I'M CLEAN - Says Trial Judge

By Stephen Kwabena Effah
December 20, 2011

The judge, Eric Kyei Baffour, who tried the case in which 1,020 grammes of cocaine exhibit worth 44,000 dollars mysteriously turned into baking soda, has absolved himself from any wrong doing in the case.

“I must say my lords, throughout this trial, I have acted with honesty, truthfulness, integrity and above all my lords, I have exhibited courage, firmness and conviction,” Mr. Kyei Baffour told the fact-finding committee set up to probe the incident.

In a resolute posture, he continued: “I have no dealings whatsoever with how exhibits from the court are kept. All that I know is, there is a cabinet in my chamber where the clerk keeps all the exhibits and he has the key,” he said at the committee when he took his turn yesterday to give evidence.

Mr. Kyei Baffour said when the substance was tendered in evidence by Cpl. Thomas Ayekase on September 27, it was marked as exhibit ‘C’ and after proceedings, put back in the envelope from which it was taken.

According to him, whenever he is to write a judgment or ruling, what he asks for is paper exhibits such as statements of witnesses and accused persons. “But as to something substantial like cocaine, cannabis, guns… I don’t need them to write my judgement so I have nothing whatsoever to do with those exhibits at all.”

Mr. Kye Baffour, told the four-member committee in his one hour evidence that to the best of his knowledge, the only person who has custody of the key to the cabinet at all material time is his clerk, Daniel Nyartsidzi.

He said on September 27, when the exhibit was tendered in evidence, he could not recall the exact time he closed but it would be about 3:00pm and came back to the court the next day at about 8:30 am.

When he reported for work, he said his interpreter informed him that the police called him to demand whether he gave an order for the immediate destruction of the substance the police tendered as cocaine”.

But the judge told the committee that he brushed that aside “because I thought that was quite unusual”, in that the investigator who tendered the substance, Cpl. Ayekase had not been cross-examined on the substance for him to order for its destruction, adding “it is never done”.

Mr.Kyei Baffour said the substance was brought to open court on September 28, upon a request by the defence counsel in the case, Kwabla Senanu who challenged the investigator under cross examination that the substance was not cocaine.

He said Mr. Senanu at that point prayed for an order for a re-test of the substance but not at the Police forensic laboratory, to which the State Attorney, Ms. Stella Arhin raised an objection which he overruled.

“I must state my lords, that the issue on the 28th of September 2011 as to the substance brought not being cocaine or having been changed, did not arise at all,” he said.

The judge defended his order for the re-test of the substance on the basis of a Supreme Court authority ( Jaxon-Smith versus KLM- SCGLR 438), noting that Mr. Senanu was not looking for the exclusion of that admitted exhibit ‘C’ (the substance) but was raising issues as to the genuineness and authenticity of exhibit ‘C’.

“My lords, I exercise my discretion based on that case and I ordered that I will grant the prayer of Mr. Senanu, for another test to be conducted on the substance,” he said and added that he retired to his chamber to enable the parties and the Deputy Registrar, Yussif Seidu to take a sample for the test.

Mr. Kyei Baffour admitted being angry with the State Attorney on November 22 when she inferred that since the substance was left in the court’s custody overnight, the court could have changed it.

He said his anger was not based on the events of September 28, but on the event of November 22 when the Ghana Standards Board analyst was being cross-examined by the defence counsel.

“First, she was not a stranger in my court and she knows the credibility of that court. Second, at the time she raised her objection on the 28, the issue of whether or not the substance had changed did not come in at all,” he said.

When he took his turn, counsel for Nana Ama Martins from whose custody the substance was retrieved upon her arrest in August 2008, told the committee that it was somewhere in July 2011 that he came into the case to handle only the substantive case.

According to Mr. Senanu his prayer to the trial court for a re-test was not at random but he noticed that when the substance was opened in court, the peculiar pungent scent characteristic of cocaine was absent.

Mr.Senanu who said he appeared before the committee to set the records straight on his role in the matter, told the hearing that “It was the conference I had with Nana Ama which emboldened me to challenge the substance”.

He said he did not object to the substance when it was being tendered and went in for what it is worth because he wanted to take everyone by surprise. “On 27th (September) I didn’t tell anyone I was going to raise an objection…I took them by surprise”.

According to him, immediately he left the courtroom on September 28, one police officer told him: “This objection you have raised is going to bring Tsunami.”

Cross-examined by Mr. Asiama Sampong, counsel for Ms. Arhin, Mr. Senanu said it was not true that he had a police docket in his custody during the trial, adding “ I have not done anything wrong by law”

He disagreed with Mr. Sampong that the pungent scent could only be evaporated when the substance is in a powdery form and not a slab as is the case in the matter.
Mr. Senanu also used the platform to correct what he said is being said that he secured bail for the accused person.

David Agyeman Agyin, the Police Anyalyst who did the initial test at the Police forensic laboratory, told the committee that on August 29, 2008 the substance was brought to them for testing and they took sample after it was weighed.

According to him, at the time it was brought to them the substance weighed 1,430 grammes.
He told the committee that the sample that they used for the test is still in their custody which they are ready to provide upon request, adding “we are positive of the work we did and we are sure the substance was cocaine”.

Under cross-examination, he told the committee that generally cocaine has a pungent smell whether in a powder form or any other form. “I don’t think this is the substance we worked on”, he insisted.

Earlier, Mr. Kofi Adjei-Tuadzrah, Head of the Police Narcotic Unit, who was re-called to be cross-examined on a report his unit wrote on the case on September 28 and another on October 3, told the committee that he had not yet received a response to the letters from his superiors.

He denied the assertion that the police knew the substance was going to prove negative for cocaine for which reason they were worried when the substance was left in the court’s custody overnight without seal.

“We were worried because the chain of custody had broken….I knew definitely something was going to happen,” he said and disagreed with counsel that the police were directly complicit in the swapping of the substance if any.

When asked by the committee whether it was part of the country’s criminal procedure code for the police to write reports on an exhibit tendered in evidence, he replied ‘no’ but said that is what they normally do.

Also when asked why the police appeared worried when after the substance was tendered in evidence and when their liability had ceased, Mr. Tuadzrah said because of previous experience, they decided to do it in a manner that would not create problems, besides the volume of the substance was much.

The committee yesterday completed the hearing of all the 10 witnesses it invited to give evidence.

The committee is charged to establish the role played by the trial judge and other court officials, including the registrar and the court clerk in the matter and other related matters.

