THE Accra Fast Track High will next Monday determine the fate of Mr Napoleon Kpoh as he fights his purported removal from office as General Secretary of the Industrial and Commercial Workers Union (ICU).
The court fixed the date for its ruling on the matter after both counsel for the embattled ICU General Secretary and the National Executive Council (NEC) of the union had argued in respect of a motion on notice for interlocutory injunction filed by Mr Kpoh.
While the ICU boss is seeking the court’s order to restrain the NEC and for that matter five national executive members from removing him from office and interfere with the performance of his functions as General Secretary, the defendants had similarly filed the same action to restrain him from purporting to act as such.
Mr Kpoh together with the National Chairman of the ICU instituted the action against the defendants, namely, the two Deputy General Secretaries (Operations and Administration), National Vice-Chairman, and First and Second National Trustees, all of the ICU.
Bus loads of placard-bearing protesters of the ICU stormed the court premises amidst chanting to the effect that Mr Kpoh should give way to others to manage the affairs of the union.
But for the police presence, nobody knew what would have happened after the court sitting, as the protesters tried to prevent Mr Kpoh’s car from leaving the premises.
He was hooted at as his car was escorted by a police vehicle amidst chants of “Kpoh must go, Kpoh must go”.
Some of the inscriptions on the placards read “If reason fails force will prevail”, “Napo stop signing the cheques”, “NEC Ayekoo”, and “Napo leave the little-minded members alone”.
The NEC, the second highest decision-making body after the delegates conference of the ICU, declared after last Thursday’s acrimonious meeting that it was dissatisfied with the leadership’s preparation towards congress and had, therefore, constituted an Interim Management Committee (IMC) without the General Secretary.
However, Mr Kpoh maintained that all governing body meetings of the ICU were, by the union’s constitution, to be presided over by the National Chairman, Mr A. Y. B. Salifu, but the National Chairman was excluded from that meeting; therefore, his purported removal was null and void.
At the court’s sitting, counsel for the defendants, Mr Albert Adaare, said that his instructions were that the positions of the first to fifth defendants had been vacant since August 10, 2007, and for that reason, he was representing the NEC.
But counsel for the plaintiffs, Mr C.K. Koka, replied that the defendants were in office and if they intended to struck their names then that was not the proper procedure.
In the heat of the arguments, the court, presided over by Mr Justice Ofori Atta, stated that it would entertain everything except the papers filed in the morning.
Mr Koka argued that the tenure of the ICU General Secretary had not ended and that the normal practice was that it ended at the ICU delegates’ conference where the General Secretary presented a report about his stewardship.
“It is at the delegates’ conference that the General Secretary is required to give a report and the Chief Labour Officer dissolves the old executive,” counsel said, and added that the ICU Constitution provided that the NEC had no power to change the decision of the conference.
According to him, by the constitution, it was the National Chairman who was to preside over all governing body meetings of the ICU but the National Chairman was excluded from the meeting at which the purported decision to sack Mr Kpoh was taken.
“A decision of the union passed without the National Chairman and the General Secretary is a nullity because the chairman must preside over such issues,” counsel stated, adding that if the basis for removing the General Secretary was a nullity then the action was illegal.
He said those purporting to have sacked the General Secretary did not have the capacity to even hold the meeting to change the decision of a delegates’ conference and as had been the practice, a caretaker administration should have been constituted until the next delegates’ conference.
Mr Koka said those purporting to have removed Mr Kpoh were doing that in order to remain in office through the “back door because some of those being sent out are part of the NEC”.
Responding, Mr Adaare said the remedy being sought in the court was equitable and that the tenure of office of the General Secretary was clearly stated in the ICU constitution.
“Their tenure has expired and it is the ruling of the court which can extend that mandate,” counsel said, and maintained that nobody had been sacked from office except that their tenure had expired.
He said by their action the plaintiffs were seeking to perpetuate their interest and tenure of office to the suffering of the common union members and, therefore, the action should be refused.