move its motion for stay of execution of the Accra High Court order directing the Bureau of National Investigations (BNI) to return the passport of Mr Akwasi Osei-Adjei, a former Minister of Foreign Affairs.
The date was fixed after the Human Rights Court had upheld an application for abridgement of the time of hearing of the application originally fixed for October 12, 2009.
In upholding Mr Osei-Adjei’s motion for the abridgement of time which was filed on his behalf by his counsel, Mr Godfred Yeboah Dame, the trial judge held that he (judge) was appointed a vacation judge by a letter dated July 29, 2009.
According to the judge, the letter gave him the authority to sit as a vacation judge.
The court also held that the application for stay of execution was filed during the vacation and considering the human rights nature of the action, it was important that the case was heard during the vacation period.
It accordingly abridged the date of hearing of the motion from October 12, 2009 to September 3, 2009.
An affidavit in support of the motion deposed by Mr Osei-Adjei had said, “the fixing of the hearing of the appellant’s application for stay of execution for October 12, 2009 violates the rules of court and is a ploy to deny me my fundamental human rights guaranteed under the 1992 Constitution of the Republic of Ghana.”
It said the motion could be heard and determined in the vacation and, for that reason, fixing of same for until after the vacation was calculated at frustrating him from “enjoying the fruits of the judgement of this honourable court”.
“This Honourable Court is a vacation court and the presiding judge, a vacation judge, who is competent to hear and determine the appellant’s motion for stay of execution, thereby rendering the fixing of the appellant’s motion for October 12 unnecessary,” the affidavit in support stated.
It, therefore, prayed the court to abridge the date for the hearing of the appellant’s motion for stay of execution.
However, according to the A-G’s Department, Mr Osei-Adjei was a subject of criminal investigations and it had reliable information to indicate that he was likely to abscond from the jurisdiction if his passport was handed over to him.
It said the passport of the former minister was seized on lawful grounds, adding that the appeal would be rendered a nugatory, if Mr Osei-Adjei’s passport was released and the state’s appeal succeeded.
The grounds of the appeal, among others, stated that the trial judge erred when he held that the seizure of Mr Osei-Adjei’s passport was unlawful.
It said the court did not take into account the fact that Mr Osei-Adjei was a subject of criminal investigation.
The Human Rights Division of the High Court had on Tuesday, August 11, 2009, ruled that the BNI did not have the power to seize the passport of the former minister, adding that the action violated his fundamental human rights because it did not follow the due process of law.
Mr Osei-Adjei sued the Director of the BNI and the Attorney-General (A-G) for the seizure of his passport and described the action as “flagrantly unlawful and a palpable violation” of his human rights.
He sought an order directed at the Director of the BNI to release his passport unconditionally but the A-G’s Department held a different view and said the detention of Mr Osei-Adjei's passport was on the grounds that the BNI was mandated under the Security and Intelligence Agencies Act (Act 526) to investigate him.
In its ruling, however, the court struck out the suit against the Director of the BNI, saying that the functions of the BNI made it a state institution whose acts were done on behalf of the Republic and, therefore, was not properly sued.
It said civil proceedings in which the state or its agency was involved, the A-G was the rightful body to be sued.

Chairman admonishes Finance Director of Sekyere South Assembly

Wednesday, September 26, 2009 (Page 3)
THE Finance Director of the Sekyere South District Assembly, Mr Adams Mohammed, was yesterday admonished by the Chairman of the Ghana@50 Presidential Commission for defending the assembly’s failure to pay its debts to the Ghana@50 Secretariat.
Mr Mohammed had told the commission investigating the Ghana@50 Celebrations that the assembly was not given a deadline for the payment of anniversary souvenirs handed over to it by the secretariat.
According to him, there was no time bound and therefore the assembly could have taken as long as 200 years to pay back but the Chairman of the commission, Mr Justice Isaac Duose, did not take kindly to that and called Mr Mohammed to order.
Mr Mohammed was in his element and was justifying why the assembly had not accounted back to the secretariat but Mr Justice Duose cut in and stated “stop the nonsense. This is an immoral stand. You are not showing good moral standing at all. Now answer the question on a better note.”
At that moment, Mr Mohammed thanked the Chairman of the commission for putting him back on track and continued that the assembly received 11,952 pieces of mathematical sets instead of the expected 12,000 pieces.
He also told the commission, which has Mr Osei Tutu Prempeh and Mrs Marietta Brew-Oppong as members, that persons who sold anniversary souvenirs on behalf of the assembly owed the assembly GH¢4,500.
Asked if the assembly had made efforts to retrieve its money, Mr Mohammed indicated that the assembly did not receive positive response from its debtors although it threatened to take legal action.
According to him, the debtors were currently making efforts to pay back moneys owed the assembly because they did not want to face the wrath of the commission.
He said the District Assemblies Common Fund (DACF) had deducted GH¢45,427 from the assembly’s accounts but informed the commission that he had not made efforts to query why that amount was deducted.
Mr Prempeh then advised him to take steps to ensure that things were done properly from now on.
For his part, the District Co-ordinating Director of the Sekyere South District Assembly, Mr Nicholas Kumi-Achiaw, told the commission that the District Chief Executive and the District Director of Education took delivery of 10,749 mathematical sets for distribution to various schools.
He said the establishment of the commission had come at the right time and expressed the hope that policies would be developed out of the commission’s recommendations to serve as a guideline for the future.
The District Co-ordinating Director of the Kintampo South District Assembly, Mr Abdul Paul Kant, said agents who sold souvenirs on behalf of the assembly had initially been recalcitrant in paying back but stated that they were now coming forward as a result of the setting up of the Presidential Commission.
He gave the assurance that monies owed by the agents would be paid and further indicated that the assembly knew the whereabouts of the debtors.
Mr Kant also indicated that the souvenirs arrived late and stated for instance that the anniversary cloths arrived on March 20, 2007 (14 days after the celebration of Ghana’s 50th independence).
Mr Prempeh commended Mr Kant for giving a detailed account on how the money was expended.
Asked to suggest ways to improve administration at the district level, Mr Kant suggested that the Head of Civil Service must take keen interest in re-training staff in proper record keeping.
He also suggested that civil servants must act professionally while politicians and civil servants must respect each other’s role.
Mr Kant further suggested that district directors must be allowed to play more active roles in the running of district assemblies.
For his part, the Kwabre East District Director of Education, Mr Kwasi Atakorah, said GH¢6,416 was realised from the sale of anniversary souvenirs and that the money had been lodged into the assembly’s account.
He said the assembly received 4,080 pieces of calendars and 60,000 pieces of cups as a result of which GH¢61,576 was deducted from the district’s share of the DACF.
According to Mr Atakorah, the district began utilising the GH¢6,416 when it realised that the DACF Secretariat had deducted monies from its accounts.
He told the commission that he was aware the district was expected to account to the Ghana@50 Secretariat but was currently waiting for direct correspondence from the secretariat.