It asked the public with relevant information on the matter to come with such information during its sitting today.

The four-member committee, formed by the Chief Justice, Mrs Justice Georgina Theodora Wood, followed an Accra Circuit Court ruling on December 13 which revealed that the substance which initially tested positive for cocaine, later turned into baking soda upon a re-test.

The development led to the discharge of Nana Ama Martins who was being tried for possessing the drug without lawful authority on Tuesday.

The committee chaired by a Court of Appeal judge, Justice Agnes Dordzie , has Justice Abdulla Iddrisu, a High Court judge, Mr Nii Boye Quartey, Deputy Director in charge of Human Resource of the Judicial Service and John Bannerman, Chief Registrar, as members.

Judge Faulted For Ordering Re-test

By Stephen Kwabena Effah
December 17,2011

The judge, Mr. Eric Kyei Baffour on September 28, ordered a re-test of the substance which had been admitted in evidence the previous day as cocaine exhibit, grounding his order on a Supreme Court case (Jaxon-Smith versus KLM- SCGLR 438).

However, Justice Agnes Dordzie who is chairing the four-member panel probing the circumstance that resulted in the cocaine turning into sodium bicarbonate, said the judge’s citing of the Supreme Court (SC) authority in the case was wrong.

This came up at the committee’s sitting yesterday when it sought to find out from the State Attorney who prosecuted the case, Stella Arhin, whether she checked out the SC citation by the judge to see its applicability in the instance case.

Ms Arhin, who testified as the fourth witness before the committee said she did not and could not give reasons why she did not do so.

Ms. Arhin, who gave an account of her role in the case which was tried by the Accra Circuit Court ONE said she had prepared a notice of appeal against the court’s ruling of December 13 which acquitted and discharged Nana Ama Martins from whose custody the substance was retrieved.

The State Attorney told the committee that she has applied for a copy of the Mr. Kyei Baffour’s ruling after which she would file the appeal. She however did not give details of the grounds of the appeal.

Giving an account on how the substance was tendered in evidence on September 27 and subsequent events, she told the committee that when the substance was tendered by Cpl. Thomas Ayekase, there was no objection by the defence counsel.

According to her, the substance which was in a sealed envelope was opened in court for inspection by the defence. It was left in the custody of the court with the seal broken when the case was adjourned at the instance of the defence.

However, on September 28, she said defence counsel, Kwabla Senanu at the tail end of his cross-examination of the Cpl. Ayekase, raised an objection that the substance that was admitted in evidence the previous day was not cocaine, and requested a re-test of the substance.

Ms. Arhin said Mr. Senanu argued that the Police forensic laboratory which tested the substance did not have the authority to test drugs and therefore doubted the result.

But she said she objected to Mr. Senanu’s application on the grounds that the substance tested positive for cocaine, and also that a number of narcotic cases had been tried based on results from the police laboratory.

Another reason for her objection, she said was that Mr. Senanu had the opportunity to raise the objection before the substance was tendered in evidence but failed to do so.

She said the court overruled her objection and ordered a re-test to be done by the Ghana Standards Board. Following that, she said a sample of the substance was taken in court into an envelope on which she signed together with Constable Joseph Owusu and the Deputy Registrar of the Court.

Ms. Arhin also told the committee she was displeased with the trial judge for devoting a page in his ruling to question her professional conduct during the trial, saying “I was very, very displeased about the part he wrote about me”

According to her she was surprised the trial judge left out the defence counsel who she alleged at a point in the trial, insinuated that she had been bribed to bring wrong witnesses in court to testify in the case.

Ms. Arhin said under cross-examination that she did not remind the trial court to order the destruction of the substance on September 27, because she forgot.

According to her it was after proceedings that day that the investigator in the case approached her on the issue and “I said counsel had not finished cross-examination and it could be the reason why the court didn’t order the destruction”

Asked whether it was not from the substance tendered in evidence on September 27 that a sample was taken on September 28 for a re-test, she said: “yes but no specific identification was done by the investigator but we believed it was what we tendered.”

She said the seal was broken so it was probable that anything could happen, adding “I cannot say if somebody tampered with the substance after it was kept in the court custody”.

She disagreed with counsel that a request she made to the court to hear the evidence of the GSB analyst who did the second test in-camera, was to satisfy somebody’s bidding.

Further, Mrs. Arhin told the committee that after the re-test result proved negative for cocaine, she applied to the court to call for another test in court but the judge rejected it on the basis that they had gone past that stage where field test should be done.

The Court Clerk, Daniel Nyatsidzi, who was the second witness to testify, said on September 27, the substance was brought to the court where Cpl. Ayekase tendered it in evidence.

According to him, after the substance was tendered in evidence, he took the substance together with other exhibits which were tendered in evidence to the trial judge’s chamber where it was kept under lock and key.

He said that on September 28, upon the request of the defence, the substance was brought to open court and before the exhibit was handed to Cpl. Ayekase to be cross-examined on, Ms. Arhin took the exhibit and examined it without raising any objection about it.

According to him, when Cpl. Ayekase was asked to sign the envelope in which the sample for re-test was put, he declined because at that time he had ceased to be the investigator in the case.

He said the investigator who took over from him, Constable Joseph Owusu then signed together with Ms.Arhin, Mr.Senanu and the accused person.

Mr. Nyatsidzi told the committee that he was the only one with exclusive entry to the metal safe in which the substance was placed overnight, saying: “I am the only one who has access…nobody broke into the cabinet. What they tendered on September 27 to the court is what I have kept till today.”

Under cross-examination, he said the safe is where all exhibits to the court are kept and that the chamber is accessible to only the judge, the court’s interpreter and himself.

He said there was nothing wrong with the cabinet on September 28, when he went into the judge’s chamber to collect the substance.

Further, he told the committee that when he was transferred to the Circuit Court ONE four years ago, he was not shown any exhibit or strong room where exhibits would be kept. He also said he was not given any training when he assumed the clerical position.

On his part, the Deputy Registrar, Seidu Yussif, who took the sample of the substance to the GSB for the re-test told the committee that the sample was taken in the presence of Ms. Arhin, Constable Owusu, Nana Ama Martins; all of who signed on the envelope that contained the sample.

He said they could not take the sample to the GSB on the September 28 because the court closed late and therefore could not get the order accompanying the sample.

