“I indeed went over the top, I do apologize for that. I used some language which I supposed I should not have used. I unreservedly apologize because in matured conversation, when you say something that you offend somebody and you are prompted, the least you can do is to say I’m sorry, it wasn’t meant to be offensive, this is where I was going and if it came out the wrong way then I do apologize sincerely, I have no reservation doing that,” he added.

[contextly_sidebar id=”jXSGjAU89Cx20goYkHD5N0OML0Hbed7g”]Casely-Hayford has been cited for  contempt of Parliament for saying Ghana’s Parliamentarians make “stupid decisions” and would have turned the House into a tourist site if he has the power.

The Member of Parliament for the Kumbungu constituency, Ras Mubarak who called on the Speaker of the House to haul Casely-Hayford before the House over the claim insisted that the comments impugn the integrity of Parliament and must not be swept under the carpet.

But speaking on Eyewitness News on Thursday, a remorseful Casely-Hayford said his comments were not to attack Parliament but he was instead advocating for a decentralized law making house.

“I was giving a talk on the best government practices for development in Africa. We were discussing the issue and I suggested that what we could do was to dissolve the single parliament arrangement that we have and instead have ten regional parliaments where each parliament will perfectly take care of their own areas. So this is what the conversion went. I’m saying so, I deed went over the top, I do apologise for that. I used some language which I supposed I should not have used. But it was a very interesting engaging conversion and certain words came out that did not need to come out during the time. But it was not about this Parliament but it was about the processes that we go through in order to arrive at development in Africa.”

“I think that the article that came out was a little misconstrued in the way it was presented so it made it look like I was insulting parliament. There is no reason why I will call for a dissolution of Parliament and suggest that we have ten,” he explained.

Apology can’t save you now

But Ras Mubarak also speaking on the Eyewitness News said the apology may not save Casely-Hayford.

“Sydney Casely-Hayford knew what he was doing when he made the comments. I think Sydney’s intent was to impugn the integrity of Parliament and I’m sure he was excited with the applause. A person of the stature of Sydney’s shouldn’t be making such sweeping comments. It’s a very weak attempt by Sydney to water down the outrageous comments he made,” he added.

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By: Godwin Akweiteh Allotey/citifmonline.com/Ghana
Follow @AlloteyGodwin

The post ‘I went over the top; I’m sorry’ – Casely-Hayford to Parliament appeared first on Citi 97.3 FM - Relevant Radio. Always.

Justice Logoh filed the writ on Wednesday February 1, 2017.

[contextly_sidebar id=”Vx38gw128BeCEqsKU0aTQi2FvSkdjGCz”]While some High Court Judges out of the 22 captured in the investigative video have been suspended with other lower court judges dismissed, Justice Logo and a few others, notably Justice Paul Uter Dery, have filed a number of lawsuits seeking to annul any legal proceedings against them, and to prevent their possible removal from office.

In his latest action against the Chief Justice, Justice Mustapha Habib Logoh is questioning why the Chief Justice is going ahead to begin impeachment proceedings against him, when he has other suits pending in court in relation to his interdiction.

In response to a January 30, 2017 letter seeking his response to a petition seeking his dismissal on stated misbehaviour, Justice Logoh said he has taken steps to repair his dented image following the Tiger Eye undercover investigations which revealed how judges traded justice for money and items.

The January 30 letter or petition is a follow up to a September 15, 2015 petition, in which Anas Aremeyaw Anas, who is head of the Tiger Eye PI, requested the dismissal of Justice Logoh for abusing his position.

“You would recall that by a letter dated 9th September 2015, you requested me to respond to the same petition. I therefore instituted various actions against you, Tiger Eye PI, the then petitioner, and the Attorney General in both the High Court and notified you of same and indicated that I was unable to respond to the petition because of the pending case in court,” Justice Logo said.

“I have also filed a new suit at the Supreme Court in which I am seeking an injunctive relief against you from continuing with the said proceedings,” he added.

Justice Logoh maintains that, the cases are still pending in court and the attempt to impeach him is an exercise in contempt of court.

“I am also seeking a declaration that your conduct to proceed with the impeachment proceedings whilst there is a suit in the Supreme Court challenging your jurisdiction is contemptuous of the Supreme Court.”
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By: Ebenezer Afanyi Dadzie/citiffmonline.com/Ghana

The post Anas’ exposé: Justice Logoh sues Chief Justice for contempt appeared first on Citi 97.3 FM - Relevant Radio. Always.

The suit follows the EC’s decision to accept the PPP’s filing fee last week, despite an interlocutory injunction secured by the latter.

The PPP believes the decision by Charlotte Osei to accept its filing fee is unlawful.

A copy of the writ sighted by Citi News said “take notice that this Honourable court shall be moved by lawyers of the applicant, Yaw Amoah-Owusu , praying the Honourable court for an order of Committal of you Mrs Charlotte Ama Osei, Chairman of the Electoral Commission of the Republic of Ghana, for defying the substance of the motion on Notice of an order pending before this Honourable court and on the basis of the Affidavit in support to this motion and for any orders the Honourable court may deem fit.”

Background

The PPP filed a suit at the High Court early this month, seeking an interlocutory injunction to prevent the Commission from receiving the nominations in protest against what they described as “high” filing fees set by the EC for aspirants.

According to the Chairman of the PPP, Allotey Brew Hammond, although they asked the Commission to return the bank draft after the presentation on Friday, the EC Chair, refused to hand it back to them.

“We have started the motion of talking to our lawyers to get the processes of filing for contempt because our relief was to have the EC not to accept any filing fee and since they have accepted our filing fee, they are in contempt of the injunction,” Mr Brew Hammond told Citi News.

Reacting to claims the PPP deliberately presented their filing fee to the EC as a trap and that the PPP is also in contempt for presenting the fee, the party Chairman said, “We will leave it to the judges to tell us if offering and accepting are the same thing. Even if we trapped them [EC], we made the effort to remind the Commission that they were not supposed to accept but they [EC] objected.” ‘

EC accepts filing fees’

In an interesting twist last week, the Commission accepted the filing fee of the PPP flagbearer despite an interlocutory injunction placed on the process by the same party.

Charlotte Osei justifies receipt of PPP’s filing fee despite suit

But Charlotte Osei, defended the decision of the election management body to accept the filing fee of the PPP, saying the Commission accepted the filing fee because they assumed the party was no longer interested pursuing the case in court.

“By presenting it; I thought they had withdrawn the case, that was the impression,” she said.

‘We didn’t trick EC’

The Director of Operations for the PPP, Nana Ofori Owusu, also stated that the party had no intention of tricking the Electoral Commission.

Speaking on Citi FM’s news analysis programme, The Big Issue, Nana Owusu said by presenting their nomination forms with the filing fees, the PPP was only doing what was required by law.

PPP could face contempt over filing fee submission’

Meanwhile, legal practitioner, John Ndebugri, has said the PPP risks being cited for contempt of court for presenting its filing fee to the Electoral Commission (EC), despite being the very entity to place an injunction on the process.

The PPP is expected to hold a press conference this week to address the turn of events, as they await on the court to hear the substantive matter.

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By: Marian Ansah/citifmonline.com/Ghana
Follow @EfeAnsah

The post PPP cites EC Boss for contempt appeared first on Citi 97.3 FM - Relevant Radio. Always.