Justice Kpegah sues government

A Supreme Court Judge, Justice Francis Kpegah has sued the government for alleged breaches of the 1992 Constitution.

He wants the government to appear before the highest court of the land to answer 14 charges on a wide range of issues.

Justice Kpegah wants a declaration by the court that the decision by National Security to ban four former security persons from all military installations was illegal.

In a writ filed at the at the Supreme Court in a rare case, Justice Kpegah also describes the sale of government’s 70 percent shares in Ghana Telecom to Vodafone and the redenomination of the cedi as fraudulent transactions.

The sitting Judge in his statement of claim, said the government’s economic policy based on property owning democracy reflects in the lives of official and cronies of the administration.

Asked what his motives are for filing the writ now by Joy News’ Sampson Laadi Ayinene, Justice Kpeha said his reasons were contained in his statement of claim and therefore will not want to state them on radio.

He claimed a plan by the military high command to sell all lands and other assets of the Ghana Armed Forces is an act which contravenes the Constitution and amounts to disbanding the GAF.

He asked where the arms of the GAF will be sent to if the lands are sold to people who want vacant possession of the lands.

He cites the Palava Newspaper as having published a story about the proposed sale of the official residence of the Chief of Defense Staff.

Justice Kpegah is also seeking a declaration that the NPP government has reached its economic wit end and call for national dialogue as to the direction of the country’s economy necessary.

He stressed it was not a mutt point asking our man, Sampson as to whether he was one of the privileged ones and if he was not suffering.

“Is not a mutt point, is a reality on the ground or you are not suffering or you are one of the privileged few.”

The applicant apologized to the NPP Youth Organiser, John Boadu for wrongfully citing him as having donated one billion old cedis to the campaign of Mr. Alan Kyerematen during the flagbearership race of the NPP.

At a point he begged Sampson to end the interview.

A Lecturer at the Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology, Mr. Ernest Kofi Abotsi said Justice Kpegah was exercising his fundamental right because under the Constitution every citizen has the right to bring matters to court for the enforcement of the Constitutional provisions.

“The only difficulty, however, is the fact that you cannot easily disentangle the fact of his judgeship, the fact that he is a Supreme Judge from this claim and that creates some difficulties,” he said.

Mr. Abotsi said his presumed neutrality as a Supreme Court Judge vis-à-vis political issues in the makes his case a bit dicey.

“A statement such as a government is at its wit end is heavily political in character, the tone is heavily political, and it creates a problem of perception of partisanship which is problematic I think in the circumstances not to mention the fact that the particular claim seems to truncate other notions of constitutionality as far as the 1992 constitution is concerned.

“The 1992 Constitution creates a clear structure and modalities for the change of government or for the installation of government and the claim made by the applicant is not contemplated by the Constitution.

“The Constitution does not even speak of a coalition government, (it) does not speak of a change of government before the four years no matter how disastrous that government is.

“So in the circumstances of our Constitution, we will have to wait for four years before any government is changed,” he explained.