News:
August 9, 2016
The MP for Assin North has advised President John Mahama to pardon the three persons jailed by the Supreme Court for contempt after they have served half of their jail terms.
According to Kennedy Agyapong, the three might have learnt their lessons by then and there would be no need to keep them in prison for four months.
Two radio panelists, Alistair Nelson and Godwin Ako Gunn and show host, Salifu Maase of an Accra-based radio station, Montie FM were sentenced to four months’ imprisonment by the Supreme Court on July 27, 2016, for threatening to kill judges of the Court.
The three were also fined 10,000 cedis each while the owners of the frequency of the radio station, and the directors were fined 30,000 cedis respectively.
A petition signed by a section of the public who are predominantly members of the governing National Democratic Congress (NDC) has been presented to President John Dramani Mahama to pardon the three by invoking his powers under article 72 of the Constitution.
The petition has been referred to the Council of State by the President for advice.
Kennedy Agyapong who recently made derogatory comments about the Electoral Commission (EC) Chairperson and received a lot of flak for them, believes the call for the immediate release of the three is hypocritical, with specific mention of the Gender, Children, and Social Protection Minister, Nana Oye Lithur who signed the petition.
‘Is the Chief Justice not a woman, let’s call a spade a spade,,,if my comments were condemned, then those of the three should be condemned as well,’ Mr. Agyapong stated.
He said on Adom FM’s morning Show ‘Dwaso Nsem’ on Tuesday that the Supreme Court has clearly made a point by sentencing the three.
‘They have made a clear point that you cannot threaten them and go scot-free…even if they handed them a day’s prison sentence, they have taught the Montie three that they are not above the law,’ he indicated.
On this note, he advised that President John Mahama to pardon the trio after serving two months of the sentence.
Mr. Agyapong added that his comments that the EC Chairperson got her job by sleeping with power brokers, were taken out of context.
‘If anything bad will ever happen in this country, the media should be blamed, not politicians…On that day, I jokingly made that statement after my submission and the media picked that portion and played it all over the airwaves as if that was the only thing I said but these things do not help this country,’ he clarified.
Kennedy Agyapong indicated that he has nothing against the EC Chair, provided she does the right thing in the organisation of the upcoming elections.