Monday, August 24, 2009

Immigration Director testifies at Bawku MP's trial

Monday, August 24, 2009 (20)

AN Assistant Director of Immigration last Friday told the Accra High Court hearing the nationality trial of the Member of Parliament (MP) for Bawku Central, Adamu Daramani Sakande, that the MP travelled to Ghana on a travel document issued by the British authorities and not on a passport.
Mr Nolasco Nyiedu said the travel document was the type which could be issued to persons seeking asylum.
The witness told the court that the description of the travel document as a passport was, therefore, not correct.
Sakande was on July 31, this year, arraigned before the Accra High Court, charged with nine counts relating to his nationality, perjury, forgery of passport, election fraud, as well as deceiving public officers to be elected as a parliamentarian.
He pleaded not guilty to all the charges and the court, presided over by Mr Justice Charles Quist, admitted him to bail in the sum of GH¢10,000 with a surety.
The MP was also ordered to surrender his Ghanaian passport to the court.
Answering questions under cross-examination from counsel for Sakande, Mr Yonny Kulendi, the witness said the document which described the MP as a Burkinabe could technically be described as a travel document.
He further explained that an asylum seeker could be described as a person whose refugee status was yet to be approved.
Counsel is expected to continue cross-examining Mr Nyiedu on Friday, August 28, 2009.
According to the prosecution, the MP held allegiance to other countries namely the United Kingdom and Burkina Faso.
It said it would lead evidence to show that the accused person fraudulently obtained a Ghanaian passport in order to evade the country’s electoral systems and laws.
Mr Kulendi has described the charges as “politically motivated, baseless and calculated to harass, victimise and ultimately use the altar of justice to criminalise a young Ghanaian who chose to abandon a relatively comfortable life in England to serve his country and his people”.

In the case of Osei Adjei's passport - A-G files for stay of execution

THE Attorney-General’s (A-G) Department has filed for stay of execution of an High Court order directing the Bureau of National Investigations (BNI) to return the passport of a former Minister of Foreign Affairs, Mr Akwasi Osei-Adjei.
According to the A-G’s Department, Mr Osei-Adjei was a subject of criminal investigations and it had reliable information to indicate that the respondent was likely to abscond from the jurisdiction if his passport was handed over to him.
It said the passport of the former Minister was seized on lawful grounds, adding that the appeal would be rendered a nugatory, if Mr Osei-Adjei’s passport was released and the state’s appeal succeeded.
The grounds of the appeal, among others, stated that the trial judge erred when he held that the seizure of Mr Osei-Adjei’s passport was unlawful.
It said the court did not take into account the fact that Mr Osei-Adjei was a subject of criminal investigation.
Hearing for the application has been fixed for October 12, 2009 but counsel for Mr Osei-Adjei, Mr Godfred Yeboah Dame, has filed a motion for the hearing date to be abridged to an earlier date.
A motion filed on August 19, 2009 said “curiously, the appellant’s application for stay of execution was fixed for hearing on October 12, 2009”.
An affidavit in support of the motion deposed by Mr Osei-Adjei said “the fixing of the hearing of the appellant’s application for stay of execution for October 12, 2009 violates the rules of court and is a ploy to deny me my fundamental human rights guaranteed under the 1992 Constitution of the Republic of Ghana.”
It said the motion could be heard and determined in the vacation and, for that reason fixing of same for until after the vacation was calculated at frustrating him from “enjoying the fruits of the judgement of this honourable court”.
“This Honourable Court is a vacation court and the presiding judge, a vacation judge, who is competent to hear and determine the appellant’s motion for stay of execution, thereby rendering the fixing of the appellant’s motion for October 12, unnecessary,” the affidavit in support stated.
It, therefore, prayed the court to abridge the date for the hearing of the appellant’s motion for stay of execution.
According to Mr Osei-Adjei, the instant application was maliciously inspired and merely a devious attempt by the appellant to deny him his fundamental human rights under the Constitution.
He said the appeal was unmeritorious and it raised serious questions of law and/or fact for the consideration of the Court of Appeal and the appellant had failed to demonstrate any chance of success of the appeal on the basis of which this application ought not be granted.
The Human Rights Division of the High Court had on Tuesday, August 11, 2009, ruled that the BNI did not have the power to seize the passport of the former minister, adding that the action violated his fundamental human rights because it did not follow the due process of law.
Mr Osei-Adjei sued the director of the BNI and the Attorney-General (A-G) for the seizure of his passport and described the action as “flagrantly unlawful and a palpable violation” of his human rights.
He sought an order directed at the Director of the BNI to release his passport unconditionally but the A-G’s Department held a different view and said the detention of Mr Osei-Adjei's passport was on the grounds that the BNI was mandated under the Security and Intelligence Agencies Act (Act 526) to investigate him.
In its ruling, however, the court struck out the suit against the Director of the BNI, saying that the functions of the BNI made it a state institution whose acts were done on behalf of the Republic and, therefore, was not properly sued.
It said that in civil proceedings in which the state or its agency was involved, the A-G was the rightful body to be sued.
A cattle farmer, Mr Sumaila Biebel, had filed an application seeking a declaration that the MP should be ordered to vacate his seat because he was a British national and for that matter did not qualify to sit as an MP in Ghana.

