Kwesi Nyantakyi
The Office of the Attorney General has been given one last adjournment to call its first witness in the trial of suspended former President of the Ghana Football Association (GFA), Kwesi Nyantakyi, else the accused persons would be discharged.
The court, presided over by Justice Marie Louise Simmons, gave the ultimatum after the prosecution failed to comply with the court’s order to file the complete witness statements of the six witnesses it seeks to call in proving its case.
Derrick Ackah, an Assistant State Attorney, yesterday apologised to the court for not re-filing the witness statements, indicating that they are considering legal and procedural options which may require the prosecution to either pray the court to withdraw or amend one of the witness statements.
He, therefore, prayed the court to adjourn the case to allow the prosecution to put its house in order for the case to proceed.
Baffuor Gyau Bonsu Ashia, who held the brief of Thaddeus Sory for Mr. Nyantakyi, said the prosecution indicating that they were unable to file the witness statement due to the Judicial Service Staffs Association of Ghana (JUSAG) strike was in bad faith.
He said the case has been hanging on the head of the accused persons since 2021 “and we have been going back and forth at the instance of the state.”
Counsel for former member of the executive committee of the GFA, Abdulai Alhassan, said his client comes all the way from Tamale every time for the trial, and aside the risk involved, his client also comes to Accra by air, which is expensive.
He prayed the court to discharge the accused persons and whenever the prosecution is ready they could serve notice on them to appear.
Justice Simmons, in a short ruling, noticed that the charge sheet on the case was filed on March 15, 2021, and the case as at now has travelled through the hands of two other judges and several adjournments had taken place.
She said having looked at the disclosures filed by the prosecution, she noticed that witness statements were filed for six witnesses and so “I believe that the prosecution might have been able to call at least one of them soon.”
She, therefore, granted the prosecution one more adjournment to call a witness or have the accused persons discharged, and further asked the prosecution to put its house in order before July 26, 2023, when the case is recalled.
Mr. Nyantakyi is before the court together with a former member of the executive committee of the GFA, Abdulai Alhassan, charged with three counts of conspiracy to commit fraud, fraud and corruption.
The trial is as a result of alleged shady deals which were exposed by Anas Aremeyaw Anas in his ‘Number 12’ investigative piece which exposed alleged corrupt dealings at the GFA.
The court last month granted Mr. Nyantakyi opportunity to see the face of investigative journalist Anas Aremeyaw Anas, who is the prosecution’s key witness, in chambers without him wearing his bead disguise before he testifies in the matter.
Anas’ firm, Tiger Eye PI, in a statement said he will no longer be testifying and indicated that the decision for him to withdraw his testimony in the trial is because showing his face to Mr. Nyantakyi will severely compromise his physical security and personal safety.
BY Gibril Abdul Razak