Tsatsu Tsikata, Godfred Yeboah Dame
An Accra High Court has dismissed what it described as irrelevant claims made by private legal practitioner, Tsatsu Tsikata against Attorney General (AG) Godfred Yeboah Dame, purporting to be prejudicial to the trial of deposed Member of Parliament for Assin North, James Gyakye Quayson.
Mr. Tsikata, while moving a motion last Tuesday asking the court to vary its decision to conduct the trial on day-to-day basis, relied on a supplementary affidavit which sought to bring to the attention of the court alleged prejudicial statements as well as alleged insulting comments made by the AG against the accused person.
He had claimed that the Attorney General in several interviews to the media had averred quite conclusively that the fate of the deposed MP was going to be like Adamu Sakande, a former Member of Parliament for Bawku Central who was jailed for two years for lying under oath about his citizenship while he was filing his papers to contest for the parliamentary seat during the 2008 general elections.
He further told the court that those comments by the Attorney General suggest that the presumption of innocence is no longer a part of the constitution and in effect the accused person is already a convict
Mr. Dame, however, refuted the allegations and maintained that he had not said anything that was prejudicial to the criminal trial of Mr. Quayson, and that all the purported comments were based on the ruling of the Supreme Court which directed that the accused’s name be expunged from the 2020 parliamentary register.
He further argued that the application is unknown to the rules and procedure of court, totally incompetent and would encourage discrimination if granted by the court only because it was filed by a politician when same consideration may not be given to a farmer or even a teacher.
Ruling
The court, presided over by Justice Mary Yanzuh, in a ruling dismissed Mr. Tsikata’s alleged prejudicial statements made by the Attorney General as not relevant to the issue and could not constitute grounds for it to vary its order to hear the case on daily basis.
Although the judge had granted leave for Mr. Quayson not to attend court for the ruling, she upheld the Attorney General’s argument that adjournments are at the discretion of the court and not the convenience of parties, indicating that its decision was clearly within the law and no case had been made to show that the order was contrary to law.
The court subsequently dismissed the application and maintained its decision to hear the case on day-to-day basis starting from July 4, 2023.
Attorney General’s Reaction
Mr. Dame, reacting to the court’s decision, said he feels vindicated by it as he was always firm in his conviction that the motion was unmeritorious and unknown to the law and ought to fail as had happened.
“I have always maintained that the purported statements made by me to the media have nothing to do with the criminal trial of James Gyakye Quayson. Mr. Tsikata wanted to just abuse my person in court, and indeed used some unprintable language against me,” Mr. Dame said.
He added that, “I have never said anything related to the criminal trial of Gyakye Quayson. Indeed, it is the Supreme Court ruling that described Gyakye Quayson’s matter as being on all fours with Adamu Sakande, something that Mr. Tsikata attributes to me and takes umbrage with.”
Trial
Mr. Quayson has been charged, among others, for deceiving the Ministry of Foreign Affairs by making a false statement that he did not have a dual citizenship in order to acquire a Ghanaian passport.
He has been charged with five counts of deceit of public officer, forgery of passport of travel certificate, knowingly making a false statutory statement, perjury and false declaration of office.
Mr. Quayson, who was booted out of Parliament by the Supreme Court, could be sent to prison for up to ten years if found guilty of perjury, a second degree felony, which will eventually affect his seat in Parliament should he win the Assin North by-election scheduled for June 27, 2023.
BY Gibril Abdul Razak