Justice Jones Dotse
MEMBERS OF the National Executive Council (NEC) of Kuapa Kokoo Cooperative Cocoa Farmers and Marketing Union Limited (KKFU) have called on the acting Chief Justice, Justice Jones Dotse to intervene in the handling of its cases at the Kumasi High Court.
In a petition addressed to the Chief Justice, the members of the Council requested that Justice George Krofa Addae of the Kumasi High Court (Human Rights Division) sitting on Kuapa Kokoo cases be changed.
“It is our prayer that all the cases concerning Kuapa Kokoo and the petitioners pending before Justice George Krofa Addae be transferred to neutral judges who have had nothing to do with Kuapa Kokoo cases,” they stated in the petition.
In the petition dated May 26, 2023, and copied to the Supervising High Court Judge in the Ashanti Region, KKFU expressed doubt that it will get justice from Justice Krofa Addae.
According to the petitioners, they suspect the judge to be bias towards their opponents including Madam Fatima Ali, a suspended President of KKFU.
They claimed that the judge has placed an injunction on the NEC members, the Board Members and the Managing Director, thereby imposing hardship on the company, leading to a break in its operations and the relationship with its bankers and other stakeholders.
“Your Lord, salaries of staff have not been paid for two months since the injunction was placed on the defendants,” the petition claimed.
Six members of the NEC of KKFU namely James Agyekum Kwarteng, Vice President; Ernest Boateng, member; Mary Kosi, member; Cecilia Appianim, member; Emmanuel Kwabena Arthur, Managing Director, Kuapa Kokoo Limited (KKL) and David Atta Boadu, minority shareholder, KKL signed the petition.
The six, led by James Agyekum Kwarteng, are in court as defendants, while six others including Fatima Ali led by Isaac Antwi are the plaintiffs in the matter.
The parties are in court litigating the constitutionality of the suspension of Madam Fatima Ali after she was found to have allegedly embezzled huge sums of money belonging to KKFU.
By Vincent Kubi