Even If Asiedu Nketia Is Made A Judge, NDC Will Lose

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Created on Tuesday, 24 April 2012 00:00

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Even If Asiedu Nketia Is Made A Judge, NDC Will Lose Their ‘Juvenile Cases’ Miserably

Lawyer Atta Akyea, a member of the legal team defending the embattled Member of Parliament for Assin North, Kennedy Agyapong, has warned the ruling National Democratic Congress (NDC) party not to play to the gallery when it comes to legal issues..."More Details

According to him, leading members of the governing party have a penchant of mounting campaign platforms screaming “we will jail them” as if they have no broader understanding of the law.

In the run-up to the 2008 general elections and afterwards, the Mills-Mahama administration levelled series of corruption allegations against officials of the erstwhile Kufuor administration, and even promised to prosecute them.

But that promise to score victory at the law courts seems to be a mirage as it again suffered another jolt last week.

Indeed, the NDCs legal team has been tongue-lashed on several occasions for presenting half-baked facts and committing elementary legal errors, the latest being the Kennedy Agyapong saga.

Hon Agyapong’s arrest, detention and eventual appearance before a lower court with no jurisdiction to try treason cases raised the political temperature, especially after some observers regarded the developments as politically motivated.

On Thursday April 19, the NPP firebrand was granted bail by two different judges as the prosecution vacillated over the charge preferred against him.

The bail dealt a devastating blow to the NDC, especially as it was followed by an acquittal and discharge of Mr. Osei Adjei, a former Foreign Affairs Minister who was battling an Indian rice case.

Contributing to discussions on Joy FM’s “News File” programme, Lawyer Atta Akyea pointed out that it was “juvenile” on the part of the NDC to say they would jail members of the opposition simply because they are at the helm of affairs.

“…Somebody who is not part of the judiciary is shouting hoarse on the (campaign) platform…we will jail them, we will jail them. In fact he is trying to work up the crowd that we will find the Ya-Na murderers…The power to adjudicate is in the constitution and it can be found in Article 127,” he reminded the NDC.

Atta Akyea, who is also the NPP MP for Abuakwa South, further stated that even if the NDC decided to make its General Secretary, Johnson Aseidu Nketia, the judge to preside over the Ya-Na case, the party will lose miserably since it is clearly evident that the case for the prosecution is not supported by facts.

The legal luminary then offered free counsel to the governing party saying if they (NDC) want to engage in propaganda regarding legal issues just to win the confidence of the electorate and secure votes, then they need to package their politics in the right legal manner before proceeding to court.

“There is a threshold in criminal law which was not invented by the NPP and proves beyond reasonable doubt that…it is a tall list…so they come in with this thing they call the garbage in, and the garbage comes out…I have even said this in parliament that the Judiciary isn’t the rubberstamp of any political party’s manifesto. If your whole idea is to keep telling the people that you are an anti-corruption crusader and you are unable to put your argument together in a meaningful way…what do you expect? You would lose,” he said.

Source: Chris Joe Quaicoe/Peacefmonline.com