Richard Owusu Nyarko, Chairman of the Management Committee of Kumasi Club Limited, has been cleared of contempt of court.
Francis Oppong and John Nketia had filed an application for contempt against Mr. Nyarko for allegedly disregarding an application for injunction seeking to restrain him from holding himself out as the Chairman of Kumasi Club Limited.
According to a Kumasi High Court presided over by Justice Francis Obiri, the applicants failed to prove beyond reasonable doubt that Mr. Nyarko did anything contrary to the rules of the court, and that his actions brought the administration of justice into disrepute.
Application
On July 13, 2020, the two members of the club filed an application for contempt against the respondent, claiming that he had brought “the administration of justice into irreparable disrepute by his wanton, deliberate, willful acts and conducts by disregarding a pending action/proceedings in court, and a motion on notice for interlocutors injunction restraining him from holding himself out as the Chairman of Kumasi Club Limited.”
According to the applicants, on January 28, 2020, they had filed a motion on notice for interlocutory injunction against Mr. Nyarko, and he was duly served on the same day.
They alleged that the respondent deliberately ignored the application and had for instance referred to himself as the Chairman of the Management Committee of Kumasi Club Limited in an action he had filed.
They also alleged that during the pendency of the matter in court, Mr. Nyarko continued to describe himself as the chairman of the club, and also instigated the publication of news stories in which he continued to hold himself out as chairman of the club.
Mr. Nyarko denied the allegations in his response, describing it as grossly misconceived, incompetent and should be dismissed.
He averred that he was never served with any motion on notice for injunction seeking to restrain him from holding himself out as Chairman of Kumasi Club Limited.
He further argued that the contempt application was filed in bad faith, and the allegations were attempts to bully him for standing in the applicants’ way without using proper laid down rules, procedure and law.
Judgment
The court in its judgment held that it did not think that Mr. Nyarko referring to himself as the Chairman of the Management Committee of Kumasi Club Limited was the same as Chairman of Kumasi Club Limited, and the applicants failed to prove that the two descriptions referred to the same position.
Justice Obiri also found that although there was an affidavit of service on Mr. Nyarko, it did not indicate that the motion on notice was an injunction application that was served on the respondent.
It was the view of the court that the applicants should have proved beyond reasonable doubt that it was the motion on notice for an injunction that was served on the respondent.
“The court cannot conjecture whether the motion on notice and the affidavit in support as stated in the affidavit of service were in respect of an interlocutory injunction application,” the judge said, adding “the court’s power to convict for contempt is sacred and must be used carefully and judiciously.”
BY Gibril Abdul Razak