Sam George takes on Supreme Court rulings

Member of Parliament for Ningo-Prampram Constituency Sam Nartey George appears unhappy with judgements of the country’s Supreme Court.

According to him, some of the judgements “give government a carte blanche to be irresponsible”.

He cited judgements in the Waterville and Isofoton, among a few others, as cases in point.

Sam George was speaking on TV3 and 3FM’s New Day on Saturday. He was commenting on the recent high court decision upholding Exton Cubic Group’s license to prospect in the Nyinahini bauxite concession in the Tabo Offin Forest Reserve of the Ashanti Region.

The Accra High Court held that the Minister of Lands and Natural Resources acted beyond his powers to revoke the license of the Group in September 2017.

Presiding judge Justice Kweku Ackaah-Boafo said John-Peter Amewu wrongfully assumed the powers of an adjudicator.

The Minister is said to have acted based on a no-contract between Exton Cubic and government especially as Parliament had no records of the deal.

Speaking on the issue, Sam George said the Supreme Court’s previous judgements have made some firms look bad, faulting them for not sending their agreements to Parliament.

“It is the responsibility of government to go before Parliament,” he argued.

He opined that the rulings usually give governments the powers to bully firms.

He said in the case of Exton Cubic, for example, everything was done by the firm “as far as I am concerned”.

‘[But] somebody in government failed to do his part.”

He welcomed the decision by the court and also dispelled claims that Ibrahim Mahama, brother of former president John Dramani Mahama, is the owner, or one of the owners, of Exton Cubic.

But a private legal practitioner, Yaw Oppong, who was also on the programme, said it behoves on each firm to ensure that government deals with all stakeholders as part of cementing an agreement.