Montie Fine: Raising GHC30k is difficult in these hard times – Portuphy

The ruling National Democratic Congress (NDC) says it has found it very difficult raising the GHC 30,000 fine placed on its three supporters who have been jailed by the Supreme Court for contempt.

Salifu Maase aka Mugabe, a presenter at the NDC affiliated radio station and two others Alistair Nelson and Godwin Ako Gunn, who were panellists on the show were found guilty of scandalising the court, defying and lowering the authority of the Supreme Court and bringing it into disrepute.

The two on June 29, warned judges of Ghana’s highest court to be wary of their conduct in the case involving the Electoral Commission and Mr Abu Ramadan if they did not want to suffer the fate of the three members of the bench who were shot to death and burnt on June 30, 1982, in the era of the Provisional National Defence Council (PNDC).

The Supreme Court handed a four-month jail term each to the Montie FM panellists and the host aka Mugabe. They are to pay 10,000 GHS each by today Thursday, July 28, which failure to pay the fine will be another term imprisonment.

Owners of the station were all found guilty of contempt and have been fined GHC30, 000, to be paid to the court by close of day Thursday or face a jail term of one month.

The NDC has condemned the sentencing which the party describes as “harsh and shocking”.

Supporters of the party are extremely angry at the National Executives for failing to intervene on behalf of the jailed supporters and have issued threats to the executives to take steps to immediately ensure their release from prison.

Speaking to Fiifi Banson on Anopa Kasapa on Kasapa 102.5 FM, National Chairman of the NDC, Dr Kofi Portuphy stated that the ruling party is doing its possible best to settle the fine albeit not an easy task.

“Yes they have offended; they’ve shown remorse and apologised, and their lawyers have pleaded. In this had time that people go through in looking for money, in such a time we have been told to pay this fine within 24 hours. I mean where have we found it like that in this country? The punishment is too harsh,” Dr Portuphy fumed.

Meanwhile, the party has urged its members not to be downhearted following the sentencing of the three.

The party is asking its supporters to overcome the sad event in as much as they sympathise with the jailed brother and rather gird their loins for the impending crucial December election.