Appeal Court Seeks Document On Bawku MP’S Amnesty

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Created on Wednesday, 16 January 2013 00:00

Appeal Court Seeks Document On Bawku MP’S Amnesty

16 Jan 2013

THE COURT of Appeal has asked the Attorney-General’s Department to file a motion to confirm the Presidential pardon granted the convicted former Member of Parliament for Bawku Central, Adamu Sakande Dramani.

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This was after the three-member panel presided over by Justice E.K Ayebi refused to strike out an appeal filed by the former MP as requested by Anthony Rexford Wiredu, a principal state attorney.

The hearing for the appeal was scheduled for yesterday and when the case was called Mr. Wiredu informed the court that lawyers for the MP had withdrawn from the case.

The state attorney also added that the President had decided to grant him amnesty but the Attorney-General was yet to be consulted over the issue as expected.

Just after saying this, Mr. Wiredu consulted a prison officer who confirmed that the MP had already been pardoned.

Based on this information, the state attorney requested the court to strike out the case because the contestant had been granted amnesty by President John Dramani Mahama.

However, the court refused to do that after observing that there was no documentary evidence to support that claim. It therefore asked the state attorney to file a motion indicating that Mr. Daramani now has amnesty.

The case has been adjourned indefinitely.

Mr. Dramani was on July 28, 2012 sentenced to two years imprisonment by an Accra High Court presided over by Justice Charles Quist for holding dual citizenship.

The court ruled that the MP did not properly renounce his British Citizenship prior to contesting for the Bawku parliamentary seat and in view of that he was found guilty on three charges of false declaration of office, perjury and deceiving a public officer. The judge sentenced him to two years imprisonment on each count but the sentences were to run concurrent.

A cattle dealer, Sumaila Biebiel, challenged his eligibility to contest the parliamentary elections, arguing that the NPP MP had multiple nationalities at the time he filed to contest the 2008 elections.

The state subsequently brought criminal proceedings against him on July 31, 2009, with nine counts relating to his nationality, perjury, forgery of passport, election fraud and deceiving public officers to be elected as an MP.

Mr. Daramani rejected the claims and therefore spent most part of his term in Parliament fighting the case in court.

On July 8, 2010, he was exonerated on six of those charges. He later filed for a defence of no case when he was asked to open his defence. He was however overturned.

Justice Quist, in his judgment, noted that Mr. Daramani was a Burkinabe citizen because he was issued with a travel document from the neighbouring country which stated that he was born in Ouagadougou.

After serving five months of his term, the President on December 24, 2012 granted him amnesty. The presidential spokesperson, John Jinapor, reportedly confirmed the pardon and explained that it was purely on health grounds.

By Mary Anane

Source: Daily Guide/Ghana