Ivy Benson & Charity Addo
1 August 2008
The Supreme Court has fixed October 16, 2008, to decide on whether or not to quash the decision of the trial Fast Track (High) Court, that preceded the incarceration of the former Chief Executive of the Ghana National Petroleum Corporation (GNPC), Mr. Tsatsu Tsikata.
The court, presided over by Justice Sophia Akuffo, will further determine whether or not by the alleged judicial misconduct of the trial Judge, the constitutional rights of the former GNPC boss were violated.
The rest of the panel included Justices Julius Ansah, Rose Owusu, Jones Dotse and Paul Baffour-Bonnie.
Mr. Tsikata had requested the court to quash the decision of Justice Abban, arguing that her conduct was that of denying him the right to either represent himself or be represented by a counsel of his choice.
According him, a trial Judge had no option to ask an accused person to go ahead with his case by himself, stressing that it was rather the accused person, who had the option.
Additionally, Tsikata noted that the refusal of the Judge to grant an adjournment even when his counsel had sought a written permission from the court that he would be out of the country, but went ahead to take the decision she took, was a breach of the rules of natural justice.
The legal luminary described that without merit, the assertion of the Attorney General to the fact that a previous decision of the trial court to stay proceedings to await a decision of a higher court as void.
He noted that it was therefore untenable for the Attorney General to indicate that those rulings of the trial High Court was void as the court has discretionary powers over the issues before it.
Tsikata had asserted that the trial Judge failed to apply fairness and candour in the issue as she predetermined the case, even though she had an application before her. He added that before taking her sit in court, she had already alerted the authorities and policemen had been present in court to send him to prison.
He noted that his application to adduce fresh evidence before the court was vital to the issue and had not been opposed by the prosecution, but had the application thrown out for lack of prosecution.
The former GNPC boss also pointed out that the decision of the trial Judge to rescind her earlier decision to await the Supreme Court's decision on the immunity status of International Finance Corporation (IFC) was arbitrarily, capriciously, by resentment, prejudice and personal dislike.
In opposing the assertions made by Tsikata, the Attorney General, Mr. Joe Ghartey, argued that the trial Judge rescinded her earlier decision, making it void, as she had no discretion when a higher court such as the Court of Appeal had given its final ruling on the issue in contention.
According to him, the decisions of the High Court has a reviewed supervision of a Higher court, adding that the constitution allows that a person be tried in his absence, and which is considered a fair trial.
Tsikata was slapped with a-five-year jail term, by the FTC on June 18, 2008, after he was found guilty on three counts of wilfully causing financial loss to the state, and an additional count of intentionally misapplying public property on a limited liability company.
The sentence came in the wake of striking out an application to adduce further evidence in court on the immunity status of the IFC requested by Tsikata, for lack of prosecution.
Tsikata was said to have guaranteed a loan of 5.5 million French Francs, from Caisse Française de Developpement, a French company, to Valley Farms, a limited liability company.
He was further accused of using a total amount of ¢20 million, belonging to the GNPC, to acquire shares in the French company, when he was in office.
It was the case of the prosecution that Valley Farms, subsequently defaulted in the payment of the loan, as a result of which the GNPC had to settle the debt, when it was requested to do so.
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