I’m not sure Quayson’s lawyers understand what precedence is – KT Hammond reacts to contempt of court suit

The Minister for Trade and Industry, Kobina Tahir Hammond, has expressed his readiness to face the Member of Parliament (MP) for Assin, James Gyakye Quayson, in court regarding the contempt of court suit against him for stating that the MP would be jailed in his ongoing criminal trial.

Speaking for the first time on the contempt of court application in an interview with JoyNews at Parliament, on July 11, 2023, KT Hammond, the MP for Adansi Asokwa, suggested that there was nothing wrong with the comments he passed.

He said that he predicated his statement on the condition that an MP has been jailed for a similar offence.

“I said there is precedence. I’m not sure whether those lawyers understand what precedence is, but I think I predicated my statement on the fact that there is what in legal terms we called precedence.

“So, I would meet him in court… I don’t run away from my responsibilities. I made the statement here in parliament if they want to take me on in court, yes of course.

“At the end of the day, that is where all these matters end up. So, what is the big deal about it? There is no deal at all,” he said.

Background:

KT Hammond said that Gyakye Quayson would be going to prison just like the former MP for Bawku Central, Adamu Dramani Sakande, who was imprisoned for lying about his Burkinabe and British citizenships.

Speaking in an interview with Oyerepa TV at Parliament on Monday, July 4, 2023, KT Hammond added that the case of Adamu Sakande is virtually the same as that of Gyakye Quayson and that is why he is set for prison.

“There is something we call precedence at the court… this is the same thing that happened with Adamu Sakande. He (Sakande) came to this house, the same NDC (National Democratic Congress) members were the ones who sacked him from parliament and took him to court. He was imprisoned and he eventually died and was buried. It is the same matter.

“There is precedence, this is the same as the Adamu Sakande case. Adamu was jailed for having multiple citizenships and Quayson had the same issue. Now he (Quayson) has renounced his other citizenship and he is only Ghanaian… but laws he broke previously is what we are talking about,” he said in Twi.

Gyakye Quayson, through his lawyers, filed a contempt application dated July 7, 2023, in an Accra High Court with Kobina Tahir Hammond (NPP, Adansi Asokwa MP) as the respondent.

In an affidavit in support of the application for contempt of court, Quayson's lawyer, Justin Pwavra Teriwajah, listed a number of reasons why KT Hammond, who doubles as trade minister must be jailed.

The relevant portions were as follows:

10. That by the words of the Respondent which have been widely publicized nationally and internationally, the Respondent is violating the right of the Accused/Applicant to be presumed innocent as well as the right of the accused to a fair trial.

11. That the said words of the Respondent are also in contempt of this Honourable Court as they are extremely prejudicial to the lawful process of this Honourable Court.

12. That such prejudice undermines the lawful judicial process and may even bring the said judicial process into disrepute as it will create in the minds of members of the public that no other conclusion other than that pronounced by the Respondent can occur.

13. That the Respondent is brazenly usurping the function of Her Ladyship, the trial judge, in this court.

14. That by virtue of Article 126(2) of the Constitution, this court has the power to commit the Respondent and people of his ilk for contempt of itself in order to keep the streams of justice pure.

15. That the Respondent has no respect for the judicial process and the interview granted by the Respondent, in its totality, is in egregious contempt of this Honourable court.

The final paragraph said the application was for the minister to "be brought before this Honourable Court and tried for contempt of court and sentenced to prison if found guilty”.

BAI/WA

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