In view of the situation, he said he agreed with Constable Owusu to take the substance to the GSB on September 29, and the sample was thus kept in a safe in his office until Spetember 29 when they went to the GSB in the company of another court staff who drove them to the GSB.

During crossexamintaion, he said the whole of Cocoa Affairs Court has no strong or exhibit room and this has been brought to the attention of the Judicial Service management.

He told the committee that he does not expect any clerk to inform him when exhibits are tendered in evidence but admitted that there is a book in which court clerks are expected to write a summary of the day’s work.

The Chief Registrar at the Cocoa Affairs Court, Frederick Tetteh, also gave evidence as the fourth witness. Hearing resumes on December 19.

The four-member committee, formed by the Chief Justice, Mrs Justice Georgina Theodora Wood, followed an Accra Circuit Court ruling on Tuesday which revealed that a substance which was initially tested as cocaine, later turned into baking soda upon a re-test.

This development led to the acquittal and discharge of Nana Ama Martins who was being tried for possessing the drug without lawful authority on Tuesday.

The committee chaired by a Court of Appeal Judge, Justice Agnes Dordzie , has Justice Abdulla Iddrisu, a High Court judge, Mr Nii Boye Quartey, Deputy Director in charge of Human Resource of the Judicial Service and John Bannerman, Chief Registrar, as members.

The committee is charged to establish the role played by the trial judge, Mr. Eric Kyei Barffour and other court officials, including the registrar and the court clerk in the matter and other related issues.

The STX Project Saga- Parties Tight-Lipped

By Stephen Kwabena Effah
December 16,2011

The two parties litigating over who should lead the execution of the STX Housing Project are tight-lipped on the progress of the proposed out of court settlement of the dispute between the Ghanaian and the Korean partners.

Although the Accra Commercial Court trying the case gave the parties up to Wednesday to firm up the terms of settlement, they declined to announce the progress in open court when proceedings resumed.

When counsel for the Korean partners, Sarfo Buabeng, was asked by the judge the extent of progress made with regards to the settlement, he replied: “We would prefer meeting you in chambers for that aspect.”

Although the judge, Mrs. Gertrude Torkornoo, initially refused to grant the request, she later rescinded her decision following an intervention by another lawyer, Kizito Beyuo, who announced himself as “intervener”.

The court thus called Mr.Buabeng, Mr. Beyuo, a representative of the Korean partners and Mr. B.K Asamoah, the man who initiated the action against the Korean Partners, into the judge’s chamber, and after about five minutes returned.

Efforts by anxious journalists to get information on the brief in-camera sitting proved futile as both parties were not ready to divulge it.

At the court’s last sitting on November 24, Mr. Buabeng informed the court that the terms of settlement had been forwarded to the Korean Partners in Seoul, but was yet to receive any communication from his clients in Korea.

According to him, the case was such an important issue that the Koreans representing his clients in Ghana had no mandate to give directives on the terms of settlement drawn up for the amicable resolution of the impasse.

In view of the circumstance, the court gave them the last opportunity to firm up the settlement, and warned that if the parties failed in the bid by December 14, it would give them the option to either move the application or withdraw it; otherwise the court will have no option than to strike it out.

G.K. Airports Company Limited, a company owned by B.K.Asamoah, which commenced the action to disengage the Korean partners from the execution of the project, on November 15, 2011, announced an out of court settlement, a copy of which they handed to the Korean partners to sign for it to be filed at the court registry.

The action, which was commenced on September 27 is against STX Engineering & Construction, STX Constriction Co. Ltd and eight other Koreans appointed by the latter to represent them on the former as directors.

Mr Asamoah claimed the Korean partners breached their obligations under the Joint Venture Agreement by woefully failing to provide all the technical, engineering and construction expertise required for the project, aside its failure to arrange for finances.

The applicant contended that the Korean partners on May 6, 2011 wrote a letter to terminate the Joint Venture Agreement of November 15, 2009 and the Heads of Agreement between the two partners which it duly accepted.

He averred that having accepted STX Construction Company Limited’s “unilateral decision” terminating the agreements, it has since ceased to be a partner of the STX Engineering and Construction Ghana Limited, which is to execute construction of 200,000 houses.

By the action of STX Construction, the applicant is contending that it has “no right of representation on STX E&C Ghana Limited’s board”, and that per the Korean partners breach, the applicant exercised its right as the sole shareholder of the STX E&C.

It claimed that the breach by the Korean partners’ completely prejudiced the success of the project in that it contravened its statutory obligation to make the appropriate investment by way of direct equity contribution as a partner to the project in terms of its obligation as a foreign investor.

The applicant therefore sought among other reliefs, a declaration that by terminating the Joint Venture Agreement and Heads of Agreement, the respondents have renounced their membership of STX E&C.

It is further seeking an order of injunction restraining STX Construction Co. Ltd as well as its seven directors from holding itself out and or purporting to act or discharge functions as shareholders of STX E&C.

Meanwhile, the Korean partners have opposed the applicant’s claims contending that STX Construction Limited still remained a member of the STX E&C an that all its appointees to the board of STX E&C had acted legally and lawfully at all material times.

According to the Korean partners, STX Construction Co. Ltd had fully paid for its 15,000 shares in STX E&C and remitted to Ghana a total of 1,009,964 dollars of which 15,819.21 dollars had been converted into cedis and credited to STX E&C account as its equity contribution.

Again, the respondents are claimed that STX Construction Co. Ltd had not executed any transfer of its shares, neither had the said shares been affected by any law or statute, adding there had not been any call on it by STX E&C to pay for the said shares subscribed nor had STX Construction Co. Ltd been liquidated.

The Korean partners further contended that the Joint Venture Agreement between STX E&C and STX Construction Co. Ltd were merely transitional and was to operate for only six months.

Coke-turned-baking powder- PROBE BEGINS

By Stephen Kwabena Effah
December 16, 2011

Vice President John Mahama has directed the Police Service to suspend its investigations into the cocaine-turned-baking powder saga.

He gave the directive after a meeting with the Chief Justice, Theodora Wood, the National Security Coordinator, Larry Gbevlo-Lartey, and the Chief of Staff, Henry Martey-Newman.

The Vice-President also charged the Bureau of National Investigation to institute criminal investigations into the case, whilst the Chief Justice conducts a fact-finding probe. The two investigations are supposed to run concurrently.

They have up to December 22, to present their reports.

Meanwhile, the four-member panel set up by the Chief Justice has begun work.