Two shot dead in Bawku • Assailants unknown

Proofread by KGE
Saturday, August 22, 2009 (Page 3 )

TWO people, one of them a fire officer of the Ghana National Fire Service, were last Thursday shot dead by unknown assailants in separate incidents at Bawku in the Upper East Region.
Two others were severely wounded in the attacks.
The names of the deceased were given as Abdul Ganiru, aged 30 and Fire Officer DO II John Atubiga, and the injured were Razak Abdul Rahman, 60, and Ambia Fuseini, 15.
Briefing the Daily Graphic, the Deputy Upper East Regional Police Commander, Assistant Commissioner of Police, Mr George Tuffuor, said at 8:20 p.m. on Thursday, unknown assailants, with no known motive, attacked and shot Ganiru, a storekeeper, at North Natinga, a suburb of Bawku.
He was shot from behind and the bullet penetrated the neck.
Mr Tuffuor said the deceased was rushed to the Bawku Presbyterian Hospital, where he was pronounced dead on arrival.
He said a post-mortem had already been carried out and the body released to the family for burial in line with Islamic beliefs.
In the case of the fire officer, Mr Tuffour said the late DO II Atubiga sought permission to go out to buy food but on his way back to the office located in the same vicinity (North Natinga), he was ambushed and shot about five times.
Mr Tuffour said the two injured persons were hit by what were believed to be stray bullets in the same neighbourhood by the unknown assailants.
He added that both were sent to the Bawku Presbyterian Hospital, where they are responding to treatment.
Mr Tuffour could not put a finger on what might have precipitated the latest round of attacks but said the police had mounted a search for the assailants and were also trying to unravel the reasons behind the attacks.
Meanwhile, the Minister of the Interior has renewed the curfew imposed on the Bawku municipality and Gushegu and their immediate environs for another week with effect from August 17, 2009.
The decision was based on the advice of the Upper East and Northern Regional Security Councils respectively and by an Executive Instrument.
The curfew hours for the Bawku Municipality and Gushegu remain unchanged and are from midnight to 4 a.m. each day.
A statement issued by the Ministry of the Interior in Accra said the government would continue to commend the chiefs, elders, opinion leaders, citizenry and the various factions in the Bawku conflict for the sustained peace in their respective communities.
It assured all of the government’s commitment to protect all parties in the conflicts, as well as work with the various factions towards finding a lasting peace.
The statement reminded the people in the Bawku Municipal Area, Zabugu, Binduri, Pusiga, Zoasi and Gushegu and their environs that there was a ban on them from carrying arms, ammunitions or any offensive weapons, and any person found with any arms or ammunition would be arrested and prosecuted.
Meanwhile, the Member of Parliament (MP) for Bawku Central, Mr Adamu Daramani Sakande, has appealed for calm following the death of two persons at Bawku, reports Mabel Aku Baneseh.
He also expressed his condolence to the bereaved families and appealed to the families to remain calm while the police conducted investigations into the deaths.
According to the MP, Ganiru was his (MP’s) avid supporter who accompanied him (MP) to court and prayed to God to give him (deceased) a peaceful rest.
Mr Sakande appealed to the security agencies to be firm and impartial while investigating the incident.
He said he appreciated the difficulties associated with their work and expressed the believe that they would surmount all challenges and let justice prevail.
He gave the assurance that he would continue to pursue the path of reconciliation and peace in the Bawku muncipality.

Friday, August 21, 2009

Court dismisses MP's application

Friday, August 21,2009 (Page 3)

THE Accra Fast Track High Court yesterday dismissed an application for stay of execution of a default judgement which ordered the Member of Parliament for Bawku Central, Mr Adamu Daramani Sakande, to vacate his seat for holding dual nationality.
Mr Sakande had prayed the court to stay execution of the ruling pending an appeal he filed against the default judgement which was delivered on July 15, 2009 but the court, presided over by Mr Justice N. M. C. Abodakpi, dismissed the application on the grounds that the MP’s motion was a “repeat application”.
According to the court, there was no new evidence to warrant it to grant the application for stay of execution and, therefore, the MP’s application was an abuse of the court process.
It accordingly awarded GH¢2,000 against Mr Sakande.
Counsel for the embattled MP, Mr Yonny Kulendi, expressed his disappointment at the court’s ruling and argued that the application was not a repeated one.
Mr Kulendi explained that Mr Sakande filed an application to set aside the default judgement and for leave to file his defence but the court refused.
He said on July 24, 2009, the MP again filed for stay of execution of the default judgement pending appeal, adding that the two applications were different especially when the MP had not filed his appeal as of July 16, 2009.
Counsel, therefore, argued that Mr Justice Abodakpi erred in refusing the application because his client and the constituents of Bawku Central would suffer irreparable loss if the judgement was not stayed and the MP’s appeal succeeds eventually.
However, Mr Kulendi said evidence would be led to prove that his client was innocent of all charges levelled against him.
Meanwhile, Mr Sakande is standing trial at the Accra High Court, charged on nine counts relating to his nationality, perjury, forgery of passport, election fraud, as well as deceiving public officers to be elected as a parliamentarian.
He has pleaded not guilty to all the charges and the court, presided over by Mr Justice Charles Quist, has admitted him to bail in the sum of GH¢10,000 with a surety.
The accused person was also ordered to surrender his Ghanaian passport to the court. Hearing continues today.
The case of the prosecution is that the accused person is not a Ghanaian and does not qualify to be elected as an MP because he also holds Burkinabe and United Kingdom passports, on which he had travelled to Ghana.
It said he did not renounce his nationality of those countries before he presented himself to be nominated and elected as a parliamentarian in the December, 2008 elections.

