Sulley Ali Muntari
Lawyer Egbert Faibile Jnr has cautioned Sulley Ali Muntari to do the right thing if he wants Black Stars return.
It will be recalled that Sulley Ali Muntari was suspended indefinitely by the Ghana FA after an altercation with Moses Armah Parker, then a management member of the Black Stars at the 2014 World Cup in Brazil. He was also subsequently banned from the Ghana national team by a white paper on the report of the Commission of Inquiry into matters relating to the participation of the Black Stars team in the World Cup tournament in Brazil 2014.
Sulley Ali Muntari after two years apologized on Tuesday after the Ghana FA acknowledged receipt of an apology letter from him and subsequently published a statement from Muntari stating his apology to the Ghana FA and the people of Ghana. Muntari in his apology letter also indicated his readiness to play for the Ghana national team if invited.
A lot of Ghanaians have expressed varying opinions and concerns on whether he should be pardoned and be reinstated into the team.
But the learned lawyer in an interview on Kasapa Fm’s afternoon sports show Dwidwa’m with Adam Adjei on Wednesday cautioned Muntari and all those wishing for his return to the Black Stars to follow due process since Ghana is a nation of rule of law.
According to him, Article 280(2) of the constitution of Ghana states that any adverse finding made against any person who appears before a Commission of Inquiry has the effect of a judgment of a High Court and unless the person appeals against the finding at a Court of Appeal for it to be quashed, the effect still holds and anything contrary to the judgment will constitute contempt.
If the Ghana Football Association, Kwasi Nyantakyi or Avram Grant decides to call Sulley Ali Muntari back into the Black Stars it will be contempt since the adverse findings against Sulley Ali Muntari and KP Boateng still holds. I know the President of the Football Association is a learned fellow and knows this so the GFA will not do anything that will amount to contempt. The onus lies on Sulley Ali Muntari and his advisers to seek redress in a Court of Appeal to reverse the adverse finding if he wants a return to the team. Although the right of appeal should have been exercised within three months after the Commission’s report, Muntari fortunately can fall on what we call “Special Leave to Appeal” to seek redress. Overturning the adverse finding that bans him from joining the team is the only way that can guarantee his return to the team even if the technical handlers agree to call him back because not even the President of the land can reverse any adverse finding after a white paper has been issued on a Commission of Inquiry’s findings.
