“Se Aponkye se obema wo fever aduro a, hwe ne dwenso”. (If the goat says it will give you medicine to cure your fever, just take a look at its urine). “Obaa a onim se wurennkye aware ase na otu bankye a onnua”. (A woman who knows she will not last long in her marital home uproots cassava without replanting) “A medicine man who stands to inherit the widow will surely not give the ailing husband the right medicine” (Odunsini a wope seaware okunafo no remma obaa okunafo a woyare aduro a ebema ne ho ato no).
We have heard judgements since creation through the periods of Hammurabi, Draco and Genghis Khans. We have not forgotten the edict of Krobo Edusei and his mantra of “Shawcross in, Shawcross out”. In the Holy Bible we also heard of Solomon’s judgement on the two women who were laying claims to the same baby. That of Pontius Pilate also comes to mind. He gave judgement that Jesus Christ be crucified. We have also heard and read judgements from reknown Judges and Justices including that of Atubuga and his eight........ (Hmmnn) But the mother of all such travesty of justice is the one that emanated from the stables of the angry-looking Justice Appau and his so-called Commission on Judgement Debt.
It was Justice Atubuga who asked the NDC to file its response to the NPP’S petition challenging the results of the December, 2012 Presidential Election Result. The deadline expired but “almighty” Atubuga bent the rule and allowed the NDC to file. Where on earth can such blatant breach of court procedure occur? Only in Atubuga court! But this question can only be answered at another time
Now, let us go back to Justice Yaw Appau and his so-called Judgement Debt Commission. It was an exercise in futility, for if after many weeks of wasting precious time especially the number of working hours that were lost, if that was what he could come up with, then I make bold to say that the “almighty” Yaw Appau himself has caused financial loss to the state – the same offence he accuses Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo Addo of.
The final report of Justice Yaw Appau and his so called Judgement Debt Commission, particularly the aspect dealing with the indictment of Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo Addo, the “Golden Fish” and the “Beautiful Bride that must be wooed” made the Judiciary a laughing stock in the world and the earlier the Institution took immediate steps to redeem is tainted image, the better it would be for it and the country as a whole.
How could Justice Yaw Appau write his report without giving Nana Akufo Addo a hearing? I remember when the issue first cropped up, Nana was not in the country. When he returned, he wrote to the Commission to invite him to state his role in the entire transaction. But the Commission led by Justice Yaw Appau, obviously doing the bidding of his “masters” deliberately refused to adopt this cardinal principle of justice and went ahead to write its report.
Let it be put on record that for the first time in the history of the Commission, it chose to beam live on television when Albert Ken Dapaah and K.T.Hammond appeared before it. What was it for? To humiliate them, of course! Did that not amount to causing financial loss to the state? I am full of passion. This is because I am a Ghanaian and equally have a stake on how this entity called Ghana is run.
That Report is a disgrace to the Judiciary and Legal Profession in the country. Simple! Justice Yaw Appau demonstrated his open bias and complete disregard for the judicial oath which he has sworn by writing a report without given Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo Addo a hearing.
Isn’t it an accepted norm that every first year law student (including even countries where the rule of law is not observed) that an accused person could not be punished without giving him/her a hearing? Isn’t it also an accepted axiom that a statement obtained under duress is not tenable in the law court. In the same vein, if an accused in not cautioned before making a statement, that statement could also not be used in the law court.
I do not profess tobe a lawyer, but these are facts that every layman knows. So, for a highly placed personality in the learned profession to disregard these basic principles in the administration of justice and write bias report smacks of attempts to criminalize the Flag-bearer of the New Patriotic Party. Justice Appau’s indictment of Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo Addo is a travesty of justice and could only happen in country led by visionless President John Dramani Mahama.
What President Mahama and his Nefarious Destructive Cancer have done is to achieve through the back door what they cannot do in the open. The fear of Nana Akufo Addo’s Presidency has unsettled every top member of their contraption. So what do they do? They have become panic stricken and so adopt all panic measures including even the unthinkable to check the forward and pragmatic movement of the flag bearer. But, I assure them they will fail in their attempt. We shall resist all attempts to malign our flag bearer with the last atom of our blood and breath. They should try our tolerance level and see what happens.
If I were the President, I would put that aspect of the report on Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo Addo into the waste basket. The whole Committee sittings have become nothing but attempts to score political advantage over opponents. It is quixotic, dishonourable, shameful, unjust, immoral and mendacious, malicious, hedonistic and unprecedented.
The most pathetic aspect of this show of shame has to do with the fact that soon after the report was made public, Justice Yaw Appau was appointed Justice to the Supreme Court. Was it payback time? Was it on merit? For merit, I do not think so. He was given a simple elementary task and he failed miserably. If he had failed to solve simple equations on Arithmetic Progression, how could he solve difficult ones on geometric progression? The Commissions sittings were marred by procedural errors and violations of the law. Justice Appau’s adverse findings on Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo Addo is the first step to the perpetration of the ineffective, unintelligent directionless style of leadership by Pres9dent John Dramani Mahama
I totally disagree with Mahama’s nomination of Justice Appau to the Apex Court of the land. He does not deserve it. And why did Government not allow some time lapse between the time he presented his report and his nomination to the Supreme Court? I smell a rat here. You may call it perception or whatever you want. But for me, the bug in me tells me that his elevation to the Supreme Court was to say “Thank You” for a job well done.
The problem in the country is that highly placed appointees/appointees deliberately act against the tenets of established norms and get away with it. And so corruption and incompetence have become endemic like “roofo roofo”. Since nobody gets punished for crimes committed against God and society, people are afraid to touch those areas. We need an exorcist to excise those diseases from our body politic.
Who will initiate the move? For a start, I ask the General Legal Council to do the proper thing by investigating the conduct of Justice Yaw Appau with particular reference to his indictment of Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo Addo in the sale of the oil ship and if he is found to have “soiled” his hands with “soli”, the proper thing should be done by expunging his name from the register of Lawyers in the country.
In the early 2090, the Nigerian Minister of Petroleum Affairs, Professor Tam David West was stripped off his position and jailed for accepting a wrist watch and drinking a cup of tea when he negotiated with officials of Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) to increase Nigeria’s quota on crude production. The negotiations did not yield the positive result required in the country. An enquiry into the role of the Minister found him culpable. The Wrist Watch and the cup of tea he drank were instrumental in the raw deal the country had in the transaction.
I challenge the Ghana Bar Association and the General Legal Council to conduct an investigation into how Justice Yaw Appau was nominated to the Supreme Court of the Land by the President. Was it on based on competence or.......
To the Ghana Bar Association and the General Legal Council in the country: I ask this simple question. Justice Yaw Appau has dented the image of lawyers and the judiciary in the country. How do you purge him of that contempt?
I pause and await a prompt response.
Daniel Danquah Damptey (0243715297)
Self- Appointed Special Aide to Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo Addo.
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