A Deputy Information and Media Relations Minister has said the proceedings at the Supreme Court last Wednesday in which two NPP stalwarts were subjected to fines and humiliation left a sour taste in his mouth.
In the view of Felix Kwakye Ofosu, "there are many who have said Sir John [Kwadwo Owusu-Afriyie] thoroughly deserves his fate given his own penchant for reckless and irresponsible behaviour ever since he assumed the position of the General Secretary of the New Patriotic Party".
But "anybody who watched proceedings last Wednesday as far as Sir John and Hopeson Adorye were concerned, would have been left with a very sour taste in his mouth" the Deputy Information Minister noted.
Speaking on Radio Gold's Alhaji and Alhaji current affairs programme on Saturday, the Deputy Minister also commended Justice William Atuguba, President of the panel of Judges hearing the 2012 presidential election petition, for expressing "righteous indignation" at the utterances of the two NPP stalwarts.
"He also criticised the general conduct of politicians in our society, [and] pointed that there are those who have totally ignored the authority of the state and have sought to impose their own will on Ghanaians and in the process held various state institutions and Ghanaian populace hostage", Kwakye-Ofosu said of Justice Atuguba - lauding his approach to the issue.
The Deputy Minister further lauded comments by Justice Jones Victor Mawulorm Dotse, one of the panel of nine Judges, for rebuking the NPP leadership for not condemning the two contemnors when the issue came up.
"For me, that [Justice Dotse's criticism of the NPP leadership] was the crowning moment of the entire proceedings because it went to the heart of the matter", he noted.
The Deputy Minister also waded into calls by Dr Nyaho Nyaho-Tamakloe, a founding member of the NPP, and the Young Democrats, a faction within the ruling National Democratic Congress (NDC) for the NPP General Secretary to resign.
He noted the disgrace which Sir John suffered on that day soiled the image of the entire NPP, and called on the NPP General Secretary to nobly leave his position immediately.
"For a 62-year-old man, a lawyer of 32 years standing and a General Secretary of a major political party in this country to be asked by Judges to stand in open Court and await their decision, even as they took leave to consider his fate was a major humiliation," stressed Kwakye-Ofosu.
In his view, Sir John's summons to the Supreme Court, the imposition of a GHc5,000 fine, and the disgrace he suffered while he was on trial for intentional criminal contempt caused a "cataclysmic collapse" to the NPP leadership.
"And I am not talking about the individuals who occupy various positions, but collectively, they have failed or rather refused to use the authority vested in them by their own rank and file to run the affairs of the party," he said.
The Supreme Court on Wednesday August 14 imposed a fine of GHc5,000 on the General Secretary of the opposition New Patriotic Party for intentional criminal contempt.
Hopeson Adorye, a member of the communications team of the NPP, was also found guilty of contempt, and was asked to pay a GHc2,000 fine.
Both had to deposit the money with the court by the close of work Thursday or in default serve a prison sentence of six months.
The convicts were also asked by the Supreme Court to retract the said offensive comments and apologise for same.
The two of them were also made to sign a bond to be of good behaviour.
