ELS: MBN360 NEWS
The Member of Parliament for Ofoase-Ayirebi, Kojo Oppong Nkrumah, has accused Deputy Attorney General Justice Srem-Sai of misinforming the public over a recent court ruling concerning his application.
Mr Oppong Nkrumah said it was disappointing for the Deputy Attorney General to claim on social media that his application was based on “deliberate falsehoods”.
According to him, several journalists were present in court during the proceedings and the ruling is a matter of public record.
“Where did the Judge find that it was based on ‘deliberate falsehoods’?” he asked in a Facebook post on Friday, August 21.
On Friday, August 21, the Supreme Court paved the way for selected criminal trials to continue during the legal vacation after dismissing an application by Oppong Nkrumah seeking to halt the proceedings.
Justice Gabriel Pwamang, sitting as a single judge of the Supreme Court, ruled that the applicant had not made a proper case for an interlocutory injunction.
The former Attorney General said the court record would instead show that the judge indicated during the proceedings that the Deputy Attorney General had misunderstood the application.
The ruling means the affected courts can continue sitting under administrative warrants issued by Chief Justice Paul Baffoe-Bonnie.
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Mr Oppong Nkrumah further rejected the suggestion that the application amounted to misinformation because it resulted in the court not sitting for a week.
He argued that the temporary disruption did not invalidate his constitutional right to seek an interpretation of the law.
“If my application has resulted in the courts not sitting for one week, that does not transform the constitutional right to seek interpretation into a falsehood,” he said.
The Ofoase-Ayirebi stressed that parties have the right to approach the courts when they believe their constitutional rights or principles have been breached.
He also pointed out that the substantive matter underlying the application is yet to be heard and determined by the court.
Mr Oppong Nkrumah said the Deputy Attorney General could not simultaneously demand respect for the courts while criticising litigants for exercising their right to invoke the powers of those same courts.
“The Deputy Attorney General cannot insist that courts must be respected and then attack litigants for invoking the powers of these very courts,” he stated.