Three police officers have so far testified before the panel, insisting that the substance tendered in evidence in court was tested to be cocaine.

All the three officers gave evidence to the effect that the substance tendered in evidence by the police on September 27, 2011 was indeed cocaine as the seal of the police forensic laboratory embossed on the envelope remained intact when it was being tendered.

The three officers were Detective Cpl. Thomas Ayekese, Detective Constable Joseph Owusu, and the Head of the Police Narcotic Unit, Kofi Adjei-Tuadzrah.

The four-member committee, formed by the Chief Justice, Mrs Justice Georgina Theodora Wood, followed an Accra Circuit Court ruling on Tuesday which revealed that the substance valued at 44,000 dollars which was initially tested positive for cocaine, later turned into baking soda upon a re-test.

The development led to the discharge of Nana Ama Martins who was being tried for possessing the drug without lawful authority on Tuesday.

The committee, chaired by a Court of Appeal judge, Justice Agnes Dordzie , has Justice Abdulla Iddrisu, a High Court judge, Mr Nii Boye Quartey, Deputy Director in charge of Human Resource of the Judicial Service and John Bannerman, Chief Registrar, as members.

The committee is charged to establish the role played by the trial judge, Mr. Eric Kyei Barffour and other court officials including the registrar and the court clerk in the matter and other related matters.

In his evidence, Constable Owusu who took over investigations of the case in 2009 said he first came in contact with the exhibit on September 16, 2011 when it was given to him and two other armed officers by his commander to take to the Accra Circuit Court which was then trying the woman whose custody the substance was retrieved.

According to him, the substance was until it was tendered in evidence on September 28, 2011, being kept in a safe at the office of the Head of the Police Narcotic Unit and not the Police exhibit room.

He told the committee that he could not tell why the substance was kept in his commander’s office instead of the exhibit room, noting that three different commanders handled the substance during the three-year period that it was them.

He gave their names as DSP Thomas Cobbah, Chief Supt. Osarfo Agyemang and DSP Adjei-Tuadzrah.

According to constable Owusu, on September 6, 2011, they were unable to tender the substance so it was returned intact to the commander and on September 13, 2011, it was given to him and other armed officers to take to the court but were again not able to tender the substance as evidence.

Constable Owusu said on September 27, 2011 the substance was again taken to the court, adding that although the substance was tendered in evidence by the Cpl. Ayekese, he was not present in the courtroom in view of the fact that he was also to testify as a prosecution witness in that case.

He told the committee that on September 28, 2011, after the substance had been tendered in evidence, the defence team raised objection to the exhibit and prayed the court for a re-test since they argued it was not cocaine.

According to him, after the trial judge had upheld the request of the defence team, he was ordered by the court to accompany the Registrar of the Court to take a sample of the substance to the Ghana Standards Board.

Under cross-examination by counsel for the circuit court trial judge, Mr. Robert Kinsley Yeboah, he told the committee that the sample which was taken to the Ghana Standards Board (GSB) was taken at the time that the judge had retired to his chambers after work, adding “we didn’t go (to the GSB) the same day we took the sample.

Further, he said the Registrar after taking the sample told him they could not go to the GSB that day so he left the court premise as the Registrar took custody of the substance and the sample taken.

According to constable Owusu, he returned to the court premise on September 29, 2011 to meet the Registrar who went to the GSB with him together with one lady who drove them to the office of the GSP.

However, he said although he appended his signature to the envelope in which the Registrar placed the sample for the re-test, he could not tell whether it was the same taken in his presence by the Registrar the previous day.

Being cross-examined by the Registrar, Seidu Yussif, who is the Deputy Registrar at the Cocoa Affairs Court, constable Owusu admitted that though at the GSB, a prelimary test was conducted but a report was not issued to them.

When he took his turn, DSP Adjei-Tuadzrah confirmed that the substance was kept in a safe in his office and noted that the substance was kept with other cocaine exhibits in the safe in view of the value of the substance.

He explained that until a month ago, cocaine exhibits were kept in the safe in his office, and pointed out that though there was an exhibit room that was used for only Indian hemp exhibits which was in their custody.

He said the idea of keeping the substance and others in the safe was to “safeguard them”.

Being cross-examined by Mr.Yeboah, Mr. Adjei-Tuadzrah said per the police forensic lab report, he was satisfied that the substance was cocaine and that he did not open the substance to check its content because he was not authorized to do so.

Cpl. Ayekase who sent a sample of the substance to the police forensic laboratory for the first test told the committee that the substance was sealed in the presence of the accused persons, himself and the officers who arrested her, noting they all appended their signature on the envelope.

He said on August 29, 2008 when he sent the sample to the police laboratory, the envelope was opened a sample taken after which it was re-sealed for him to sign and handed over to the his Unit Commander for safekeeping.

He said in 2009, he was transferred from the Police Narcotic Unit to the Pokuase Police Station when he ceased to be the investigator in the case.

According to him, when he tendered in the substance as evidence and the police forensic report on the substance on September 27, 2011, there was no objection raised by the defence team though it was showed to them.

Before it was opened in court, he said the envelope was embossed with the security seal and after it had been shown to the parties in the court, it was handed over to the court and the case was adjourned to September 28, for him to be cross-examined.

Under cross-examination, he told the committee that he could not tell whether the substance tendered in evidence on September 27 was the same substance that was brought to court for a sample to be taken for the re-test by the GSB since it was left overnight it the court custody without any seal.

Hearing continues this morning and the State Attorney, Stella Arhin, who prosecuted the case is expected to take her turn to give evidence.

POLICE INDICTED...As Cocaine Turns Into Baking Soda

By Stephen Kwabena Effah
December 14, 2011

A total of 1,020 grammes of substances, tested as cocaine three years ago in Police Forensic Laboratory, have mysteriously turned into Sodium bicarbonate (baking soda), while in the custody of the police.

The new twist was noticed after a re-test of the substances this year by the Ghana by the Ghana Standards Authority (GSA). This resulted in the acquittal and discharge by an Accra Circuit Court yesterday, of a woman standing trial for possessing the substances.

The woman, Nana Ama Martins, was arrested in 2008 with the substances.

The court has consequently indicted the Police Administration and has ordered the Inspector-General of Police to institute a service enquiry to determine who might have tampered with the substance.

The re-test of the substance was at the request of the defence team on the grounds that what was retrieved from the accused was not cocaine, contrary to the result of the police test.

