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Tsatsu moves motion
in court
Accra, July 29, Ghanadot/GNA – Mr. Tsatsu Tsikata, former
Chief Executive of the Ghana National Petroleum Corporation
(GNPC) on Tuesday moved a motion at the Supreme Court (SC)
for the court to exercise its supervisory jurisdiction to
quash the judgment of Mrs Justice Henrietta Abban on June
18, 2008.
Mr Tsikata also asked the SC to arrest its judgment in the
appeal pending before the SC on whether the International
Finance Corporation (IFC), part of the World Bank Group, is
amenable to the jurisdiction of the court of Ghana to
testify in the case.
Tsatsu, former boss of GNPC was sentenced to five years'
imprisonment for willfully causing financial loss to the
State and misapplying public property.
Justice Sophia Akuffo who led the five-member SC panel,
which included Justice Jones Dotse, Justice Julius Ansah,
Justice Comfort Owusu and Justice Baffoe Bonney asked the
accused to clearly explain the relieves that he was seeking
from the court.
Justice Akuffo said part of the case was pending before
another panel of the SC and that the current panel does not
have the power to give directions to that panel as what to
do.
However, Mr Tsikata in his supplementary affidavits argued
that the claim by the trial judge that, he (Tsikata) was
abusing the judicial process was not true.
He said the decision by the trial judge to go ahead with his
judgment despite the appeal pending before the SC in respect
of the IFC case was a slap in the face of the SC as well as
disrespect to the SC.
He also submitted that Mrs Justice Abban had determined that
it was necessary to wait the outcome of the appeal since it
could have impact on further proceedings before her and in
order to avoid "a mistrial or a miscarriage of justice".
He said having stayed proceedings, suddenly the trial judge
on June 18, 2008 decided that she would no longer wait for
the decision of the SC, which was one week away to give its
ruling.
Mr. Tsikata further argued that Mrs. Justice Abban acted in
breach of Article 296(a) of the 1992 to be fair and candid
in the exercise of her discretionary power and committed
patent errors of law in making the decisions and
determinations.
He said the attempt by the trial judge to compel him to
represent himself because he was a lawyer when he had stated
clearly his option to be represented by counsel was a breach
of his fundamental human rights.
He said that even before the judge had heard the application
for further evidence which was before the court she had
decided to throw it out and, therefore, took along to court
the judgment she was determined to read that day.
Mr Joe Ghartey, Attorney General and Minister of Justice, in
his submission refuted claims by Mr Tsikata that the trial
judge had stayed proceedings.
He said so far, the judge was concern Mr Tsikata had on
various occasions gone to the Appeal Court and SC to had the
judgment quashed but had been unsuccessful and so that was
why the judge went ahead with his judgment.
Mr Ghartey also argued it was not the decision of the trial
judge but the case was struck out for want of prosecution.
He said under Article 19(2) f the accused had the
opportunity to either represent himself or have a lawyers of
his choice, which does not mean one particular lawyer.
He further argued that the claim of the accused that trial
judge had prejudged the trial was also not true, adding
that, far back in October 2006, the judge had finished his
judgment and was waiting the applicant's appeal at the SC
which was not successful.
Mr Tsikata, former boss of GNPC was sentenced to five years'
imprisonment for wilfully causing financial loss to the
State and misapplying public property.
He was found guilty on three counts of causing financial
loss to the State and one count of misapplying public
property and jailed five years' on each count. The sentences
will run concurrently.
Tsikata was charged with three counts of wilfully causing
financial loss of GH¢ 230,000 (2.3 billion old Ghana cedis)
to the State through a loan he, on behalf of GNPC,
guaranteed for Valley Farms, a private company, and another
count of misapplying public property.
He is said to have intentionally misapplied GH¢ 2,000 (20
million cedis) to acquire shares in Valley Farms.
Valley Farm contracted the loan from Caisse Centrale, now
Agence Française de Développement (ADF), but defaulted in
the payment, compelling GNPC as the guarantors, to pay the
loan in 1996.
GNA
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