'I'm not going to be available' – Dame rejects Hanan trial during vacation

Former Attorney General Godfred Yeboah Dame has declared that he will not participate in proceedings in the case involving former National Food Buffer Stock Company (NAFCO) Chief Executive Officer, Hanan Abdul-Hamid, during the ongoing legal vacation.

Dame, who is representing the former NAFCO CEO, says the decision to continue hearing the case during the vacation period goes against established legal practice.

Dame said his legal team was in court on August 17, 2026, to explain why proceedings should be halted pending the determination of a motion for a stay of proceedings filed at the Court of Appeal.

According to him, the court indicated that it would first await a ruling from the Supreme Court before allowing his team to argue the application.

“We came today first to satisfy the court on why most of the proceedings we have filed long before all these controversies and issues came up should warrant the court halting proceedings pending the determination of that motion pending at the Court of Appeal,” he explained.

Dame maintained that he would not make himself available for proceedings conducted during the legal vacation.

“Yes, indeed, I'm not going to be available. As a matter of fact, I'm not going to be available, and it's in keeping with the position I've taken all along that we do not attend trials in the vacation except by personal agreement between the parties,” he stated.

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He argued that in his more than 20 years of legal practice, he had never witnessed a situation where an accused person or litigant was compelled to attend a trial during the legal vacation.

Dame also questioned the urgency of the case, insisting that there was no emergency requiring the court to proceed during the vacation.

“What was the basis for the urgency? There's no emergency about this matter,” he said.

Dame explained that courts ordinarily sat during the legal vacation only in exceptional circumstances, particularly cases involving urgent constitutional or electoral matters.

He cited a 2012 case involving the Electoral Commission, which he handled alongside a former Attorney General, as an example of a matter that warranted proceedings during the vacation period.

He further argued that applications for a stay of proceedings were common and had been granted in previous cases.

According to Dame, courts had in the past suspended proceedings while applications for a stay were being considered.

MRA/MA

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