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Appeal Court dismisses Abodakpi's
application
Accra, Dec. 5, Ghanadot/GNA- The Court of Appeal on
Wednesday unanimously dismissed an application brought
before it by Dan Abodakpi, Member of Parliament for Keta,
praying the court to admit fresh evidence into his
substantive appeal application against his conviction and
sentence.
In its unanimous decision, the court described the
application as being misplaced because, in its view, there
was no merit whatsoever in the application.
The three-member panel chaired by Mr Justice S. E. Kanyoke,
with Mr Justice Francis Kusi-Appiah and Mr Justice Yaw Appau
as members, contended that fresh evidence which counsel for
Abodakpi wanted the court to admit into the substantive
application, should have also been available during the
trial.
The court was of the view that the fresh evidence, which Mr
Tony Lithur, counsel for Abodakpi, wanted the court to admit
into his substantive application, was only an allegation.
It also said apart from the evidence not being relevant, it
was also not available during the trial of his client.
Counsel alleged that in the course of reading his judgment,
Mr Justice Steve Farkye, the trial judge, was interrupted by
Mrs Justice Henrietta Abban, who invited him into chambers
and asked him to impose a 10-year jail term on Abodakpi
instead of the four years the trial judge had in mind.
Mr Justice Appau, who read the court's unanimous decision,
stated that both Mr Justice Farkye and Mrs Justice Abban are
Appeal Court Judges who always met in the course of their
work.
Mr Justice Appau said the court wondered why Mrs Justice
Abban should have waited until the eleventh hour before
inviting her colleague, the trial judge, and whisper into
his ears to increase the sentence.
Early in February this year, an Accra Fast Track Court
presided over by Mr Justice Farkye, now a retired judge of
the Court of Appeal, who tried Abodakpi, convicted and
sentenced him to 10 years' imprisonment.
He was found guilty of conspiracy to commit crime and
wilfully causing financial loss to the state when, as the
then Minister of Trade and Industry, he authorised the
payment of 400,000 Dollars from the Trade Investment Project
Fund.
Last month, Abodakpi lost an appeal against his sentence at
the Court of Appeal, which stated that the record of
proceedings of the trial court was not available before it.
Mrs Gertrude Aikins, Acting Director of Public Prosecutions,
appeared for the State, while Mr William Addo and Mr Frank
Davies represented Mr Justice Farkye and Mrs Justice Abban,
respectively.
GNA
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