The Attorney General's Department has filed a motion to stop an Accra High Court from ruling on a preliminary objection raised by the Chief Executive of the Ghana National Petroleum Corporation (GNPC), Tsatsu Tsikata challenging the constitutionality of charges preferred against him. The prosecution led by Deputy Attorney General Gloria Akuffo informed an Accra High Court of the motion when it convened to give ruling on the objection.
The motion seeks to invoke the inherent jurisdiction of the high court to arrest the ruling and an order to arraign Tsatsu before the court properly. Tsikata who did not enter his plea when he appeared before the court last Friday, raised the objection challenging the legality of the charge preferred against him and asked that the matter be referred to the Supreme Court for determination. The former GNPC boss was charged with wilfully caused financial loss to the state in or about February 1993, when he without Board approval guaranteed a loan from Caisse Francaise de Development for a private cocoa firm valley farm. His counsel however submitted before the court that the law under which his client was charged was enacted in July of 1993, described the charge as unconstitutional.
Ms. Akuffo told the court at Tuesday's sitting that the accused person was not properly arraigned before the court hence the invoking of the court's inherent power to correct the defect to enable the accused to enter his plea. Counsel for Tsikata Professor E. V. O. Dankwa objected to the demand, stating that if there was any defect, prosecution should apply to the Supreme Court. He argued that the inherent jurisdiction the prosecution is seeking to invoke could be invoked to arrest a clear mandatory provision of the constitution, stressing, "there is no ambiguity about Article 130 (2) of the constitution." Professor Dankwa informed the court that his client was served with the motion notice after 4pm on Monday (hours before the Tuesday sitting), maintaining that in criminal cases, where the accused persons liberty is at stake, some time is needed to file papers in opposition. Announcing the decision to hear the motion on Friday, the court said the objections raised to the motion by the defence were very technical. The Presiding judge, Justice Julius Ansah said every application brought before the court shall be heard on the basis of its merit, and that everyone appearing before it must also have a fair hearing. The court said the accused is entitled to be given ample time "even in criminal matters when the liberty of the accused is at stake."
