Month: July 2010

Justice Utter Peter Derry, an Accra Fast Track High Court Human Rights Division Judge, will on Friday, July 30, 2010, give his verdict on the alleged victimization of the former chief Director of the Ministry of Youth and Sports, Albert Anthony Ampong, and his colleague, former Principal Accountant of the same Ministry, Adim Odoom, by the Civil Service.

Messrs Ampong and Odoom were allegedly victimized for exposing the alleged corrupt practices of the former Minister of Youth and Sports, Mohammed Mubarak Muntaka.

The court will also decide whether the confiscation of their official vehicles, the travel ban imposed on them and their being paid half salary, was in violation of their fundamental human rights.

The former civil servants have filed an application for judicial review, accusing the Civil Service of frustrating them by creating a hostile atmosphere which made it difficult for them to go about their normal duties after they were transferred to the Civil Service, in spite of the fact that a court has ruled for them to return to work.

The applicants claim they were served letters to respond to their official involvement in the disbursement of $20,000 to Hon. Muntaka.

At the court, Counsel for the accused, Godfred Yeboah Dame, who moved the motion, argued that in directing that they should be paid half of their salaries, and being prohibited from travelling without permission from the Civil Service, was in gross violation of the Civil Service Law and their fundamental human rights, as enshrined in the 1992 constitution.

He said only the courts had the right to place travel restrictions on persons and prayed the court to lift the ban to enable one of the applicants travel to visit his ailing sister.

The court thus granted his appeal. Mr. Godfred Dame insisted that the applicants were not given fair hearing, so for them to be punished violated the time-honoured principal of natural justice, which states that one must be given a fair hearing before any adverse decisions are taken against him.

In addition, he said disciplinary measures could only be taken against his clients pursuant to a written charge preferred against them. He noted that no charge of misconduct had been preferred against them to warrant the punishment of interdiction. Neither were they informed that they were the subject of investigations by the Civil Service before the interdiction took effect.

Counsel therefore prayed the court to set precedence by giving a verdict that would protect civil servants against unnecessary victimization.

Responding to the motion, state attorney Elikplim Agbemava indicated that what the Civil Service did was in compliance to a court order, which was that since it (the Civil Service) is the disciplinary authority, the issue of the accused person’s interdiction, among others, should be referred to them.

For this reason, he noted that any action taken by the Civil Service was in line with its duty as the disciplinary authority, as stated in Section 78 of the Civil Service Act, noting that what the applicants were seeking to do was to shirk their responsibilities in a case in which they have been called upon to account for the disbursement of the said $20,000.

According to him, the Civil Service had not usurped any jurisdiction and said the two former civil servants are trying to resist any enquiry into the alleged disbursement of the money to the Minister.

In addition, Mr. Agbemava said the applicants have not been prejudiced in anyway but they were only asked to explain their role in the disbursement of the money. He also stated that being granted their reliefs would amount to Act (1) of the 1992 Constitution which says rights must go with responsibilities.

Justice Derry, earlier this week gave his verdict on whether or not the plaintiffs should be examined on oath, noting that the rules governing the applicant’s judicial review are contained in the high court civil procedures book and did not justify the examination of the applicants in open court.

He said the procedure, as stated by the A-G, will apply in the case of a full trial, which was not so in this case.

He therefore dismissed the application.

The court further awarded a cost of GH¢500.00 against the A-G who filed the application for the applicants to be examined on oath, based on their allegations.

Source: Daily Guide Guide

Parliament says it will not dignify Charles Kofi Wayo’s disdainful remarks against Members of Parliament (MPs) by dragging him before the Privileges Committee.

Majority Leader, Cletus Avoka told Joy News on Tuesday that after some deliberations in the chamber, it was agreed Mr. Wayo should be left alone.

The legislators were of the view that Mr Wayo has gained notoriety in making disparaging remarks on persons in high office, and therefore appearing before the august house “would make him a hero out of nothing”.

The Leader of the United Renaissance Party (URP), Kofi Wayo, had described members of Ghana’s law making body as a bunch of self-seeking individuals, who are mostly criminals. His comments angered some MPs who threatened to summon him before the Privileges Committee to defend his remarks.

However, Mr Avoka said the Speaker of Parliament put the matter before the house where legislators debated on it.

“Some few members were of the opinion that Mr Kofi Wayo should be hauled before the Privileges Committee of Parliament, while some other members generally agreed that the statements constituted contempt of parliament.

“They observed, among other things, that it has been the habit of Mr Kofi Wayo to malign institutions and those who head the institution and functionaries and individuals in society

“So given that antecedent of Mr Kofi Wayo it was felt that we would make him a hero out of nothing”. The Majority leader observed.

Meanwhile, Mr Kofi Wayo had earlier welcomed any opportunity to prove that MPs are criminals.

Story by Isaac Essel/Myjoyonline.com/Ghana

Parliament on Tuesday congratulated the Black Stars on their gallant performance at the 2010 FIFA World Cup Soccer Tournament in South Africa.

