Tsatsu Files A Motion At The Supreme Court

By Stephen Kwabena Effah
Wednesday, 08 April 2009

Tsatsu Tsikata, former Chief Executive of the Ghana National Petroleum Corporation, (GNPC), has filed a motion at the Supreme Court to stop the court from determining whether or not the pardon granted him could have effect on his review application before the court.

In a 45-point affidavit in support of the motion, Mr Tsikata said the court “wrongly descended into the arena of conflict by raising the said issue (pardon) suo motu (on its own).”

The Supreme Court on February 25, expressed interest in determining the significance of the presidential pardon granted Mr.Tsikata on his review application before it (Supreme Court).

Consequently, the seven-member panel of judges headed by Justice William Atugubah, directed the Attorney General and Mr Mr Tsikata’s counsel to provide the court with submissions on the issue of the pardon for consideration in the case.

However, Mr.Tsikata averred that “the issue of the pardon can, in no way, absolve this honourable court from ruling on that (review) application” emphasising that the court did not have before it evidence of the alleged pardon, and cannot therefore ask for submissions on its significance for the pending review application.

In response to Mr.Tsikata’s application for a review of the court’s decision of October 16, 2008, the Attorney General argued that Tsatsu had been granted a presidential pardon, thus invalidating the pursuance of the case.

However, the A-G later filed an affidavit at the Supreme Court seeking a withdrawal of the aspect of its response that touched on the presidential pardon which the court granted and accordingly withdrew.

Arising out of this, Mr. Tsikata argued that the court, by its action, was pre-judging the relevance of something it had no evidence of since the court had granted leave for the withdrawal of the affidavit in which the issue of pardon was raised and had not been re-instated.

“For the court to make orders based on this pre-judgement….was a grave error,” Mr Tsikata argued and added, “for the court to raise the said issue of the pardon as a preliminary point of law was an improper exercise of the discretion of the court.”

Mr.Tsikata further contended that the affidavit filed and withdrawn by the A-G’s department did not raise the matter of the pardon as a preliminary issue but simply as part of their opposition to the review application.

He stated that even if the A-G’s Department wished to reinstate the pardon as an issue before the court, the court could not have done so at the time when what was pending before it was a ruling on an application that had been argued.

He said at the time of the pardon, his application for review of the court’s decision was pending, and contended that the former president and the A-G were aware of the pendency of the review and that papers had been filed opposing the review application.

Mr. Tsikata said what was before the court as at February 25, had nothing to do with the issue of the pardon hence “it is in the interest of justice that the court deals with what is pending before it.”

Meanwhile, the motion to set aside the court’s move which was due for hearing yesterday was adjourned to April 28, since neither the A-G nor a representative from her department was in court when the case was called, although the department had filed an affidavit opposing the motion.

It is recalled that on June 18, 2008, Mr. Tsikata was sentenced to five years imprisonment by an Accra Fast Track High Court presided over by Justice Henrietta Abban after finding him guilty of three counts of causing financial loss of GH¢230,000 to the state and misapplying GH¢2,000 in public property.

Mr Tsikata was in 2002 changed with the offence for guaranteeing a loan for Valley Farms, a private cocoa producing company, on behalf of the GNPC and another count of misapplying GH¢2,000 of public property.

Valley Farms contracted the loan from Caisse Francaise de Development in 1991 but defaulted in the payment and the GNPC, which acted as the guarantor, was compelled to pay it in 1996.

Mr Tsikata however, denied any wrongdoing and has since been fighting the legal battle to reverse the five-year jail sentence slapped on him by Justice Abban who he accused of bias and desecration of justice.

He consequently filed a motion at the Supreme Court invoking its supervisory jurisdiction to quash specified decisions and determinations of Justice Abban.

But the court on October 16, 2008, dismissed the application on the grounds that it was “incompetent and without merit” since the trial judge exercised her discretion properly and lawfully when she refused to adjourn proceedings on the date Mr.Tsikata was imprisoned.

Dissatisfied with the court’s ruling, Mr Tsikata filed an application at the court seeking a review of its decision claiming that he had fresh evidence to buttress his allegation of bias and to establish that the trial judge acted in “collusion with the Executive” in his conviction.

Mr. Tsikata was in January this year granted a free, absolute and unconditional pardon but he described it as “hypocrisy” and insisted on pursing the case to prove his innocence and to reverse the sentence.

He has since been on bail granted him by an Accra Fast Track High Court pending the determination of his appeal against his conviction.