A-G saves governor from going to prison

The acting Governor of the Bank of Ghana (BoG) Dr H.K. Wampah, yesterday heaved a sigh of relief at the Cocoa Affairs Court when the Attorney General and Minister of Justice with her team of lawyers intervened to have him committed for contempt or otherwise adjourned.

The judge, Justice Godwin Gabor was expected to deliver a judgment on a matter of contempt case brought against the BoG boss for his failure to comply with a purported court order to release an amount of $28.5 million to Sweater and Socks Ltd as judgment debt.

Praying the court to adjourn the case, a Principal State Attorney, Mrs Sylvia Adusu said the State was in another High Court challenging the basis of the ruling out of which the contempt case ensued and so the court should stay the contempt case and wait for the determination of that case.

Counsel for the acting Governor, Samuel Kodzo also prayed the court to “stay the contempt case sine dine”, a statement which drew fierce disagreement from Counsel for the Plaintiff, George Eshun.

According to Mr. Kodzo, “we would have lost something we would never get back” if Dr Wampah was committed for contempt and subsequently incarcerated.

Accordingly, the court fixed March 27, 2013 to consider new issues brought by the Attorney General for the determination of the contempt case.

Moments before the contempt case was called, there had been another heated exchange between Counsel for Plaintiff and the Attorney-General’s team of lawyers, this time in the Courtroom of Mrs Justice Elizabeth Ankumah.

The Attorney General and Minister of Justice, Mrs Marietta Brew-Oppong Appiah was in court to challenge the $28.5 million judgment debt that had been awarded against the Controller and Accountant General’s Department, Ministry of Finance and the Divestiture Implementation Committee.

According to the AG, no court had awarded the $28million to Sweater and Socks, a Labanese-owned company.

According to the State, the orders were void and the court did not have jurisdiction and should not have gone into the trial in the first place.