Bench Warrant Issued to Grab NRP Chairman

A Kumasi community tribunal has issued a bench warrant for the arrest of Mr. Peter Cameb Kpordugbe, chairman of the National Reform Party (NRP), one of the minority parties which contested the 2000 elections. The court presided over by Mr. S.K.A.Asiedu made the order on September 24, this year.

The Reform chairman failed to honour a summons to appear before the court on September 17, this year to show cause why he should not be committed to prison custody. He is supposed to honour a judgement cost of ?6,278,600.

The court on November 14, last year ruled that Kpordugbe settle his indebtedness of ?4.3 million in addition to ?l,612,000 and a cost of ?300,000 to his fraud victim, Jacob Enim, a video maker of the Kumasi based Bricapa Video Productions.

Chairman Kpordugbe was cited for fraud after he issued a dud cheque for ?4.3 million in payment of services rendered by Enim.

Chronicle gathered that Enim was engaged by Kpordugbe to take video pictures of the NRP presidential candidate's campaign trail in Ashanti, Central, Eastern, Volta, Greater Accra and Western regions over three weeks in the run-up of the 2000 elections.

The victim claims Kpordugbe paid him cash of ?2 million on the eve of the elections and presented a cheque No. 058998 for ?4.3 million in additlion, which cheque was to be cashed on December 15, 2000 at the Achimota branch of Barclays Bank.

The said Gamus Multib Services cheque duly signed by Kpordugbe was, however, dishonoured when Enim's bankers, Stanchart Bank, presented it on December 21, 2000.

After several demands to which Kpordugbe simply would not budge, Enim instituted legal action against him at the Community Tribunal in Kumasi.

Kpordugbe's admission last May during Chronicle enquiries that the case is before the court gives credence to his awareness of the suit against him but he has on several occasions evaded service by bailliffs.

He had to be served with a notice by substitution upon which a judgement was given on November 14, 2001, following a formal decree to that effect by the court.

Chairman Kpordugbe would, inspite of all these moves, not be moved until a bench warrant was issued last September 24.

Bailiffs are still having it tough locating the Reform chairman to effect his arrest.

At the time of filing this story (October 15) the bailiffs had still not been able to locate the party chairman for his arrest.