Suspended First Vice Chairman of the opposition New Patriotic Party (NPP), Sammy Crabbe, has served notice he will\u00a0appeal the dismissal of his suit by a High Court Judge in a case in which he prayed the court to nullify the suspension, which he insists was unconstitutional.<\/p>\n
An Accra High Court on Thursday June 2, dismissed Sammy Crabbe\u2019s suit<\/a><\/strong><\/span>. According to the judge, Justice Sir Dennis Adjei, the National Disciplinary Committee of the NPP, has jurisdiction to hear and punish anyone found to have breached the party’s\u00a0rules.<\/p>\n Suspended National Chairman of the party, Paul Afoko, testified on behalf of the plaintiff, after questions were raised by Sammy Crabbe\u2019s lawyers over the capacity of one of the disciplinary committee members, Gifty Kusi.<\/p>\n [contextly_sidebar id=”K2rUqqw7twG9s01egwxF7XunkaVUn8D0″]Sammy Crabbe dragged the NPP to court months after his suspension by the party\u2019s National Executive Council (NEC), citing violation of the rules of natural justice, error on the face of the records and a breach of procedure.<\/p>\n Mr. Crabbe was suspended indefinitely in 2015, alongside the party\u2019s General Secretary, Kwabena Agyepong.<\/p>\n The suspension of the two came after the suspension of the National Chairman, Paul Afoko. They were suspended for \u201cmisconduct\u201d which included a disregard for party structures.<\/p>\n Mr. Crabbe, who is perceived as an ally to the suspended Paul Afoko, refused to appear before the NPP\u2019s disciplinary committee after several invitations before his suspension.<\/p>\n But speaking on Citi Eyewitness News<\/strong> today [Thursday], Mr. Crabbe said he disagreed with the Judge\u2019s ruling, and is consulting his lawyers to file an appeal.<\/p>\n \u201cBasically I disagree with the Judge so I shall appeal on the grounds that I pointed to the fact that as an elected officer if anybody had any petition against me, Article 43 (D) states very clearly that the person has to go to the national council and not the national disciplinary committee. Nobody is above discipline in the party but processes have to be followed. And I don\u2019t think he ruled on that. There are other things I disagree with him so my lawyers will look at that and we will go on.\u201d<\/p>\n On the Judge\u2019s explanation\u00a0that he failed to exhaust internal redress mechanisms adequately before heading for the court, Mr. Crabbe said, \u201cI see it very differently because in one the party’s defense, they said that the NPP is a private organisation and when something is happening in it no court can interfere. But the court ruled against that by saying they could not hide behind a private organisation and undermine the rights of people and that I can always come to court to look at the issues.\u201d<\/p>\n Judge didn’t rule on\u00a0the main issue<\/strong><\/p>\n He further explained that, \u201cBut I am saying that, there was one issue in my view they never ruled on and I want to seek further clarification on that because the disciplinary committee has no jurisdiction over an elected officer. Elected officers in the party enjoy a certain degree of security of their tenure. It\u2019s very important to their motivation and I believe that is under threat so that\u2019s what I am going for. Others are saying that I went to seek reinstatement as a suspended officer; which is not so because I don\u2019t even recognise that so-called suspension because they don\u2019t even have jurisdiction to do that.\u201d<\/p>\n Mr. Crabbe said it was a misconception for people to think that his court action is merely to distract the party\u2019s campaign with barely six months to the election in November.<\/p>\n \u201cI never said I was above the law. I only said if you have something against me don\u2019t take it to the disciplinary committee. There are reports I turned down several invitations from the committee but it was just once that they wrote to me and I wrote back to them that I am sorry and cannot appear before them because per the constitution they did not have that power. The judge did not handle those two things; I find it strange and I want to find out why. So I have the right to appeal and I shall go on until I get my justice.\u201d<\/p>\n Going to court doesn\u2019t mean you are notorious<\/strong><\/p>\n Mr. Crabbe noted that, \u201cIt sounds like somebody making a point that when we (NPP) took President Mahama to court our intention\u00a0was to disrupt Ghana; that\u2019s not the issue. When you go to court, it\u2019s not because you are notorious. We don\u2019t have to paint people who subject themselves to court processes as devilish. We go to court to get certain things to be unraveled. My intention is not to scatter the party\u2019s efforts but to strengthen our efforts. Otherwise if I can be elected and people can get rid of me not using due process, then I will not put myself up for election. And excuse me to say, if people of substance do not put themselves up for election, naysayers and sycophants will do so and it\u2019s going to weaken the NPP.\u201d
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\nBy: Ebenezer Afanyi Dadzie\/citifmonline.com\/Ghana
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