SIR JOHN ESCAPES! FINED GH¢ 5,000...APPIAH OFORI PAYS!

Posted on: www.dailyguideghana.com

By William Yaw Owusu

Thursday, August 15, 2013

General Secretary of the opposition New Patriotic Party (NPP) Kwadwo Owusu-Afriyie popularly called Sir John, yesterday escaped jail by a whisker at the Supreme Court in Accra for contempt of court charges.

Instead, the nine-member panel presided over by Justice William Atuguba fined him GH¢5,000 (¢50 million) or in default go to prison for six months for a contemptuous statements he made about the ongoing Presidential Election Petition before the court an Accra based private radio station.

The ruling was well received by NPP members particularly the women wing who had a night vigil for their embattled General Secretary previous night.

Another NPP member, Hopeson Adorye who is also the Operations Director of a pro-NPP youth group Young Patriots, was also sentenced to a fine of GH¢2,000 (¢ 2,000) or go to jail for three months in default.

Sir John and Hopeson were also to sign a bond of good behaviour or in default spend six and three months respectively in jail.

The court however, gave the contemnors at least 24 hours to pay the fine after Joseph Ayikoi Otoo, a former Attorney-General who represented the two NPP stalwarts and obviously the star of the day, had pleaded with the court to give them at least two days to pay the fine.

It was one of the test cases yet for the Ghana’s security as one of the leading politicians in an opposition party was being tried.

Some were of the opinion that putting Sir John in prison was likely going to worsen the already charged political atmosphere while others even said it was going to be a test for the security agencies to deal with the situation.

Almost every Ghanaian was glued to his/her television or radio set, monitoring attentively what was unfolding at the Supreme Court as Justice Atuguba directed the proceedings and all major streets in Ghana appeared empty as a result.

Appiah-Ofori’s Gesture

As at the time of going to press, Paul Collins Appiah-Ofori, former NPP MP for Asikuma Odoben Brakwa in the Central Region was reported to have paid both fines.

He later confirmed to Daily Guide exclusively without further explanation. 

Mr Appiah-Ofori, signed a cheque of GH¢7,000 to settle the fine barely an hour after the Supreme Court found the two NPP chieftains guilty and imposed the fine.

Mike Oquaye Jnr, a member of the legal team of the petitioners told Adom FM that, Mr. Appiah Ofori unconditionally offered to pay the full amount.

Reasons For Not Jailing The Two

Reading the ruling, Justice Atuguba who was in a swinging mood throughout the trial, said the court took into consideration the attempts towards peace building led by the National Peace Council, as Ghanaians awaited the court’s verdict on who should be the validly elected President of Ghana.

“We noticed more contemptuous matters but we did not issue summons because of the ongoing peace building attempts by various bodies, but these were outstanding, we had indicated that we will deal with these long ago,” Justice Atuguba said.

Sir John’s Sentence

Handing down Sir John’s sentence, he said jokingly “Now these are our sentences …How do you feel…we would take your temperature level before…” to which Sir John replied “My lords, I’m humbled by this baptism of fire.”

The judge then said “We find him (Sir John) guilty of intentional criminal contempt of this court, considering the radio admission of guilt by the contemnor and his nationwide education against contempt of court - we hope it’s genuine- and the prevailing efforts of the Ghana Peace Council and those religious bodies, the political parties themselves, etc, and the plea of litigation put in strongly by Counsel Ayikoi Otoo.”

He said in spite of the various mitigation efforts on behalf of the contemnors, the judges were “reluctantly restrained from imposing a custodial sentence.”

He said the court however could not overlook the fact that the Sir John is a lawyer of 32 years standing, and also a high profile officer - General Secretary of one of the biggest parties in Ghana and needed to be circumspect in his statements.

According to the court, the statement was “a threat to the public peace which is contemptuous degradation of this court can engender,” adding that Sir John’s statement “gives the impression that the organs of public authority need not be taken seriously.”

“We impose on him, a fine of GH¢ 5,000 or in default, six months imprisonment. In addition, he should sign a bond to be of good behaviour for six months, or in default, six months imprisonment. He should also retract and apologize for his contemptuous utterances over the same Oman Fm-the platform on which he indulged in them-, within 24 hour.”

