Bawku Central MP loses round two

July 23, 2009 (Page 3)

THE Accra Fast Track High Court yesterday dismissed a motion filed by the Member of Parliament (MP) for Bawku Central, Mr Adamu Daramani, which prayed the court to stay execution of its order asking him to vacate his seat because he holds a dual nationality.
According to the court, the MP had had ample time to file his defence in a suit challenging his dual citizenship, adding that the MP failed to convince the court on why he should be granted leave to file his defence.
In a default judgement dated July 15, 2009, the court had declared that the MP owed allegiance to Britain other than Ghana and for that reason he could not hold a position as MP in Ghana.
In its ruling, the court, presided over by Mr Justice S. K. Asiedu, had held that the MP failed to justify why the court should grant his application.
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.
The court held in the judgement that in law, the MP had 14 days to file his defence but he failed to do so after entering appearance and it, therefore, deemed that he did not have a defence to the suit.
An affidavit in support of the MP’s motion for stay of execution indicated that the delay in furnishing a defence had been due partly to certain relevant information he had requested from his solicitor in the UK.
Mr Daramani also deposed that he had a reasonable defence to the plaintiff’s suit and for that matter it was important that the court set aside its order to enable him to provide evidence to challenge the plaintiff’s claims.
However, the plaintiff had argued that the MP had no defence to his claims and that had accounted for the delay in filing his defence.
Meanwhile, the MP is pursuing his application for stay of proceedings pending his original appeal against the refusal of the High Court to set aside the plaintiff’s writ on the grounds of jurisdiction, capacity and contention that the plaintiff’s suit was an electoral petition “dressed as a constitutional enforcement action”.
The Court of Appeal yesterday adjourned the matter indefinitely to enable the MP to obtain the ruling of the High Court, which refused to uphold the MP’s motion praying the court to set aside the plaintiff’s writ of summons.
Mr Daramani has filed another appeal against the High Court’s refusal to set aside its default judgement.