The People's National Convention (PNC) on Wednesday called on the plaintiffs in the Jake Obetsebi-Lamptey land case to apply for a review on the decision by the Supreme Court.
In addition, the Supreme Court should ensure that its decisions inspire public respect and confidence in the Judiciary.
The plaintiffs are Mr. Samuel Okudzeto-Ablakwa, Deputy Minister of Information, and Dr Edward Omane-Boamah, Deputy Minister of Youth and Sports.
The call was made by Mr. Bernard Mornah, General Secretary of PNC, at a press conference in Accra.
He asked Government to adapt the Accra Redevelopment Policy to rationalise lands in the country, and other policies of similar nature to serve the interest of the public.
The party pledged to assist the plaintiffs with the full complement of its legal team experts to seek a reversal of the majority decision of the Supreme Court.
“The doling out of public lands in choice communities in the heart of the administrative district of Accra to private interest, cannot be said to be in public interest given the need for accommodation by public officials in areas close to parts of town where they work,” the PNC said.
The party said that allocation of the land to Mr. Obestebi-Lamptey was not done in accordance with set rules, not fair and did not receive the input of the Government in accordance with the 1992 Constitution.
The PNC appealed to Ghanaians to remain vigilant and persevere, and to ensure the use of only legal mechanism to secure the reversal of the decision by the Supreme Court.
The party called on the Supreme Court to ensure that Ghanaians had confidence in the country's judicial system.
The party said, “Another concern of the PNC is Election 2012 where many issues, including electoral disputes may come to the courts for adjudication. Ghanaians need to trust that the judges will decide these cases constitutionally and fairly. Ghanaians need to know that the courts will protect their interest.”
The Supreme Court in May 2012 threw out a case of conflict of interest brought against Mr. Obetsebi Lamptey, New Patriotic Party (NPP) National Chairman, by Mr Okudzeto-Ablakwa, and Dr Omane-Baomah.
The court presided over by Acting Chief Justice, Mr. Justice William Atuguba, by a majority decision of six against three ruled that the allocation of a land located at St. Mungo Street, Ridge, Accra, to Mr. Obetsebi-Lamptey was at the discretion of the Lands Commission, and therefore, allegations raised against the allocation were baseless and did not hold water.
However, the court unanimously ruled that the plaintiffs, who instituted the action, citing Constitutional breaches against the Attorney General and Mr. Obetsebi-Lamptey in the allocation of the disputed property, when they were then members of the Pressure Group, Committee for Joint Action (CJA), failed to prove their allegations of cronyism, arbitrariness, capricious, discriminatory, and gross abuse of the discretionary power vested in a public officer under the 1992 Constitution.**