Define role of district co-ordinating directors

Thursday, August 20, 2009 (Page 17)

THE Metropolitan Co-ordinating Director of the Sekondi-Takoradi Metropolitan Assembly has called for the amendment of Act 462 to clearly define the role of District Co-ordinating Directors.
According to Mr Clement Dandori, the Act distinctly defined the role of the District Chief Executives and the Presiding Members, but remained silent on the duties and functions of co-ordinating directors.
He said co-ordinating directors had been described under the Act as heads of administration and secretaries to district assemblies
The Chairman of the Presidential Commission which was set up to investigate the Ghana@50 celebrations, Mr Justice Isaac Duose, invited Mr Dandori to suggest ways of ensuring accountability and efficiency at the district level.
The Metropolitan Co-ordinating Director appeared before the Commission to render accounts on how the Sekondi-Takoradi Metropolitan Assembly expended moneys allocated for the Ghana@50 independence celebrations.
Continuing with his suggestions, Mr Dandori further pointed out that there was the need for channels of communications to be well-defined and respected by all stakeholders in the decentralisation process.
For instance, he said there was no basis for the District Assemblies Common Fund (DACF) to deduct GH¢124,79 being payment for 19,440 anniversary plastic cups from the district’s accounts without officially informing the district.
He said the GH¢6.39 unit price for the plastic cups from the Ghana@50 Secretariat was rather exorbitant, because the unit price of similar plastic cups purchased by the assembly from a private company was 60 pesewas.
For that reason, Mr Dandori pointed out that the DACF should have deducted GH¢11,664.
According to him, the deduction was in excess of GH¢112,515.00.
Asked whether or not he protested at the deductions, he answered in the affirmative, but indicated that he did not put it into writing.
Mr Dandori further suggested that the Commission’s sitting should serve as a wake-up call to Ghanaians that they would not account in heaven alone, but also on earth as well, adding “whatever you do, you would be called to answer one day.”
He said there was the need for staff at the district level to receive periodic training to enhance their capacity.
Mr Dandori gave a detailed account of how the district expended money earmarked for the independence anniversary celebrations, and in the process, received commendation from the Chairman of the Commission.
For his part, the District Co-ordinating Director of the Bibiani-Ahwiaso-Bekwai District Assembly, Mr Louis K. Bayuoh, said the district received quantities of anniversary T-shirts, baseball caps, plastic cups, mathematical sets as well as GH¢10,000 cash for the celebrations.
According to him, the district also received anniversary calendars for 2007 in January, 2008, to which the chairman suggested the district should have rejected the calendars and caused the contractor to refund the money for failing to deliver on time.
He said some of the cloths were sold, while some of the T-shirts were rather distributed to churches and party activists.
He also told the Commission that the district purchased GH¢2,500 worth of anniversary cloths from the Regional Co-ordinating Council, but indicated that there was no receipt to show for the transaction.
However, the former Director of Finance of the Bibiani-Ahwiaso-Bekwai District Assembly, Mr J. Eric Amoah, then moved in and stated that there was receipt to cover the GH¢2,500 payment and promised to produce it before Tuesday, August 25, 2009.
The District Co-ordinating Director of Wassa Amenfi East, Mr Joseph Kwasi Amoah, told the Commission that the then District Chief Executive, Madam Doris Gyapomah, gave 10 and 20 per cent commissions to persons who sold the anniversary T-shirts and cloths respectively.

Asuogyaman District given ultimatum

Wednesday, August 19, 2009 (Page 17)

THE Presidential Commission probing the Ghana@50 celebrations has given a four-day ultimatum to the Asuogyaman District Assembly to find out the unit price of 10,746 plastic cups it received from the Ghana@50 Secretariat.
The District Co-ordinating Director of the Assembly, Mr Kofi Agyei-Baffour, had informed the commission that a total of GH¢242,000 was deducted from the assembly’s share of the District Assemblies Common Fund (DACF) for the payment of the cups.
Mr Agyei-Baffour’s testimony prompted a member of the commission, Mr Osei Tutu Prempeh, to enquire from him whether or not the assembly questioned the basis for the deduction of the money to which Mr Agyei-Baffour answered in the negative.
He also told the commission that he did not know the unit price for the anniversary cups and had also not made enquiries from the secretariat.
The commission then directed Mr Agyei-Baffour to officially write to the Ghana@50 Secretariat to enquire about the unit price for each of the anniversary cups and submit his findings to the commission by the end of this week.
Mr Agyei-Baffour took the opportunity to appeal to the commission to recommend that moneys should not be deducted from funds of assemblies in future, because such deductions impeded development.
The Chairman of the Commission, Mr Justice Isaac Duose, also stated that the Administrator of the DACF would also be invited to explain the rationale and the basis for the deduction of the moneys from the accounts of the district assemblies.
He said the commission would also want to know the beneficiaries of the moneys that were deducted, because as far as he was concerned, moneys sent to district assemblies were meant for physical development.
During the turn of the Lower Manya Krobo District Assembly, the Finance Director, Mr Isaac Sintim-Aboagye, said the then District Chief Executive received money and other souvenirs meant for the independence anniversary celebrations.
According to Mr Sintim-Aboagye, the DCE sold some of the anniversary T-shirts, cloths and other souvenirs and rendered account of GH¢3,500.
He further explained that the then DCE, Mr David Sackitey Asare, also used GH¢1,400 realised from the sale of the souvenirs on other expenditures.
Asked what those expenditures were, Mr Sintim-Aboagye said he would later provide details on the expenditures to the commission.
He said a total of GH¢7,500 out of the allocated GH¢10,000 was spent on decorations for the anniversary, and stated that if the figure was considered in isolation, “a different picture would be created”.
For his part, the District Co-ordinating Director of Lower Manya Krobo, Mr Adjei Kingsley Boahene, said the DACF deducted GH¢39,000 from the assembly’s share of the Common Fund.
The District Co-ordinating Director for the Atiwa District Assembly, Eric Hini, who first took his turn, told the commission that the assembly received GH¢10,000 from the Ghana@50 Secretariat through the Regional Co-ordinating Council on March 2, 2007.
He said that 2,500 T-shirts, 1,500 baseball caps and a quantity of anniversary cloths were also received, adding that 1,654 T-shirts were still in stock, while 523 of the baseball caps were also in stock.
The Co-ordinating Director of the Birim North District Assembly, Mr John Nana Owu, also gave an account of how the district expended money allocated for the anniversary celebrations.

