K.T. Hammond (right) & Justice Yaw Appau (left)
The New Patriotic Party (NPP) Member of Parliament (MP) for Adansi/Asokwa and former Deputy Minister for Energy, K.T. Hammond, has filed a suit at the Human Rights Division of Accra High Court against Justice Yaw Appau, who was appointed by President John Mahama as sole commissioner to look into judgement debts in November, 2012.
Mr K T Hammond is asking the court to quash recommendations the sole commissioner made against him in his final report after the work of the Judgement Debts Commission.
Justice Appau is being accused of blatant bias in his findings against the MP.
A government White Paper has already been issued by the president on the recommendations of Justice Appau, but K.T. Hammond is seriously contesting the recommendations that he was culpable in the payment of judgement debt to Societe-General, resulting from the sale of a drill ship belonging to the Ghana National Petroleum Corporation (GNPC).
K.T. Hammond, in the suit filed on his behalf by his lawyer, Egbert Faibille Jnr on May 25, this year, said Justice Appau showed clear bias in his recommendation that he (K.T.) was responsible for the judgement debt in the sale of the drill ship, even though available documents clearly show that Tsatsu Tsikata, who was then the chief executive of the Ghana National Petroleum Corporation (GNPC), was rather culpable and should be blamed for the whole drill ship saga.
He said instead of reprimanding Tsatsu Tsikata at the commission’s hearing, he (Appau) rather gave an unfettered freedom to him to insult and castigate him (K.T.) during the hearing at the Judgement Debt Commission because he claimed Tsatsu Tsikata is his mentor and brother and therefore gave him (Justice Appau) all the assistance when he was once staying in Tsatsu Tsikata’s house.
“I am moving this Honourable Court for judicial review in the nature of certiorari directed to the respondents to move this Honourable Court for quashing the recommendations of the Commission of Inquiry into the payments from public funds arising from Judgement Debts and other related processes as contained in the official report of the said commission as published, as far as same relates to the applicant,” the writ reads in part.
He said Justice Appau breached the nemo judex in causa sua principle of natural justice, apart from showing open bias against him (KT) because he (Appau) had some time ago openly declared in the Appeals Court that Tsatsu Tsikata was his mentor and brother and therefore found it extremely difficult to sit as part of a panel at the Appeals Court to determine in an appeal case involving Tsatsu Tsikata and Justice Henrietta Aban in November, 2008.
“Justice Yaw Appau, who was then known as Lawrence A. Appau, told the open court after being empanelled for the case that he could not sit on the case because Tsatsu was his mentor and saw him as a senior brother too and that his conscience would not serve him right to sit in judgement over Tsatsu Tsikata,” it recalled.