Although the prosecution objected to the request, the court, presided over by Mr. Eric Kyei Baffour said in the interest of justice and in accordance with an established principle by the Supreme Court, a re-test was necessary.

In the presence of the court registrar and the investigator, the GSA conducted three different tests on the substance, all of which proved negative for cocaine.

Upholding a submission of “no case” made by the defence, Mr. Kyei-Baffour held that evidence adduced by the four prosecution witnesses who testified at the close of its case showed that the accused person had custody of the substance.

However, he said: “Clearly, the evidence of the prosecution becomes so manifestly unreliable that it will be wrong for the court to invite the accused to open her defence as to whether the substance found on her was cocaine or has not.”

According to Mr Kyei-Baffour the prosecution’s failure to prove that the substance is cocaine has been a waste of the precious time of the court.

“If the substance the prosecution produced before the court was what it tested to be cocaine at the police forensic laboratory, how come that the same substance could suddenly become sodium bi-carbonate?” he asked.

The Judge recalled that David Agyapong Agyin, a government analyst who did the first test at the Police Forensic Laboratory three years ago, using the same method had told the court that if another test proved to be negative for cocaine, then it was not the substance he conducted the test on.

He questioned the professional conduct of the State Attorney, Stella Arhin, who prosecuted the case, especially when she urged the court to convict the accused person though the cocaine, based on which she was charged turned out to be sodium carbonate.

Mr. Kyei-Baffour wondered why the state attorney “was extremely troubled” when the court agreed to the request by defence for another test on the substance, adding at a point she retorted that the substance could have been changed in court.

He pointed out that a lawyer whether for the state or a private person is not a robot for his or her client, saying a lawyer’s allegiance is to a higher cause, that is justice and truth.

The prosecution’s case was that on August 22, 2008 the police had a tip-off that the occupants of a taxi cab in traffic at Roman Ridge were dealing in narcotics.

The police stopped the vehicle and arrested the occupants one of whom was the accused. The other occupants managed to escape.

At the police station, the accused was asked to empty the two bags she had on her and one of them, contained a slab which was suspected to be cocaine and she was handed over to the narcotic unit of the police.

Court Slams GHC 5,000 Cost Against Vodafone

By Stephen Kwabena Effah
December 10, 2011

The Accra Commercial Court has slapped a GH 5,000 cost against Vodafone Ghana for bringing “unmeritorious” application to stay proceedings in the case in which the government has been sued for offloading 70 percent of its shares in Ghana Telecom to Vodafone International.

According to the court presided over by Justice Mrs. Gertrude Torkornoo, the application filed by lawyers for Vodafone Ghana on December 6, was “without basis”, and consequently dismissed it.

It thus went ahead to give Vodafone up to December 16, to file its amended statement of defence, and December 22 for the plaintiffs, the Attorney General and Vodafone to file new issues of trial following the filing of an amended statement of case by the plaintiffs.

The action was initiated at the Commercial Court in October 2008 by Professor Agyemang Badu Akosa, Michael Kosi Dedey, Dr Nii Moi Thompson, Naa Kordai Assimeh, Ms Rhodaline Imoru Ayarna and Mr Kwame Jantuah, all members of the Convention People’s Party, in their capacity as citizens.

They are contending that the Sale and Purchase Agreement entered into among the Government of Ghana, GT and Vodafone for the sale of 70 per cent of GT for 900 million dollar was against the public interest and constituted an abuse of the discretionary powers of the government.

Vodafone Ghana filed the application to stay proceedings in the trial to enable it appeal against the court’s decision of November 1, to the effect that it would take material evidence aside the legal arguments.

In February 2009, the court differently constituted asked the parties in the to submit to it legal arguments for it to decide on the case, but the court which is now presided over by Mrs. Torkornoo ruled otherwise when lawyers for Vodafone drew her attention to the earlier order.

According to Mr. Festus Kayi, they were not satisfied with the decision of the court and thus filed a notice of appeal at the Court of Appeal to contest it.

Further, he argued that an aspect of the case is still pending before the Supreme Court and until that has been dealt with the lower court cannot proceed to hear the matter, saying “this court cannot hear the case until the constitutional questions have been addressed”.

The lower court differently constituted referred three cardinal constitutional questions to the Supreme Court on November 23, 2009 for interpretation but the Supreme Court in early last year declined to hear the case since it said it was premature.

The court held that the relevant materials needed to determine the three issues were not available, for which reason it sent the case back to the Commercial Court for those materials to be provided before going into the matter.

But Mr. Kayi argued yesterday that those relevant materials requested by the Supreme Court had since been submitted to the court, copies of which have been provided the plaintiffs. According to the court, it was yet to receive those documents.

“The Supreme Court now have enough materials to decide the questions….the matter is ripe to be before the Supreme Court,” he noted, and therefore urged the court to stay its proceedings.

Dismissing the application, the court held that pleadings in the case have not even been closed, in view of the amended statement of case filed by the plaintiffs. The case has since been adjourned to January 12.

According to the plaintiff, the decision of the government to transfer the assets, properties, shares, equipment, among others, to Vodafone was obnoxious, unlawful and inimical to the public interest, particularly when no consideration was required to be paid by Vodafone for the stated assets.

The group argued that the three Ministers of State and the managing director of GT who signed the agreement on behalf of the government did not exercise the requisite level of circumspection required of them as public officers in relation to public property.

The plaintiffs are, therefore, seeking reliefs from the court, including a declaration that the agreement entered into by the government was not in accordance with the due process of law and was, therefore, a nullity.

They are also demanding that the court should give an order declaring that the forcible grouping of autonomous state institutions established by law — Voltacom, Fibreco, VRA Fibre Network and VRA Fibre Assets — with GT to form the purported Enlarged GT Group was unlawful and, therefore, void and of no legal effect.

The plaintiffs are further praying for an order of perpetual injunction to restrain the government from disposing of its 70 per cent share of GT to Vodafone or any other foreign company without first exploring avenues for funding and better management in Ghana.

Ghana Telecom Sale Case: Plaintiffs To Lead Evidence In Court

By Stephen Kwabena Effah
November 23, 2011

The six Ghanaians, who sued the government in 2008 over its sale of the 70 per cent shares in Ghana Telecom to Vodafone International, will from December 9 lead evidence, to establish their case at the Accra Commercial Court.

The six are seeking a declaration that the agreement entered into by the government in offloading its shares was not in accordance with due process of law and thus a nullity.