GLOA files for review at Supreme Court

Thursday, August 13, 2009 (Page 3)

THE Ghana Lotto Operators Association (GLOA) has filed an application at the Supreme Court for a review of its decision to quash a High Court order that empowered private lotto operators to function in the country.
According to the GLOA and six others, namely Obiri Asare and Sons Limited, Rambel Enterprise Limited, Agrop Association Limited, Dan Multipurpose Trading Enterprise Limited and From-Home Enterprises, they were most likely to suffer greater hardship where the National Lottery Authority (NLA) was given the free hand to take over their equipment when no terms had been agreed upon or adjudged by a court of competent jurisdiction.
The Supreme Court on July 22, 2009 quashed an order by the Accra Fast Track High Court which gave the nod to private lotto operators to operate in the country and maintained that the lower court exceeded its authority by allowing the applicants to operate private lotto in the country.
According to the applicants, they did not enter into any form of negotiations with the NLA on the surrender of their equipment.
“Where there are no terms, much more, terms determined through negotiations between the parties..., any order of this honourable court that allows the NLA to seize the property of the GLOA amounts to a fundamental or basic error on the part of this honourable court, which would occasion a miscarriage of justice,” the application for review pointed out.
According to the application, the ruling of the court amounted to allowing the NLA to carry out its threat against the GLOA.
It said the NLA had issued directives enjoining the applicants to surrender their equipment, adding that the effect of the quashing of the order of the High Court “is to allow the NLA the free hand to carry out the threat that accompany the directives. This is obviously not in keeping with the law and we urge the Supreme Court to review the order dated July 22, 2009”.
The application argued that the decision of the Supreme Court created a dangerous situation which would not serve the public good or be in the public interest, adding that Article 18 of the 1992 Constitution and Section 58 (4) of Act 722 frowned upon the taking of the property of the applicants without due process.
In its earlier ruling, the Supreme Court, presided over by Mr Justice William Atuguba, in a unanimous decision, said the lower court did not have the jurisdiction to authorise GLOA and the other applicants to continue with their private lotto operations pending the determination of an appeal against an earlier ruling that had outlawed private lotto.
The other members of the panel were Professor Justice S.K. Date-Bah, Mr Justice Julius Ansah, Mr Justice Annin Yeboah and Mr Justice P. Baffoe-Bonnie.
On April 1, 2009, the Accra Fast Track High Court gave the nod to private lotto operators to function until the Court of Appeal determined otherwise.
Not satisfied with the court’s decision, the NLA went to the Supreme Court to invoke its supervisory jurisdiction for an order of certiorari to quash the decision of the Fast Track High Court.

Tuesday, August 11, 2009

Another set back for Bawku Central MP

Tuesday, August 11, 2009 (Front Page)

THE Member of Parliament for Bawku Central, Mr Adamu Daramani, yesterday suffered another setback at the Court of Appeal when the court struck out his appeal challenging the jurisdiction of the Fast Track High Court to hear a matter brought against him.
He had prayed the Court of Appeal to stay proceedings at the High Court which ordered him on July 15, 2009 to vacate his seat because he held a dual nationality.
He has also appealed against the High Court's decision and argued that the court lacked the jurisdiction and capacity to hear the suit instituted against him by Mr Sumaila Biebel, a cattle farmer, and further described Mr Biebel's suit as an electoral petition “dressed as a constitutional enforcement action”.
The Court of Appeal, comprising Mr Justice G.M. Quaye, Ms Justice Mariama Owusu and Mr Justice V.D. Ofoe, dismissed the application on the grounds that the MP had not shown interest in pursuing the appeal because he failed to appear before the court.
The MP and his lawyers were absent when the matter was called prompting counsel for the respondent, Dr Raymond Atuguba, to pray the court to strike out the appeal, since the MP appeared not to be interested in pursuing his case.
According to Dr Atuguba, the failure of the MP and his counsel to appear before the court for the second time was an indication that the MP did not have any defence to his client's claims.
The court upheld counsel's submissions and accordingly awarded cost of GH¢500 against Mr Daramani.
Meanwhile, a vacation judge at the Fast Track High Court has adjourned hearing for an application filed by the MP for stay execution of the default judgement which ordered him to vacate his seat.
He had filed a similar motion before the judge, Mr Justice S. K. Asiedu, who ordered him to vacate his seat but the court dismissed the motion.
Mr Daramani then decided to file a similar application before a vacation judge but his counsel sent a letter to the court which stated that his counsel was indisposed and would proceed on vacation afterwards to seek medical care.
The letter further stated that another counsel who would represent Mr Daramani was currently representing another client at the Ghana@50 Presidential Commission and, accordingly, prayed the court to adjourn the matter to October 12, 2009.
However, Dr Atuguba vehemently opposed the content of the letter and said it formed part of the 'delay tactics' being employed by the MP who he (counsel) said had no defence to Mr Biebel's claims.
Dr Atuguba further pointed out that the Ghana@50 Commission was an inferior tribunal and therefore it was disrespectful for counsel for the MP to allude that a lawyer who was expected to appear on behalf of the MP was representing someone at the Ghana@50 Presidential Commission.
Dr Atuguba held that Article 112 (5) of the 1992 Constitution stated that where a parliamentary seat was declared vacant it should be filled within 30 days.
He argued that the seat was declared vacant on July 15, 2009, the day the Fast Track High Court ordered the MP to vacate his seat and for that reason the October 12, 2009 date being sought by counsel for the MP clearly violated the Constitution.
Meanwhile, Mr Daramani is standing trial at the Accra High Court, charged on nine counts relating to his nationality, perjury, forgery of passport, election fraud, as well as deceiving public officers to be elected as a parliamentarian.
He has pleaded not guilty to all the charges and the court, presided over by Mr Justice Charles Quist, admitted him to bail in the sum of GH¢10,000 with a surety.
The accused person was also ordered to surrender his Ghanaian passport to the court. The matter was adjourned to today for hearing.
The case of the prosecution is that the accused person is not a Ghanaian and does not qualify to be elected as an MP because he also holds Burkinabe and United Kingdom passports, on which he had travelled to Ghana.
It said he did not renounce his nationality of those countries before he presented himself to be nominated and elected as a parliamentarian in the December, 2008 elections.