Hopeson’s Sentence

In the case of Hopeson, the judges said “We find him guilty of intentional criminal contempt of this court, given that he is a layman, unlike Kwadwo Owusu-Afriyie, and considering his radio admission of his guilt, but not forgetting the gravity of his threats, and otherwise for the reasons of peace-building by the stakeholders of peace referred to in the case of Kwadwo Owusu-Afriyie, we impose on him, a fine of GHC2, 000 or in default three months imprisonment.”

“He should also enter into a bond to be of good behaviour for three months or in default three months imprisonment. These are your sentences, but we would plead that these matters should be taken seriously.”

Give-And-Take

It started as a ‘friendly’ interaction between the justices and counsel for the two NPP stalwart, Ayikoi Otoo but the tempo raised when Justice Atuguba stepped in.

Even though Justice Atuguba would crack some jokes along the way, he appeared furious at what he said was the ‘running down of state institutions by some politicians to feel so powerful” and promised that the judiciary would do its part to clamp down on what he termed as ‘illegal political galamsey’.

Ayikoi Otoo: ….My lords, we are not in this court to justify anything which is contained in the summons that has been shown to us….we are also in no doubt at all that this court has power to deal with contempt, and that even if it is not contained in the constitution, it is still an inherent power given to the court. 

My lords, we are also aware of the provisions of Article 19 (12) which make the exercise of that power almost arbitrary. My lords, the practice in such matters is to render an unqualified apology ….(Justice Gbadegbe interrupts him to correct the statement that the power of the court to exercise a sentence on contempt is almost arbitrary, but Ayikoi-Otoo insisted on the word)….

Justice Gbadegbe: …Judicial function, judicial power is never exercised arbitrarily please…don’t go there. Mr. Ayikoi Otoo, if you are heard by the whole world, describing the exercise of contempt as arbitrary in this country, it is not proper, that’s not what we were taught…

Ayikoi-Otoo: Well, my lord, I don’t want to argue the matter but that is contained in the Liberty Press case that I intend to rely upon. That is how my lord, the Chief Justice described it; that it is almost arbitrary so one should be very careful when faced with contempt. So I know exactly what I’m saying  my lords, but with the greatest respect, I will go along with you because at this page, we have not come to argue with the bench, what we are asking for is to show mercy.

Justice Dotse: I don’t think you used the word in any derogatory terms; you only wanted to show the immense power this court has in dealing with such matters…

Ayikoi Otoo: Exactly! Exactly my lords... So my lords, the practice is to show remorse, apologise for whatever has been said and in fact apologize unreservedly. My lord that is what we are doing on behalf of our colleague Sir John who happens to be my classmate and my schoolmate….My lords, as I have said, we seek to apologize unreservedly and to seek to purge whatever contempt you might have found yourself in. My lords, Owusu-Afriyie has done that; he has issued guidelines to all NPP communicators on avoiding contempt….My lords, he is therefore taking very decisive steps to purge himself of contempt. My lords, the respondent is also the General Secretary of a big party in Ghana; my lords, most of them as politicians, when they get to the platform mood, they momentarily forget themselves. I have contested elections, and I know what it means to go and sing Woyome Woyome….

Jutice Atuguba: Was it on this type of platform that you sang Woyome! Woyome! ... (Court bursts into laughter).

Ayikoi-Otoo: When you find yourself on a friendly radio station like Oman FM and you are talking to your people, you would think it is a political platform and you would let yourself go, and so my lords, in trying to play to the gallery…before you say Jack, you might have uttered and unkind and an unguarded word. This is the context that my lords, we want you to view this incident….my lords, it could happen to anybody and we are pleading with you to look at it also from that point of view. My lords, timing, looking at where we have reached with this hearing, it appears that everybody is poised for the judgment day….i believe that any move on your part to impose a custodian sentence  might not augur well in view of the expectations that everybody is talking about. Everybody is talking about peace….Finally my lords, the power has always been there, but this court has held that the is no use to always take out judicial arms. My lords, it has always been done with a certain measure. It is not that your lordships want to show that you have power and you want to exercise it, no, you are talking about dignity of the bench, respect for the judiciary, that is what we are talking about, it’s not individuals where you feel that something has been done to you. You don’t want law and order to break down and therefore, the punishment or the power is invoked rather very sparingly in all the cases that we have read….

Justice Dotse: Mr. Ayikoi Otoo, have you sought any explanation from your client what must have entered him in the studio that day when he uttered those words?

