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PNP Member of Parliament for Assin Central, Kennedy Ohene Agyapong
Assin Central New Patriotic Party (NPP) Member of Parliament Kennedy Ohene Agyapong has pleaded not guilty to contempt of court.
Agyapong, who allegedly scandalized the court by describing a High Court judge in words that cannot be printed, pleaded not guilty to contempt after being accused of scandalizing the court and discrediting his name.
With his hands behind his back and wearing a white blouse with black pants and matching glasses, the MP said “not guilty”
Arguments of the lawyer
The MP took the stand to plead guilty after numerous attempts by his legal team to have the case postponed, reports Emmanuel Ebo Hawkson, a court reporter for Graphic Online.
Mr. Agyapong’s lead attorney, Mr. Kwame Gyan, urged the court to stop the case on numerous occasions giving many reasons to support his arguments.
First, he argued that his client had submitted a petition to the Chief Justice for an alleged case of bias by the Chief Justice, Judge Amos Wuntah Wuni, and has also filed a request for judicial review in the Supreme Court challenging the jurisdiction of the court to hear the case.
The lawyer further argued that his client had also submitted a request for suspension of the proceedings pending the determination of the case in the Supreme Court.
Therefore, he argued that it would be in the interests of justice for the case to be stopped over the three issues that he argued be resolved first, Graphic Online’s Hawkson reported.
The case must continue
Judge Wuni, however, ruled on all the submissions made by the lawyers and held that nothing prevented the court from proceeding with the matter.
On the question of the suspension of the proceedings, it held that the filing of a suspension of the proceedings did not automatically mean that a case should be stopped.
This, he said, had been the position of the law as held by the Supreme Court.
Regarding the request for judicial review, Judge Wuni held that, unless the Supreme Court orders him that he has no jurisdiction, no law requires him to stop the case.
On the subject of the petition to the Chief Justice, he ruled that he had already responded to the Chief Justice, and therefore, unless there is a directive from the Chief Justice, nothing prevented him from moving forward.
“The Honorable Kennedy Ohene Agyapong steps forward and answers the charge against you,” reported Ebo Hawkson of Graphic Online.
More attempts
All other attempts by Mr. Gyan to postpone the case proved futile, as the presiding judge insisted that no law prevented him from proceeding with the proceedings.
Mr. Agyapong then took the stand and pleaded not guilty.
The video that also showed the alleged derogatory comments made by the MP was also screened in court.
On Monday, September 28, 2020, the hearing continues for the MP to present its defense and later for the court to rule.
Background
Mr. Agyapong’s alleged comments were made in connection with a land matter in which he had been sued by Susan Bandoh and Christopher Akuetteh Kotei (Kennedy Agyapong), Ibrahim Jaja, Nana Yaw Duodu alias Sledge and the Inspector General of Police.
While the case was still in the High Court Land Division (Land Court 12), the MP allegedly scandalized the court in a program broadcast on Net2 TV Y Oman FM on September 2 of this year.
A court order signed on September 9 by Judge Wuni read: “I hereby summon said Kennedy Ohene Agyapong according to an order issued under my hand and seal to appear before the Superior Court (Land Court 12) on Monday 14 of September 2020, at 10:00 am to prove the cause for which he should not be severely punished for contempt if the matters against him are proven to the satisfaction of the court. “
Service replaced
The deputy was expected to appear in court on Monday September 14 to demonstrate why he should not be punished for contempt, but he did not.
In court it was argued that the court bailiff could not serve the deputy of the subpoena order, as all efforts by the court, including funneling the subpoena through Parliament to serve the deputy, proved futile.
In view of the difficulties mentioned above, Judge Wuni ordered that the subpoena be served on the MP by substitute service, a method allowed by law if personal service was problematic.
Supreme Court
On September 17, the deputy asked the Supreme Court to stop the contempt proceedings against him by a High Court in Accra.
The MP’s lawyers filed a request for judicial review in the Superior Court, just 24 hours after he was supposed to appear in Superior Court and explain why he should not be punished for calling the judge “stupid.”
The MP wants the Supreme Court to prohibit the Superior Court from hearing the contempt case and also vacate the summons to appear in court on the grounds that the particular court (12 Land Court) that convened it had no jurisdiction to do then.
Different cut
In his affidavit of support, the MP states that his comments were not against Judge Amos Wuntah Wuni of Land Court 12, but against a different judge in another Labor Court 2 matter, for which he said he had duly apologized.
“The words spoken that I consider unflattering and have since apologized were not addressed to the Court, presided over by His Honor Amos Wuntah Wuni, the Court does not have jurisdiction to order the plaintiff to appear and answer why he should not be severely punished for contempt to the court, ”the MP said in his affidavit of support.
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