Former Bawku Central MP’s case adjourned
The Supreme Court has adjourned sine dine the civil case involving the dual citizenship of the former Member of Parliament (MP) for Bawku Central, Mr Adamu Daramani Sakande.
Advertisement
This is to enable the panel of the court to be reconstituted, following the pending retirement of the President of the court, Professor Justice Date-Bah.
Mr Sakande, who was to open his defence yesterday, is seeking for a proper interpretation of articles 97(1) and 94(2)(a) of the 1992 Constitution on his dual citizenship case.
Earlier, counsel for Mr Sakande, Mr Godfred Yeboah Dame, had prayed the court to adjourn the sitting, since he could not make contact with his client from the last adjournment date.
The case was last adjourned on June 21, 2013 to July 5, 2013.
Mr Dame said all efforts on his part to contact his client had failed and told the court that if he was unable to contact his client before the new adjourned date, he would advise himself.
Prof Justice Date-Baah said after the panel had been reconstituted, a new date would be fixed for the hearing.
The other members of the panel are Justices Julius Ansah, Sophia Adinyira, R.O. Owusu, Jones Dotse, Anin Yeboah, Baffoe-Bonnie, Sule Gbadegbe and Vida Akoto-Bamfo.
The former MP, who was sentenced to two years’ imprisonment for owing allegiance to both Ghana and Burkina Faso, was to appear before the court and open his defence in the case.
The court had unanimously held that the case was not a jury trial and, therefore, the former MP should, in the interest of justice, open his defence and state his side of the story.
According to the court, it could not assume that there was no evidence before it because Mr Sumailah Bielbiel, the plaintiff who is seeking the original jurisdiction of the court to oust the MP from Parliament, had filed an affidavit.
It, consequently, ordered Mr Sakande to open his defence.
Mr Bielbiel sought to oust the MP from Parliament based on allegations that the MP had not renounced his British nationality and following that the Accra High Court, on July 27, 2012, found the former MP guilty and convicted him on three counts of false declaration of office or voting, perjury and deceiving a public officer.
The former MP appealed against the conviction and the sentence but has currently been granted amnesty by the government and released from prison.
Mr Bielbiel had, in March 2009, filed a suit at the High Court challenging the eligibility of the MP on the grounds that the MP held both British and Burkinabe passports.
The High Court, in a default judgement on July 15, 2009, ordered the MP to vacate his seat.
Story: Michael Donkor / Daily Graphic / Ghana