Ayikoi-Otoo: My lord Mrs Akoto-Bamfo understands this better when she was sitting as a trial judge, we always in pleading we say that-as your lordship rightly pointed out-something entered into him…You see, some power for which you don’t have any control over, we call it “Gbeshie”….

‘Elections would not be the same again’

Justice Dotse: When I read the publication for the first time in the enquirer, I thought it wouldn’t be true or it can’t be true first because he is a lawyer, and I thought he ought to know better. When I checked his credentials, he is a fairly very senior lawyer…it’s not good for somebody who represents a leading political party, I think that is bad. For me, what saddens me as a Ghanaian is that I have not heard any condemnation from the leadership of the political party he is General Secretary of….We are talking of peace; everybody is talking of peace….We must all know that democracy is a developmental stage in every nation’s life. This is the first time we are having a case of this nature in this country, we would pass this bridge and move on and after this case, I hope and believe that Presidential elections in this country would not be the same again and therefore we must be very careful with our utterances.

Atuguba’s Furry

Justice Atuguba: …I understand he has been coming to court every day, this is the first time I have seen this man (Sir John) personally…the first time we indicated this thing, he was on the FM saying there was no reference to him…This is one of the worrying things in this country; the way some politicians play the game, they think they can dribble everybody, play political chess with everybody and get away with it even though it has repercussions for security in this country, that is our concern. In your submissions, you were saying that looking at the timing a custodian sentence may not augur well; if that is to be pursued, we can take that line and see who has power in this country, is it the State or any number of individuals.  We can go that to demonstrate that…

Ayikoi-Otoo: My lord may take heart…

Justice Atuguba: I’m not angry….

Ayikoi-Otoo: My lord may take heart, as we grow, we begin to suffer from blood pressure …(Laughter in court).

Justice Atuguba: (Laughing) You don’t know me well, I’m saying this just to make a certain point clear my temperature hasn’t risen, it’s very normal.

Ayikoi-Otoo: I pray that it doesn’t go beyond normal…

Justice Atuguba: …I am assuring you, I know myself.

Ayikoi-Otoo:….but I have known you for years, when you want to take up judicial arms, you would do it, but I have pleaded with you today never to take up judicial arms.

Justice Atuguba: If it is necessary, yes. You see, this type of mentality has risen because certain arms of law enforcement have been let down lie and people grow horns; they think they can ride over the State, run down everybody, mislead the ordinary people-poison their minds. After the last elections-I wasn’t here, but from outside, when I Joy Fm’s report…I think one or two people died in the sequel to the election. Why should people die like that? Because of some people’s bigotry, blotted egos….We have the mandate here and if we don’t exercise this mandate properly, we would not be doing our work well, we would be letting the state down, that’s our concern.

Ayikoi-Otoo: My lords, fortunately, we have all the major political parties before you and I’m sure the signal you are sending is to everybody….My lords, we would take a cue.

Background

The court on Friday, August 9, officially summoned the two stalwarts for allegedly making comments in relation to the Presidential Election Petition, that the nine justices deemed scandalous.

It will be recalled that Justice William Atuguba, president of the panel hearing the petition on Monday, July 8, 2013, before actual proceedings commenced, announced that the court was going to investigate fresh allegations that some people including Sir John had made comments that were prejudicial to the proceedings saying “we are appealing to the public to desist from causing us the pain of having to summon people here.”

In the case of Sir John, the summon quoted copiously from a publication of pro-National Democratic Congress (NDC) private newspaper Enquirer issue of Friday, July 5, 2013  with a headline: “Sir John Descends on Justice Atuguba…Calls him a hypocrite , A joker who pampers Tsikata, Scolds Addison.”

On the part of Hopeson, the summon quoted copiously from publication of another pro-National Democratic Congress (NDC), Daily Post whose publication of Monday July 8, 2013, claimed that Hopeson had threatened to cut off the heads of NDC supporters.

Akoto Ampaw As Spokesperson

Meanwhile, legal team for the petitioners has appointed Anthony Akoto Ampaw as acting spokesperson for the petitioners.

Mr. Akoto Ampaw, who is also a member of the petitioners' legal team, acts in the absence of Ms. Gloria Akuffo, who has travelled out of the country.

A statement from the petitioners urged the media to direct all enquires and interviews about the petitioners' case to Mr. Akoto Ampaw until Ms. Akuffo - substantive spokesperson and Head of Legal team returns.