Kwasi Afrifa
An attempt by Kwasi Afrifa, a private legal practitioner at the centre of the $5 million bribery allegation against the Chief Justice, Kwasi Anin-Yeboah to block disciplinary proceedings against him by the General Legal Council (GLC) has hit a snag following the decision of the Supreme Court to throw him out.
He is facing nine charges of professional misconduct at the GLC.
In order to avoid appearing before the GLC, he quickly rushed to the Supreme Court to quash a High Court decision not to stop the proceedings against him and also an order to halt the proceedings at the GLC.
At the apex court, Mr. Afrifa told the court that the charges preferred against him were in a repealed law which was no longer in existence.
Pressing on, he argued that there was no complainant in his case and therefore the GLC had no jurisdiction to institute disciplinary proceedings against him.
However, a five-member panel of the court, presided over by Justice Gabriel Pwamang, dismissed the case on the basis that Mr Afrifa failed to convince the court.
According to the court, “The applicant has failed to make a case for order of certiorari. We are also unable to stay proceedings at the GLC since the jurisdiction to do that lies at the High Court.”
Other members of the panel were Justices Agnes Dordzie, Gertrude Torkornoo, Clemence Honyenuga and Yonny Kulendi.
Mr. Afrifa is therefore sheduled to appear before the Disciplinary Committee of the General Legal Council on February 16, 2022.
It would be recalled that Mr Afrifa was dragged to the GLC by his former client, Ogyeedom Obranu Kwesi Atta VI of Gomoa Afransi, in the Central Region who petitioned the GLC to intervene in his failed attempt to retrieve an amount of $75,000, being part of a $100,000 sum he had allegedly given to Afrifa who had requested it to enable him to procure a favourable verdict from the Supreme court.
But Mr. Afrifa in a quick response to the petition said that Ogyeedom Kwesi Atta had told him about a claim that he had met the Chief Justice, Kwasi Anin-Yeboah who had demanded a $5 million bribe to help him win the case.
The Chief Justice has since denied the allegation and petitioned the GLC to investigate the allegations before he lodged a complaint with the Criminal Investigation Department (CID) of the Ghana Police Service to take up the matter.
Already, the GLC has found a prima facie case against him and subsequently charged him with nine counts.
By Vincent Kubi