The action was initiated at the Commercial Court in October 2008 by Professor Agyemang Badu Akosa, Michael Kosi Dedey, Dr Nii Moi Thompson, Naa Kordai Assimeh, Ms Rhodaline Imoru Ayarna and Mr Kwame Jantuah, all members of the Convention People’s Party, in their capacity as citizens of Ghana.

At the court’s sitting yesterday, the presiding judge, Justice Gertrude Torkornoo, asked the plaintiffs to cause hearing notices to be served on the four entities subpoenaed to present some relevant documents on the case to the court.

The entities are Volta River Authority, the National Communication Authority, the Ecobank Development Co-operation and the Ministry of Communication

Until yesterday when the court granted a seven-day leave to the plaintiffs to file an amended writ of summons and statement of claim, all the initial processes preceding hearing had been concluded.

According to the plaintiffs, the amendment was prompted by new developments which had come to their attention, which they said was the10-year lease of radio towers and buildings in Takoradi by Vodafone to Eaton Towers of UK.

Meanwhile, the court has given the defendants; the Attorney General and Vodafone Ghana, up to November 25 to also file their statement of defence, in response to the yet to be filed amended statement of claim by the plaintiffs.

The case was thus adjourned to December 9.
The A-G was represented by State Attorney Grace Ewoo, while Mr. Festus Kayin represented Vodafone Ghana.

The plaintiffs are contending that the sale and purchase agreement entered into between the Government of Ghana, GT and Vodafone for the sale of 70 per cent of GT for 900 million dollars was against the public interest and constituted an abuse of the discretionary powers of the government.

According to the plaintiffs, the decision of the government to transfer the assets, property shares, equipment, among others, to Vodafone was obnoxious, unlawful and inimical to the public interest, particularly when no compensation was required to be paid by Vodafone for the stated assets.

The group argued that the three ministers of state and the managing director of GT who signed the agreement on behalf of the government did not exercise the requisite level of circumspection required of them as public officers, in relation to public property.

The plaintiffs are, therefore praying the court to give an order declaring that the forcible grouping of autonomous state institutions established by law — Voltacom, Fibreco, VRA Fibre Network and VRA Fibre Assets — with GT to form the purported Enlarged GT Group was unlawful and, therefore, void and of no legal effect.

They are further praying for an order of perpetual injunction to restrain the government from disposing of its 70 per cent share of GT to Vodafone, or any other foreign company, without first exploring avenues for funding and better management in Ghana.

State Commences Contempt Proceedings Against First Allied

By Stephen Kwabena Effah
November 22, 2011

The State has commenced contempt proceedings against the Managing Director and three other staff of First Allied Savings and Loans Ghana Limited for allegedly refusing to comply with an order to release a deed of assignment to the police for investigation into a fraud case.

Although an Accra Circuit Court on June 8, ordered the management of the bank to release the original copy of a deed of assignment issued it after the sale of a property at the Takoradi African Township to enable the police investigate a fraud case against the bank and others, it has failed.

The bank is said to have connived with four others to falsify the deed of assignment to cover the purported sale of the private family property in Takoradi to the company, which is being used as its office.

Owners of the property consequently lodged a complaint with the police which filed an application at the Circuit Court for the release of the said deed of assignment between the bank and the four, Dora Boaku, Kobina Esoun, Charity Quayson and Donald Quayson for investigation

According to Assistant State Attorney Kwame Amoako, though the MD, Andre Lalumiere, and the three staff of the bank, Nana Yaw Oduro, Yaw Berhene and Mavis Osei Agyemang were duly served with the court order, they have refused to comply.

An affidavit in support of the motion for an order of committal for contempt, Detective Inspector Joseph Kwame Mensah Tetteh claimed that on June 20, he, on behalf of the police, delivered a copy of the said court order to management of the bank in Kumasi.

He said he made an entry of the copy which was received and signed by Berhene, Head of Administration at the bank, into the Police Messenger’s Receipt Book.

“Much as I tried and waited, the bank refused to release the said deed of assignment to me,” Inspector. Tetteh, claimed.

According to him, on Agust 12, court bailiffs duly served the contemnors a copy of the court order, and thereafter, made persistent demands on them to release the document to assist the police in its investigation but to no avail.

He averred that when it became clear that the contemnors were not minded to obey the court order, he caused a reminder to be served on Mr.Berhene at the bank’s headquarters in Kumasi on August 25.

“Even though the respondents were duly reminded of the court order, they still refused to obey the court,” he said.

Further, he said he caused yet another and final reminder to be served on Osei Agyemang, an Adminstrative Officer at the bank’s headquarters in Kumasi on September 22, but they still refused to comply with the court order.

Accordingly, he is praying the Accra Fast Track High Court to punish the contemnors for “their flagrant disobedience to the order of the Circuit Court”.

The case is scheduled to be heard by the court presided over by Justice Edward Amoako on December 5.

CEPS Officer defiles 2 daughters and a son

Thursday, November 25,2010 By
Stephen Kwabena Effah

A 34-year-old Customs Officer is facing trial for allegedly sexually assaulting his two daughters, aged seven and 16. Mihael Kojo Brentuo Acquah was yesterday put before the Accra Gender-based Violence Court charged with incest.

Aside that, he is also alleged to have played with the buttocks of his three-year-old son, which caused him pains.

Acquah, pleaded not guilty to three counts of defilement and incest, and was remanded into police custody by the court, presided over by Mrs.Gerogina Mensah- Datsah, until December 8.

Prosecution told the court that Acquah and his family lived at Mamprobi Banana Inn, and sometime this year, he started defiling his two daughters in their room.

Police Prosecutor Sara Ekua Acquah said the accused person’s son complained to his mother that he had been experiencing pains after his father “played” with his buttocks.

The prosecution said when his wife confronted him over his son’s allegation against him, Acquah took offence and rained insults on her.”

Later, there was a misunderstanding between the accused person and his wife, ASP Acquah said, adding that at that point, the 16-year old daughter informed the mother that the accused person had been having sexual intercourse with her and her younger sister.

According to the prosecution, the 16-year old told her mother that the accused person threatened to take her to her grandmother in the village should she ever reveal the sexual escapades to her mother.

ASP Acquah told the court that the last time the accused had sex with the 16-year old girl was on November 11.

The mother of the victims then reported the matter to the police which issued them with medical forms for examination.

The accused person was later arrested and put before court.

