Mr. Afoko leaving the court after the judgement
Posted on: www.dailyguideghana.com
By William Yaw Owusu
Tuesday, August 16, 2016
A human rights court in Accra presided over by Justice Anthony K.
Yeboah, yesterday affirmed the indefinite suspension of Paul A. Afoko as the
National Chairman of the New Patriotic Party (NPP).
In
what looks like a massive boost for the party - as it prepares for Election
2016 in December - the court said the NPP did not breach its constitution in
suspending Mr. Afoko.
Justice
Yeboah said Mr Afoko failed to prove that the party erred in suspending him,
saying the party acted fairly and lawfully in its decision to suspend him.
Final Blow
“Taking into account all the available evidence and on the balance
of probability, the plaintiff’s (Afoko’s) action fails. His claims for reliefs
are dismissed,” Justice Yeboah said in his 85-page judgement that lasted more
than two hours.
“The plaintiff should remain as the indefinitely-suspended Chairman
of the first respondent (NPP),” the court declared.
It also held that not only is Afoko suspended as an officer
(National Chairman) of the NPP, but also as a member of the party - per the judge’s
interpretation of the NPP constitution.
Afoko ‘Dazed’
For a couple of minutes, Mr.
Afoko, who appeared ‘dazed’ by the judgement, remained glued to his seat in the
courtroom, even after the judge had retired to his chamber. The plaintiff was
later ushered out by the police to his Nissan Patrol 4X4.
In fact, Mr. Afoko lost all the reliefs he brought to court for his
reinstatement.
Main Action
Mr. Afoko had sued the NPP and its Acting National Chairman, Freddie
Blay, who is also the First National Vice Chairman of the party after he was
suspended indefinitely in October last year.
The party’s Disciplinary Committee (DC)
had recommended his suspension after a petition by two members of the NPP; and
Mr. Afoko wanted the court to order his re-instatement as the National Chairman
because he claimed that the party’s action was unconstitutional.
A similar case instituted by Sammy Crabbe, the suspended 2nd
Vice Chairman, was thrown out by another human rights court for lacking merit.
Mr Afoko was accused by his party of working behind the scenes to
block the party’s chances of winning the December 7 elections.
Detailed Analysis
The judgement covered areas like what the judge called procedural antecedence,
jurisdictional evidence, the issue of bias claimed by Afoko, the issue of
appointment versus representation, internal dispute resolution mechanism, political
decision, unlawful suspension, conduct of Mr. Afoko vis avis the affairs of the
party, suspension letter, the word ‘refer,’ stay of execution, among others.
Suspension Or
Expulsion?
Justice Yeboah said that all the provisions that deal with
suspension or expulsion from the NPP had been clearly articulated in the
party’s constitution in Articles 4 (3) (d), 4 (3) (d) as well as Article 10.
He said a cursory look at Articles 4 and 10 showed that there was no
‘redundancy’ to be addressed as pushed by Mr. Afoko because where the issue
involved removal of an officer, Article 10 was there to cater for it; and where
it involved suspension, Article 4 had been set out and added that there was a
clear difference between interim suspension and removal from the party.
The court said that the allegation of bias raised by Mr. Afoko
against Alhaji Rahman, a member of the National Disciplinary Committee that had
recommended the suspension, could not be substantiated and also added that the
plaintiff again failed woefully to lead any evidence of bias against Prof Mike
Oqcuaye and Madam Ama Bema Busia, who are elders of the party and members of
the Disciplinary Committee.
The court said the party did not breach any rules when its parliamentary
group sent Gifty Eugenia Kusi, MP for Tarkwa Nsuaem, to represent it (group) on
the Disciplinary Committee, saying “Nowhere does the NPP constitution say that
Gifty Eugenia Kusi has to be approved.
“The plaintiff could not put a finger on any clause that says that
Gifty Eugenia Kusi is not qualified and only relied on conventions and
practices.”
Minutes of meeting
The court further held that Mr. Afoko failed to provide evidence
that the minutes of the National Council meeting recorded by one Edmund Tettey
was authentic after it was challenged by NPP witness, Peter Mac Manu.
The court affirmed the hearing of October 21, 2015 where the
decision to suspend Mr. Afoko was concluded by the Disciplinary Committee and
said the 6 and 12 October sittings were indeed used to take evidence, adding
that “there has not been any demonstrable effort by the plaintiff to say the
delay after the 21-day ultimatum constituted a miscarriage of justice.”
The Drama
The judge, who started reading the long judgement with a quotation
from Sheldon Wolin's ‘Politics and Vision,’ told the packed court that he
deliberately put off his telephone, starting from last Friday to avoid any
‘distraction.’
It looked like Mr. Afoko was anticipating victory because a number
of his supporters who stormed the court’s premises wore T-shirts with an embossed
photograph of the suspended Chairman in front and an inscription: “Paul Afoko
the symbol of normalcy in NPP,” at the back.
There was massive police and national security presence both inside
and outside the court and anybody who tried to enter the courtroom was
thoroughly questioned.
NPP Lawyer
After the judgement, the NPP lawyer, Godfred Yeboah Dame, told the
court that he did not intend to press for cost against Mr. Afoko for the sake
of unity of the party.
In fact, there was no spontaneous jubilation by the NPP supporters who
were in court. It was rather Mr. Afoko’s followers who looked ruffled at the
turn of events.
Appeal
Mr. Afoko had reportedly issued
a statement through his spokesperson, Nana Yaw Osei, to the effect that he was
studying the judgement and hinted of a possibility of an appeal against the
decision.
Minutes after the judgement, the
suspended Chairman said he disagreed with the court’s decision to dismiss his
case.
Nana
Yaw Osei, in the statement, indicated that Mr. Afoko’s legal team was
considering an appeal against the decision.
“…lawyers
for Mr. Afoko will carefully study the judgment and launch an appeal against
the decision at the appropriate time,” it indicated.
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