Friday, August 7, 2009

Manager exonerated

Thursday, August 6, 2009 (Page 3)

POLICE investigations have exonerated the Sales Manager of Qualiplast, Hayssam Minkar, who had been implicated by a former salesman for playing a role in the theft of GH¢180,000.
The salesman/private dispatch rider, Dominic Anabiga, had alleged that Mr Minkar was his accomplice in the theft of the company’s money but forensic examinations conducted by the police absolved Mr Minkar.
The prosecutor in the case officially informed the Accra Circuit Court that Mr Minkar had been cleared after investigations. Minkar has, accordingly, been discharged by the court.
Meanwhile, Anabiga, who allegedly conspired with the Financial Controller of Qualiplast to steal about GH¢180,000 belonging to the company, has been granted bail in the sum of GH¢100,000.
Meanwhile, the Financial Controller, Vasu Dev Chatlur, is now at large and a bench warrant has been issued for his arrest.
A number of properties believed to have been acquired by Anabiga with the money he allegedly stole have been recovered by the police.
The properties include two uncompleted buildings at Pokuase, a taxi cab, with registration number GR9818 Z, a Nissan Urvan bus, GR 7571-09, a Honda motorbike, M-09-GR2672, two Samsung plasma television sets, two Samsung DVD players, two Crown Star television stands, a computer and its accessories, a swivel chair and a scientific calculator.
Two persons, Musa Zakari and Osman Musah, who are the caretakers of the properties, have also been arrested.

Wednesday, August 5, 2009

Brong Ahafo RCC Director testifies at Commission

Wednesday, August 5, 2009 (Page 16)

THE former Brong Ahafo Regional Co-ordinating Director, Mr Francis Opoku-Boateng, yesterday told the Presidential Commission investigating the Ghana@50 Secretariat that the Regional Co-ordinating Council (RCC) did not account to the secretariat after it was given GH¢760,000.
He, however, explained that the RCC provided details of the expenditure to the Auditor-General’s Department, which audited the Ghana@50 accounts.
Mr Opoku-Boateng told the commission that the RCC received additional 40 bails of anniversary cloths but denied an assertion that the RCC misapplied the money.
He, however, stated that 36 bails of the cloths were distributed to the municipal and district assemblies while members of staff at the RCC received the anniversary cloths for free.
He also stated that GH¢10,000 was given to each of the district assemblies while some moneys were also released to the traditional council.
Mr Opoku-Boateng, who retired with effect from Monday, August 3, 2009, told the commission that the RCC had so far realised GH¢7,500 from the sale of the cloths but added that the money had been used for other expenditures.
“The accountant said he used the money for other expenditures and is mobilising money to pay. We did not receive directive from the secretariat on what to do with the cloth,” Mr Opoku-Boateng told the commission.
Asked what those expenditures were, he said they included attending to the needs of visitors to the RCC, as well the purchase of fuel.
He further explained that the RCC would pay for the six bails of cloths left, adding that the RCC received anniversary souvenirs including T-shirts, mini flags, plastic drinking cups, calendars, among others.
He said the RCC did not sell the souvenirs because there were no price tags on them, adding that “the RCC has not paid any money to the Ghana@50 Secretariat”.
According to him, the RCC received GH¢760,000 for the celebrations and it was tasked to reconstruct the Sunyani Coronation Park, among others, adding that the balance was used to finance other projects.
He also told the commission that the RCC had paid off all contractors and further pointed out that he had a list of district assemblies which owed the secretariat.
He promised to furnish the secretariat with details of the debt profile of the assemblies.
Hearing continues today, August 5, 2009.

