A private legal practitioner has sued the National Democratic Congress (NDC) government at the Supreme Court, seeking an order to prevent President John Mahama from granting pardon to the three NDC activists who were jailed by the Court for contempt a couple of weeks ago.
The suit, filed by Elikplim Agbemava of Fidelity Law Group, was directed at the Attorney General.
He wants to prevent President Mahama from invoking Articles 72 and 296 of the 1992 Constitution, which gives the president the prerogative to grant pardon.
The Attorney General, Marietta Brew Appiah-Opong, has 14 days within which to respond to the suit.
The convicts, Salifu Maase aka Mugabe, host of the afternoon political talk-show on Montie FM– ‘Pampaso, Godwin Ako Gunn and Alistair Tairo Nelson used to preach hate against perceived political opponents of the NDC.
They are currently serving four months each at the Nsawam Medium Security Prison for insulting Supreme Court judges and threatening them with death, particularly those who sat on a case brought against the Electoral Commission (EC) over the voters’ register.
The NDC party members, including top ministers of state and appointees, have been putting pressure on President Mahama through petitions to order the release of Mugabe and his gang – known as Montie 3 – but the president, after receiving the petitions, referred them to the Council of State for advice.
Arbitrary & Capricious
Mr Agbemava, who is said to be a former aide to Betty Mould-Iddrisu when the latter was the Attorney General, averred in his suit that on a true and proper interpretation of Articles 72 and 296 of the 1992 Constitution, the power of President Mahama to grant pardon is discretionary and cannot be used in an arbitrary or capricious manner.
He wants the court to declare that any decision by the president to grant or refuse a pardon is not “one to be made on the basis of the political question doctrine that can be made without reasons being given for the exercise of such power.”
Supreme Interest
The lawyer is praying the court to declare that in the “supreme interest of the people of Ghana and for whose welfare the president’s prerogative of mercy is exercised and on a true and proper interpretation of Articles 72 and 296 of the 1992 Constitution, the president and the Council of State shall exercise the prerogative of mercy in a judicial manner that assures the people of Ghana of some certainty, consistency and fairness in the processes that lead to the granting of pardons,” among other claims.
Mugabe’s Visit
Anthony Karbo, a deputy communications director of the New Patriotic Party (NPP), believes that the convicts may be granted amnesty in September to mark Founder’s Day.
DAILY GUIDE has also learnt Zimbabwean President Robert Mugabe may appeal for clemency for Mugabe and his friends when he delivers a lecture in Accra as part of his five-day visit to Ghana.
But with the new twist in the case, it is not clear if the clemency can be granted in the face of the pending suit, especially when the courts are on recess.
BNI
Strangely, the threat of death was rubbished by the Bureau of National Investigations (BNI) and the Attorney General also failed to take up the case.
By William Yaw Owusu