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.