Ghana@50 Secretariat owes hotel $240,000

Wednesday, August 5, 2009 (Page 16)

A VISIBLY unhappy managing director of Lagus Fort Hotel Limited yesterday told the presidential commission investigating the Ghana@50 Secretariat that the secretariat owed his hotel $240,000.
According to Mr Joe Ofori, who is also a legal practitioner, the secretariat leased his 106-room hotel for two years amounting to $720,000 annually from February 15, 2008 to January 14, 2009 but left it in disarray.
“The hotel was always full. They were making money but they refused to pay us,” Mr Ofori told the commission headed by Mr Justice Isaac Duose with Mr Osei Tutu Prempeh and Mrs Marietta Brew-Oppong as members.
He said managers appointed by the secretariat vacated the hotel premises in August 2008 leaving behind huge utility bills, bills for security services, among others, and further accused the secretariat of making huge profits at his expense.
He told the commission that the hotel went for a $200,000-loan facility to enable it to meet the secretariat’s extra demand that each of the rooms in the hotel facility be upgraded with air conditioners, fire and smoke detectors, Internet facilities, fridges, television sets, among others.
Narrating how he came into contact with the secretariat, Mr Ofori told the commission that he approached the secretariat in November 2006 and informed it that his facility was available for outright purchase or long lease to which the secretariat opted for a lease.
He said the hotel and the secretariat subsequently entered into an agreement in which the secretariat demanded for an upgrade of the facility and in turn agreed to rent it for $30,000 a month.
According to Mr Ofori, the secretariat took possession of the hotel facility and made a first payment of $360,000, adding that an additional $120,000 was converted into cedis and paid in March 2008 leaving a balance of $240,000.
He said on May 21, 2008, his hotel wrote to the secretariat demanding for the balance and further ordered them to vacate the hotel, since they were not in the position to pay his balance.
Mr Ofori told the commission that although the secretariat kept referring him to the managers of the hotel anytime he demanded for payment, he did not deal with the managers because “I did not know them legally.”
He also told the commission that he had documents to prove that he entered into agreement with the secretariat, as well as documents to prove that the secretariat owed him $240,000.
In apparent reply to an earlier suggestion from counsel for Dr Charles Wereko-Brobbey, the former Chief Executive Officer of the Ghana@50 Secretariat, to the effect that he (counsel) might need enough time to get in touch with the then managers of the hotel to clarify issues, Mr Ofori said “we do not need anybody to interpret the documents to us”.
Answering questions from counsel for the commission, Mr Ofori told the commission that the secretariat did not tell him why it was leasing the hotel facility.
He told the commission during cross-examination from counsel for Dr Wereko-Brobbey, Mr Akoto Ampaw, that nobody had occupied the hotel since managers appointed by the secretariat vacated it.
He said the damage to the hotel was so great that it was currently under renovation.
Mr Ofori further submitted that he was not claiming damages, although he insisted the bills left behind must be borne by the Ghana@50 Secretariat.
Hearing continues today, August 5, 2009.

Land valuer in court for fraud

Monday, August 3, 2009 (Page 3)

AN employee of the Lands Valuation Services in Accra, John Alormey, is standing trial at the Accra Circuit Court charged with fraudulent sale of land.
Alormey, who has pleaded not guilty to one count of fraudulent sale of land, has been admitted to bail.
He was alleged to have sold four plots of land in July 2005 to the complainant at a cost of GH¢9,500, although he did not have title to the land, which is situated at Ashale-Botwe, a suburb of Accra.
The Circuit Court hearing the case has adjourned the matter to August 27, 2009 to enable the complainant and the accused person settle the matter out of court.
Alormey had opened his defence but in the middle of his defence, his counsel announced to the court that his client wanted the matter settled out of court to which the court obliged.
The facts of the case were that in 2005, the accused person negotiated and sold four plots of land to the complainant.
In furtherance of the sale, the accused person prepared documents covering the land and handed them over to the complainant.
However, the complainant conducted a search at the Lands Commission and found that the documents prepared by Alormey were fake.
It was also detected that all signatories to the documents were deceased.
The complainant, therefore, lodged a complaint with the police, resulting in the arrest of Alormey.
Alormey was said to have informed the police that the land belonged to one Emmanuel Borketey Bortey but could not assist the police to effect the arrest of the said Bortey.
The accused person is said to have so far refunded GH¢2,300.

A-G's Dept. demands docket on magistrate's case

Saturday, August 1, 2009 (Page 21)

THE trial of a former female magistrate, Anna Jane Ghartey, who allegedly defrauded a professor to the tune of GH¢18,000, took a turn at the Circuit Court in Accra yesterday when it was announced that the Attorney-General’s Department had demanded for the docket on the case.
Counsel for the former magistrate was expected to cross-examine the complainant, Professor Joseph Emmanuel Adjaye, who had told the Accra Circuit Court on Tuesday, July 28, 2009 that the magistrate had given him fake documents covering two plots of land he had purchased at GH¢20,000.
However, when the matter was called at the court’s sitting in Accra yesterday, the trial judge, Mr Mahamadu Iddrisu, announced that the A-G’s office had requested for the docket to study the case.
He said the letter, which was signed by Mrs Ellen Kwawukume, a Chief State Attorney, said the A-G’s office needed one month to study the case.
The judge, accordingly, adjourned the matter to Thursday, September 3, 2009.
Anna was alleged to have conspired with Samuel Aidoo, a building contractor, and Joana Nyarko, a fishmonger, to deceive Prof Adjaye into believing that she (Anna) had parcels of land for sale at Adjiringanor, a suburb of Accra, succeeded in collecting GH¢18,000 from him and prepared fake indentures covering two plots of land belonging to a deceased person.
Anna, who has since been discharged from the bench, has been granted bail in the sum of GH¢30,000 with two sureties by the court.
The accused person is also standing trial in the same court for allegedly defrauding a Swiss national, Ms Darcie Slavin, of GH¢47,000 under the guise of providing her with plots of land. She has been granted bail in the sum of GH¢40,000 with two sureties to reappear on August 13, 2009 in that particular case.
In his evidence-in-chief, Prof Adjaye, who is a lecturer of African Studies at the University of Pennsylvania in the United States of America (USA), said one of the indentures covering the plots sold to him indicated that the land belonged to Kpeshie chiefs, contrary to earlier claims by Anna that the land belonged to one Auntie Rose.
He also told the court that one of the indentures covering the land he paid for in 2007 also contained the name of a person who died in June 2005 at 98.
Prof Adjaye told the court that he met Anna in December 2006 through his brother, Dr Robert Adjaye, when he (Prof Adjaye) needed parcels of land to purchase for development.
He said Anna, who was then with the Ghana Prisons Service, showed him parcels of land at Adjiringano and East Legon and later delegated Samuel to show him (Prof Adjaye) more plots of land.
According to him, he made payments in three instalments to the tune of GH¢20,000 and an additional payment of GH¢5,000, which Anna said the Kpeshie chiefs would use to prepare consent letters, indentures and other documents covering the land.
He explained that Anna issued receipts for all payments he made to her.
He said he never received those consent letters and further told the court that a search he conducted at the Lands Commission proved that the lands Anna had sold to him belonged to other people.
Prof Adjaye told the court that upon realising that he had been duped, he decided to report Anna to the Property Fraud Unit of the Ghana Police Service to retrieve his money.
He said the head of the unit invited him and Anna for the matter to be resolved and at the said meeting it turned out that other persons who had been defrauded by Anna were present.
According to him, he was amazed to find that Samuel had used documents bearing his name to sell the same plot of land sold to him to another developer.
The complainant also told the court that Anna refunded GH¢4,000 as part payment of the moneys she had received from him after he had lodged a complaint with the police.
He was expected to be cross-examined by counsel for Anna on Thursday, July 30, 2009.
According to the facts of the case, in December 2006 Anna and Samuel collected GH¢11,000 from Prof Adjaye and a further GH¢7,000 in August 2007.
According to the prosecution, the accused persons managed to hand over two parcels of land to Prof Adjaye and prepared documents covering the land and handed them over to the complainant.
However, Prof Adjaye was prevented from developing the land by some persons who also claimed ownership of it.
According to the prosecution, Anna replaced the plots in contention and gave Prof Adjaye new plots, which later turned out to have been registered in another person’s name.