Court grants another caocaine suspect bail

November 24, 2010
By Stephen Kwabena Effah

The Accra Fast Track High Court yesterday granted one more person in the 125-slab Tema cocaine case, GH 150,000-bail with two sureties with one of which must be justified.

Granting the bail to Edward Kojo Arhin a clering agent ysterday, Justice Mustapha Habib Logoh, the presiding judge, gave the Attorney General one week to justify the continuous detention of Anthony Wilson, one of the four accused persons in the case.

A seven-month old pregnant woman, Kyerewaa Twum-Barimah was the first person to be granted bail.

While Kyerewaa was granted bail on November 10, in view of her pregnancy, Arhin was granted bail yesterday because the court held that he is a clearing agent who was given a job to do.

The two other, Benjamin Armstrong, Chief Executive of Pharma Plus and Anthony Wilson, Operations Manager of the same company, are accused of placing the order for the petroleum additives in which the cocaine was found.

They have been remanded in police custody until November 30.

According to the judge he gave the order because, the facts presented so far by the prosecution led by Principal State Attorney, Evelyn Keelson, had not specified any direct role played by Wilson in the alleged importation of the cocaine which has a street value of GH 10 million.

The four accused persons are facing charges of conspiracy to import and importation of narcotic drugs without licence. But the four pleaded not guilty to the charges when they made their third appearance in court yesterday.

When the case was called, counsel for Armstrong and Wilson, Mr. Joe Debrah, moved a motion praying the court to discharge his clients because neither of them packaged the goods into the container nor had control over the shipping process.

He argued that the container was consigned to Consolidated Shipping Services (CSS) and not his clients, adding that all legal documents including the bill of laden named CSS as the consignee and the notifying party.

“By shipping law, it is the consignee which has control over the container,” Mr. Debrah contended, adding that technically the Agricultural Development Bank, which granted the letters of credit on the imports, is the owner of the goods until they have been paid for.

He said the container was never in their possession, and that it was Mearsk Shipping line and CSS which had control over the container, adding that even when the container arrived, the seal had been tampered with and the prosecution is aware of this.

Mr. Debrah also drew the court’s attention to what he termed unconstitutional incarceration of his clients before their arraignment on October 26, although they were arrested on October 18.

He averred that the period his clients spent in custody before being put before court was illegal and the court must accordingly discharge on that basis spect, or alternatively grant his clients bail.

He said they were ready to avail themselves for the trial if granted bail

According to Mr. Debrah: “Armstrong is a US citizen who came to this country to establish business to employ eight people for a better Ghana.”

Counsel for Kyerewaa and Arhin, Mr. Dubik Yakubu Mahama, on his part described his clients arrest as unreasonable, since they are just clearing agents and not the consignee of the container.

Opposing the motion, Mrs.Keelson said after placing the order, Armstrong went to the US to finalise the shipment processes while Wilson is the one in charge of the company’s operations.

She said it was Wilson who contracted and handed over the bill of laden and money to the clearing agents to clear the goods from the port.

She said that there were a number of issues to be investigated in view of the nature of the case, and she therefore urged the court not to grant the accused persons bail since they could interfere with investigations.

She said the accused persons were liable irrespective of the fact that they are clearing agents.

It is the prosecution’s case that Pharma Plus placed an order from US for fuel additives which arrived in the country on October 9, and contained the products as well as advertising T-Shirts and four travelling bags in which the cocaine was found.

According to the prosecution, when it was opened, 125 slabs of substances suspected to be cocaine were found in the bag, adding that an initial test proved positive. It has since been sent to the Ghana Standards Board for further test.

The prosecution said Kyerewaa and Arhin, who are the clearing agents, were the first persons to be present when the container was opened.

Kombian Bribed Prisons Officer to Escape

Tuesday, November 23,2010
By Stephen Kwabena Effah

The 35-year-old jail-breaker, Johnson Kombian, has told police investigators that a prison officer at the Tamale Central Prisons charged him GH¢ 4,000 to aid his escape on January 15.

This was disclosed by Chief State Attorney, Anthony Rexford Owiredu, yesterday when Kombian was arraigned at the Accra Circuit Court on a charge of escaping from lawful custody.

According to the prosecution, Kombian told the police during interrogation that the Prison officer provided him with a knife and the key to his handcuff which aided him to escape. He has told the police that he would be able to identify the officer.

The presence of Kombian, popularly known as Burger, brought activities at the 28^th February Courts, otherwise known as Cocoa Affairs, courts to a halt, as people abandoned their work to catch a glimpse of him.

Looking helpless and weary, Kombian, whose plea was not taken, was remanded to police custody until December 8, pending further investigations by the police.

Kombian, escaped from the Tamale Central Prisons on January 15, while serving a five-year sentence for escaping from Gambaga Prisons, and went into hiding until last Friday when he was arrested by Interpol in neighbouring Togo.

He was extradited to Ghana on Sunday, to face prosecution.

Heavily armed police personnel including plain clothes men took positions close to the courtroom, as Kombian, who could hardly stand on his feet, was escorted into the one-story wooden structure courtroom.

He came in bare-chested, but the police later brought a polo T-shirt and was assisted to put it on because he was injured in the right arm.

Kombian was occasionally heard groaning in pain while he sat on the floor in a handcuff.

Court officials and police personnel on duty at the 28^th February Courts trooped the courtroom before proceedings began to take photographs of him.

Mr. Owiredu described Kombian as a “widely known” person with three wives, in Togo, Cote d’Ivoire and Nalerigu.

Counsel for Kombian, George Asomani, said the charge against his client was a misdemeanour and given his condition, urged the court to direct the police to give him the necessary medical attention.

He also expressed dissatisfaction about media reportage on his arrest, and asked the court to give an order for the media to stop what he termed “media trial”

But the judge, Mr. Eric Kyei-Baffour, said the courts have a limit in giving orders to the media “in order not to gag them.”

He asked the police to ensure that the accused is given the needed medical attention.

Amina's trial begins

Tuesday, November 23, 2010
By Stephen Kwabena Effah

Hearing began yesterday in the case of Amina Mohammed, the lady at the centre of the l alleged robbery and mass rape on a bus, with the testimony of the driver of the said bus, SamuelAsiedu Sasu.

Amina is facing charges of publishing false news with intent to cause fear and alarm, and deceiving a public officer at an Accra Circuit Court, and has since November 5, been granted bail by the Accra Human Rights Court.

