Tsikata

Tsikata
Court Orders Tsikata To Open Defence(6/29/2005)


The protracted battle waged by Mr Tsatsu Tsikata, former Chief Executive of the Ghana National Petroleum Corporation (GNPC), against being prosecuted under the law of willfully causing financial loss to the state came to an end yesterday when the Supreme Court ordered him to open his defence.The trial will now take place at the Fast Track High Court against which Tsatsu earned a significant legal victory in 2002.He is to answer charges on three counts of causing financial loss of about ¢2.3 billion to the state through a loan he, on behalf of the GNPC, guaranteed for Valley Farms, a private cocoa producing company, and another count of misapplying public property.On February 28, 2002, the Supreme Court ruled in his favour that the Fast Track High Court was unconstitutional and, therefore, could not try him. That decision set the tone for a long legal battle when the Attorney General and Minister of Justice fought and had the decision overturned by the Supreme Court.Yesterday saw the finality of that battle when the Supreme Court, by a majority decision of 6-1 dismissed the application filed by Tsikata for a review of its 4-1 decision of November 8, last year, that he should stand trial at the court and answer charges of willfully causing financial loss to the state.It held that the application for review was not an appeal and that the applicant could not make any exceptional arguments that the court’s decision ought to be reviewed.The Chief Justice, Mr Justice George Kingsley Acquah, who presided, read the majority decision and stated that the scope of the court’s review jurisdiction was not in doubt that a review was neither an appeal nor a reaction to emotions.Other members on the majority side were Ms Justice Sophia Akuffo, Mrs Justice Georgina T. Wood, Professor Justice Modibo Ocran, Mr Justice Julius Ansah and Mr Justice R. T. Aninakwa.Mr Justice William Atugubah maintained his earlier stance of dissension.Earlier, the lead counsel for Tsikata, Professor E. V. O. Dankwa, in arguing the application, tried to raise an objection that there was no case before the court, since the Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP), Mr Osafo Sampong, had reached his retiring age.Counsel was, however, reminded of his pending application, in which he had argued that the court, in its earlier decision, overlooked certain vital issues which were in favour of his client.He said that judgement could not stand as the law of the land because the majority relied on Common Law, which was contrary to statutory provisions, saying that even those provisions relied upon were applied wrongly.Valley Farms contracted the loan from Caise Francaise de Developpement, a French aid agency, in 1991 but defaulted in the payment, compelling the GNPC, which acted as the guarantor, to pay it in 1996.When Tsikata made his maiden appearance at the Fast Track High Court in February 2002 to answer the charges, he refused to enter a plea and openly declared that the court did not have jurisdiction to try him.However, the court, presided over by Mr Justice Julius Ansah, then an Appeal Court judge with additional responsibility as a High Court judge, entered a plea of not guilty on his behalf and granted him a ¢500 million self-recognisance bail.While the case was pending at the court, Tsikata filed a writ at the Supreme Court on February 11, 2002 challenging the constitutionality of the Fast Track High Court and argued, among others, that it was not recognised by the 1992 Constitution.He subsequently filed a motion for an injunction to restrain the Attorney General from proceeding with his trial at the court.The Supreme Court, on February 28, 2002, by a decision of 5-4, declared that the Fast Track High Court was unconstitutional.Following that decision, Tsikata became temporarily a free man until the full bench was constituted, with the government appointing the late Justice Dixon Kwame Afreh to the Supreme Court. The then Chief Justice, Mr Justice E.K.Wiredu, empanelled the full bench of 11 judges to hear the review. Tsikata again challenged that decision, including the appointment of Justice Afreh, but to no avail. On May 28, 2002, the Supreme Court described that application by Tsikata as unmeritorious and dismissed it and awarded ¢5 million costs against him.The long-standing controversy surrounding the constitutionality of the Fast Track High court was resolved when the Supreme Court, on June 26, 2002, overturned its earlier decision that the Fast Track High Court was unconstitutional.That was after the then Attorney General and Minister of Justice, Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo, had filed an application for a review, in which he prayed the court to set aside its 5-4 decision.In that ruling, the full bench, by a majority decision of 6-5, reinstated the Fast Track High Court and awarded costs of ¢10 million against Tsikata.After the dust had settled, Tsikata went to stand trial at the Fast Track High Court to answer the charges levelled against him. However, on the close of the prosecution’s case, he made a submission of 'no case' and argued that the prosecution failed to link him to the charges and, therefore, he should be set free.The court dismissed his application and stated that the prosecution had proved a case for which he should be called upon to answer.Not satisfied, Tsikata appealed against that decision at the Court of Appeal but he again lost and was asked to stand trial at the Fast Track High Court.He further went to the Supreme Court to appeal against the Court of Appeal decision and it was dismissed by a 4-1 majority decision, for which reason he filed the motion for the review.The Republic, at various stages of the trial, was represented by the former Attorney General and his deputy, Nana Akufo-Addo and Ms Gloria Akuffo, the DPP, a Principal State Attorney, Mrs Gertrude Aikins, and Mr Augustines Obour, an Assistant State Attorney, while Major R.S. Agbenato (Retd) was in Tsikata’s legal team.
Story: Stephen Sah