Bawku Central MP faces nine charges

Saturday, August 1, 2009 (Page 3)

THE Member of Parliament (MP) for Bawku Central, Adamu Daramani, was yesterday arraigned before the Accra High Court, charged on nine counts relating to his nationality, perjury, forgery of passport, election fraud, as well as deceiving public officers to be elected as a parliamentarian.
He pleaded not guilty to all the charges and the court, presided over by Mr Justice Charles Quist, admitted him to bail in the sum of GH¢10,000 with a surety.
The accused person was also ordered to surrender his Ghanaian passport to the court by next Monday, while the matter was adjourned to August 11, 2009 for hearing.
The MP, who wore a cream-coloured suit, was cheered on by a huge crowd which thronged the court premises to give him moral support. The crowd chanted “Allahu Akbar”, meaning “Allah is Great”, when he emerged out of the courtroom.
The case of the prosecution is that the accused person is not a Ghanaian and does not qualify to be elected as an MP because he also holds Burkinabe and United Kingdom passports, on which he had travelled to Ghana.
It said he never renounced his nationality of those countries before he presented himself to be nominated and elected as a parliamentarian in the December 2008 elections.
According to the charge sheet, as presented to the court by Ms Getrude Aikins, the acting Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP), the accused person, who is also a security management specialist, did enter the country on December 20, 2007.
Furthermore, the accused person, in Bawku on October 15, 2008, in order to qualify as a parliamentarian, did falsely make a statutory declaration to enable him to qualify to act in that office, while on October 15, 2008 he swore a statutory declaration that he was a citizen of Ghana.
He is also alleged to have deceived a public officer when, on October 15, 2008, with intent to facilitate obtaining an appointment, he did deceive a public officer acting in the execution of a public office or duty and also before the 2008 elections he made a false statement in an application to have his name included in the voters register.
The accused is alleged to have taken part to register as a voter when the voters register was opened and subsequently went ahead to vote in the December 7, 2008 general election when he was not entitled to do so.
Ms Aikins told the court that information reaching the complainant in the case, Mr Sumaila Biebel, a cattle dealer and native of Bawku, indicated that the accused person was a Burkinabe, British and Ghanaian.
According to the prosecution, the complainant, as part of his civic responsibility, reported the matter to the authorities and investigations revealed that the accused person had a penchant for the acquisition of multiple nationalities.
It said investigations revealed that the MP had a Burkinabe passport, numbered C10098625, which was issued in November 1999 and was expected to expire in November 2009.
The prosecution further pointed out that the accused person travelled to Ghana on the said passport on March 19, 2004 and departed on March 30, 2004.
It said the prosecution would lead evidence to show that the MP wielded a British passport, with number 094442659, on which he travelled to Ghana on December 13, 2005, after he had sought and obtained an entry visa from the Ghana High Commission in London.
“Strangely enough, when the accused was returning to Ghana in 2007, he had managed to get a Ghanaian passport, although he was still then, as now, a Burkinabe/British citizen,” Ms Aikins pointed out.
The prosecution further told the court that the MP held allegiance to other countries, adding that it would lead evidence to show that the accused person fraudulently obtained a Ghanaian passport in order to evade the country’s electoral systems and laws.
“The accused person is an alien twice over. He deceived electoral officers on the misrepresentation that he was a Ghanaian and on the same misrepresentation he got constituents to nominate him and his party to accept him for election, believing him to be Ghanaian,” the prosecution pointed out.
Lead counsel, Mr Yonni Kulendi, prayed the court to admit the accused person to a self-recognisance bail in view of the fact that he was a sitting parliamentarian who would make himself available to answer the charges.
Counsel said there was no way that his client would run away or interfere with investigations into the matter, since, when he heard that there was a criminal process against him, the accused himself called the DPP to inform her that he was ready to receive the summons himself.
The court initially doubted whether the accused person would avail himself to the court, in view of the fact that he held other passports, but counsel argued that those were allegations which had not yet been proved.
Mr Kulendi described the charges as politically motivated and baseless, calculated to harass, victimise and ultimately use the altar of justice to criminalise a young Ghanaian who chose to abandon a relatively comfortable life in England to serve his country and his people.