I'M NOT NPP - SUPREME COURT JUDGE

Supreme Court judges in Ghana

Posted on: www.dailyguideghana.com

By William Yaw Owusu

Thursday January 17, 2013

A Supreme Court judge, Justice Jones Victor Doste yesterday went overdrive descending on critics of the bench particularly people accusing, saying he was prepared to recuse himself in the New Patriotic Party (NPP) petition challenging the declaration of John Dramani Mahama as President.

Justice Dotse served notice to his critics, particularly, a man called Abraham Amaliba, a member of the ruling National Democratic Congress (NDC) legal team, who has tried to associate him with the NPP in the media without any basis.

Justice Dotse’s outburst comes in the wake of the attempt by political parties to tag judges as partisan as the bench prepares to handle one of the cases seen by many as a test case for Ghana democracy.

Just as the application for joinder filed by the NDC to join the petition challenging the Electoral Commission (EC) declaration of Mr. Mahama as President in the just-ended general elections was being moved, the nine-member panel chaired by Justice William Atuguba said that a member of the panel wants to make an observation.

Justice Dotse then took the floor saying that a news item carried by a radio station quoted Mr. Amaliba as making statements to the effect that a member of the panel was once a chairman of the NPP in one of the wards in the Volta Region.

He said although the news item did not mention names, it is as if, “if the cap fits you, you wear it.”

He said that at the weekend Joy FM new analysis programme, Newsfile specifically again mentioned his name as the judge Amaliba was referring to.

“I wish to tell Amaliba and those who think like him that I have never contested any election in the NPP let alone hold any position during my private practice.”

He said he has been encouraged to come out boldly because the stakes in the case are high and he was prepared to recuse himself if his accusers would be bold enough to file a motion.

He said he expected Mr. Amaliba as a lawyer to know better adding “if what they did was meant to intimidate me then they have failed.”

When he finished, Justice Atuguba said the last time when he made ‘a small’ statement on principles he ‘caught fire’ in the body politic, in reference to his outburst when the NPP said they were objecting to the composition of the panel which they subsequently withdrew.

He said that when he talked about principles he did not know that the objection of the NPP was to do with his participation on the bench adding “it was later I got to know in chambers. If I knew I would have asked them to make it in open court.

He said he has always supported the idea that the courts are for the public and the judges are there to serve the public adding “it is a constitutional provision and I was only drawing the attention of the bar to that fact.”

“I thought a certain foundation should have been laid before the objection was to have been heard in chambers.”

Philip Addison, leading the NPP’s legal team then told the panel that what the NPP sought to do was to inform the court in chambers and then the objection could be heard.

“We did not intend the objection be heard in chambers. We just wanted to draw the attention of the court for it to decide.”

Tsatsu Tsikata representing the NDC insisted that before the motion for joinder was moved, the court needed to ask the NPP to move their motion for objection to the composition of the panel first.

“It is not a situation that we should allow the case to proceed as if nothing happened. This is the reason why we insisted that they disclose the objection in open court.”

Mr. Addison cut in to say that the petitioners did not file formally for them to move any motion saying “we are here this morning for the NDC to move their application for joinder but I see they are reluctant to move the motion.”

When pushed further Mr. Addison said the petitioners never disclosed the nature of objection they intended to raise about the composition and did not see what they should move.

Justice Atuguba came in saying the principles at stake were important and besides, the petition was not a private litigation where a party could decide to withdraw an objection.

He said in matters such as this, it was not the preserve of a litigant to waive a constitutional provision.

After a back-and-forth argument, the court then ruled that the NDC should move its motion for  joinder.

The other panel members included Justices Julius Ansah, Sophia O. Adinyira, Rose C. Owusu, Jones Victor Dotse, Anin-Yeboah, Paul Baffoe-Bonnie, Sule N. Gbadegbe and Vida Akoto-Bamfo.

Samuel Cudjo and Barbara Serwa Asamoah supported Mr. Tsikata as NDC counsel.

Gloria Akuffo, Frank Davies, Alex Quaynor, Akoto Ampaw, Kwame Akuffo, Nana Asante Bediatuo, Godfred Yeboah Dame, Egbert Faibille and Professor Kenneth Attafuah were the counsel for the NPP with Mr. Addison as the lead.

Tony Lithur represented President Mahama with Marietta Brew Appiah-Opong and Dr. Abdul Bassit Aziz Bamba as his back-up while James Quarshie-Idun, Anthony Dabi and Stanley Amarteifio came in for the EC.

Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo, his running mate Dr. Mahamudu Bawumia and the party’s Chairman Jake Otanka Obetsebi-Lamptey are the petitioners.

President Mahama, in his personal capacity as presidential candidate of the NDC and the EC, the body that supervised the December general elections have been cited as respondents in the petition.

The petitioners are praying that the highest court of the land to declare that “John Dramani Mahama was not validly elected president of the Republic of Ghana.”