The young mother of three was charged following her comments on a private radio station that male passengers on board a Tamale-bound bus, on which she was travelling, were forced by armed robbers to rape the female passengers after robbing them.

Led in evidence by State Attorney Paul Asibi Abariga, Mr. Sasu told the court that he met Amina at the Police Headquarters three months ago when he was invited there in connection with the alleged incident.

According to Mr. Sasu who said he is a commercial driver by profession, he loaded his bus with registration number GN 263-10 on October 11 at the Neoplan Station at the Kwame Nkrumah Circle, Accra.

He said his bus, which was the second one to load, left the station at 10:00 pm to Tamale-Bolga – Bawku and when they got to Kubiase CEPS barrier, “I saw a blockade with logs of wood”.

He said there was a cargo vehicle ahead of him which drove through. He said he then heard some gun-shots “so instantly I knew something was happening”, adding that he then drove through the blockade but the bus was shot at, causing the windscreen to break.

He said when they got to Kubiase, he had to stop to remove one of the logs which had got stuck under the bus. He said the passengers got down to inspect the bumper and the windscreen which were affected.

Mr.Sasu said they also stopped other vehicles coming from Kumasi towards the area to warn them of the blockade ahead. He said they then continued the journey until they got to the Ejisu Police Station where he reported the incidence.

The officers on duty inspected the damage on the bus after which they took a statement from me and issued me with a police report, he told the court.

He said they were then cleared to continue the journey, indicating “we didn’t stop anywhere until we got to Kintampo,” where he said he stoped for some of the passengers to pray and others to brush their teeth.

He said told the court that it was daybreak when they got to Kintampo. From Kintampo, he said they did not stop anywhere until they got to Tamale where some of the passengers alighted.

Others, he said got down in Bolga, noting that at that point, there were only few passengers left so he had to look for another bus for them to continue to Bawku while he returned to Tamale to load for Accra.

Before loading, he told the court that he went for a photographer to take photos of the damaged portion of the bus.

Upon reaching Accra, he said he took the bus to his company where it was repaired to enable him to resume work.

Mr.Sasu said that about two weeks later while in Tamale, he had a call from someone who said he was calling from the Police Headquarters. He said the person asked him of his name and car number and whether his bus was involved in any incident on October 11 which he replied affirmatively.

He told the court that the person then asked that he reported to the Police Headquarters upon his return to Accra. He said upon his arrival he reported and a statement was taken from him again.

The case continues this afternoon with the cross-examination.

Amina was arraigned in court on November 2 and remanded to police custody, after she was detained by the police for three days. She was invited by the police to assist in investigations into the case but she was later charged.

Her remand followed the prosecution’s plea to the effect that investigations were ongoing to get the other passengers on board the Yutong bus with registration number GN 263-10, hence granting her bail would compromise investigations.

Dissatisfied with the Circuit Court’s decision, the defence team filed an appeal at the Human Rights court which granted Amina bail on the grounds that the charges against her were misdemeanour.

Court throws out NLC's suit against POTAG

Saturday, November 13, 2010
By Stephen Kwabena Effah

The Accra High Court has thrown out the suit brought against the striking Polytechnic teachers by the National Labour Commission (NLC) describing its directive to the teachers as “arbitrary and pre-mature.”

The Labour and Industrial Division of the court, in dismissing the NLA’s suit against the Polytechnic Teachers Association of Ghana (POTAG) yesterday said it found no reasonable grounds to grant the reliefs sought.

It consequently ordered the NLA to appoint a mediator within seven days from yesterday, to meet with the Fair Wages and Salaries Commission (FWSC) and POTAG to settle the striking teachers’ unresolved issues of conditions of service.

The presiding judge, Justice Kwabena Asuman-Adu said there was the need for the industrial impasse between NLC and POTAG to be resolved for industrial harmony to prevail, and urged that “the dispute is settled in good faith”

He, therefore, appealed to the teachers who have been on strike for the past month, to return to the classrooms in the interest of the students and the nation.

No cost was awarded.

Meanwhile, the Court’s ruling yesterday brought relief to the large number of POTAG members who thronged the court.

The NLC last month sued POTAG seeking to compel the teachers group to enter into compulsory arbitration with the FWSC following POTAG’s refusal to comply with its directive of October 15.

But the court held that the NLC erred in directing POTAG to go into “compulsory voluntary arbitration,” saying “there is nothing in the Labour Act like compulsory voluntary arbitration…so this court is in a fix as to the specific Act the applicant want this court to enforce”.

The court advised adjudicating institutions to make their orders “specific and unambiguous”.

It held that the NLC could come to court to compel a party to comply with its directive only when all procedures under the Labour Act have been exhausted, noting that in the substantive case, it failed to do so.

Further, the court said from the evidence available, there was no doubt that POTAG condition of service had expired since 2006.

The court said it found evidence that POTAG had at all times been ready for negotiations with the FWSC, and it was the latter which had not shown readiness for the negotiation process.

“It is surprising the applicant is seeking this order when nothing is done with the FWSC which has not shown any commitment,” the court observed.

Shortly after the ruling, General Secretary of POTAG, Anthony Ayakwah, told journalists they were happy with the courts decision, which he said has vindicated them, adding “it showed we were being treated as irrelevant”

Touching on the court’s plea to them to return to the classroom, he said, the decision rest with the General Council of POTAG, which he said, is expected to meet today to decide on the next line of action.

He also welcomed the intervention by the Parliamentary Select Committee on Education, indicating that the MPs had always wanted government’s intervention in the matter.

The NLC initiated a legal action against POTAG for refusing to comply with its October 15, directive to POTAG to enter into compulsory arbitration to resolve their terms and conditions of service which had expired since 2006.

POTAG in a letter to the NLC dated August 25 raised issues with the suspension of the migration of the polytechnic staff to the Integrated Payroll Database (IPPD) 2 of the Controller and Accountant's Department, and discussion of unresolved issues in their conditions of service.

The NLC invited the FWSC and POTAG for a hearing on the issues raised by POTAG at which it directed the FWSC to meet POTAG to address the concerns of the teachers and thereafter report to the commission.

However, POTAG in a letter dated October 16, 2010, registered its protest against the NLC’s directive and questioned why POTAG should return to the classroom and at the same time be directed to go for arbitration.

When contacted by the Times to find out the NCC’s reaction to the ruling, the Executive Secretary of the NCC, Emmanuel Briku-Boadu, said the seven member commission will meet to take a decision on the issue.