The Black Stars arrived home at exactly 11:20 hours on Monday on board South African Airways flight to a hearty welcome by thousands of soccer fans and government officials at the Kotoka International Airport.

Members called on the leadership of Parliament to invite the Stars to the House for the legislators to welcome them home.

Mr E. K. Ackah, Chairman of the Select Committee on Youth and Sports, who presented a statement on the floor of Parliament, said the defeat inflicted so much pain not only in the hearts of Ghanaians but the entire African continent and indeed those in the Diaspora.

He commended the technical team, management, planning committees, the people of Africa, especially South Africans and various organisations, whose diverse contributions catapulted Ghana to the quarter-final stage.

He said the Stars put behind them all the challenges, held the bull by the horns and proved the sceptics wrong.

Mr Ackah said this was an achievement that could never be forgotten “and as a nation we have to give the Team, the gallant warriors a resounding and a heroic welcome for the feat they have chalked”.

Mr Rashid Peluo, Deputy Majority Leader, said the names of the players should be printed on concrete slabs to keep their memories alive.

Source: GNA

All is set for parliament to get a dedicated television channel to promote and broadcast its activities to the general public.

This comes as a welcome news to parliament after complaints of difficulties in propagating its activities to the general public. The TV channel will be established through the national broadcaster, Ghana Television (GTV) digital platform.

This, the Public Affairs Director for Parliament, Jones Kugblenu speaking to Citi News Monday said would afford constituents who accuse their members of Parliament (MPs) of not speaking in parliament the opportunity of seeing their MPs at work. He added that a lot of parliamentary works have not been given the desired coverage.

“Parliament is a body of representatives and a lot of people talk about their MPs not being seen and talking. This is because the space allotted to MPs cannot take all the 230 MPs at a time. But if you have these live proceedings, you will then see and hear a lot members contributing to motions and issues.

“There are limitations when it comes to airtime. We know the difficulty that radio stations and televisions stations have in terms of providing airtime for programs on parliament.”

He said the establishment of the TV channel is good for parliament. “It is good for us (parliament). People will get to know more on what goes on in parliament.”

Story by Ernest Dela Aglanu/Myjoyonline.com/Ghana

The Member of Parliament (MP) for Sene in the Brong Ahafo region, Felix Twumasi-Appiah, who is linked to an alleged fraudulent case involving $65,000 with Juan Carlos, a Spanish national, yesterday appeared in court to be formally charged.

The MP, who on three occasions failed to appear on grounds of being on national assignment, was ready to have his charges read out to him. But the case, which is being heard at an Accra Circuit Court, had to be adjourned because his alleged accomplice, Juan Carlos and the complainant, Juan Francisco Lozano, were out of the country.

Joshua Nimako, counsel for the accused persons, apologized to the court presided over by D.E.K. Daketsey on behalf of Carlos, who is still in Spain after he was granted bail a month ago. The lawyer gave the court the assurance that Carlos would be back in court to stand trial.

ASP Aidan Dery, the prosecutor told the court that the complainant was not in the country so the case was adjourned to August 2, 2010, when the MP would be formally charged.

Juan Francisco Lozano, who reportedly petitioned President Atta Mills over the alleged fraudulent conduct of the Sene MP, was of the opinion that releasing the passport of Twumasi-Appiah’s alleged accomplice in the deal to enable him to travel to Spain would render the case ineffective because he might not return. This was before Carlos was granted bail on the last hearing date.

Twumasi-Appiah has been admitted to a GH¢100,000 self recognisance bail while Juan Carlos is on GH¢150,000 bail with three sureties, after he pleaded not guilty to stealing, conspiracy to commit fraud and fraud.

Before yesterday, the MP was absent for the third time in a roll and his counsel informed the court that the MP could not make it to the court because Parliament was sitting.

This did not go down well with the trial judge, Mr Daketsey who said the continuous absence of Twumasi-Appiah from the court would make people think he was being treated better than the Spanish national because he is a Ghanaian.

The prosecutor said the police would petition the Speaker of Parliament to grant them permission to prosecute Twumasi-Appiah for his non-appearance before court in connection with the alleged fraudulent gold transaction case.

The MP had earlier reported sick and was excused by the court on two occasions from being present at the trial which started last month.

The prosecutor, ASP Aidan Dery, told the court that if the MP failed to appear in court on the next adjourned date, “we will advise ourselves at the appropriate time”.

On May 24 this year, the court ordered the MP to report to the Police to be charged properly.

Twumasi-Appiah is expected to be charged with stealing, conspiracy to commit fraud and committing fraud by false pretences.

The prosecutor said the total money involved in the gold deal was $65,000 and explained that even though the accused persons had settled $30,000 to the Spanish businessman, Juan Francisco Osorio Lozano, the suspects still have a case to answer.

Twumasi-Appiah was said to have also withdrawn money from the account of Francisco Lozano after he was given blank cheques by the Spanish businessman.

He is alleged to have misrepresented himself and fraudulently caused the police to release $30,000 meant for Francisco Lozano, to Juan Carlos, without the consent of Lozano.

Source: Daily Guide/Ghana