Court ruling on Crabbe case victory for politics – Lecturer

The decision by the opposition New Patriotic Party’s suspended Second National Vice Chairman, Sammy Crabbe, to resort to the law courts to contest the legality of his removal from office is an indicator of the level of advancement of politics in the country, political science lecturer Mohammed Abass has said.

An Accra Human Rights Court dismissed Mr Crabbe’s application on Thursday June 2 saying his failure to answer to the party’s disciplinary committee’s request to appear before it indicated that he had given up his right to a fair hearing.

Mr Crabbe, an ally of suspended chairman Paul Afoko, was suspended indefinitely in January 2016 for going against party decisions and working against the NPP’s interests and those of its flagbearer Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo.

But speaking on Accra News on Friday June 3 with Nana Ama Osei Tutu, Mr Abass said rather than being viewed as a vindication of the NPP’s decision to suspend the deputy chair, the judgement should be regarded as “all part of politics”.

He said disagreements and conflicts formed a constant part of politics for which reason Mr Crabbe’s differences with the party, his suspension, his decision to go to court, and the subsequent judgement on the matter should be regarded within the political mix.

“That is what at the end of the day shows that our politics is advanced. It is neither victory for the NPP nor defeat for Mr Crabbe; it is victory for our politics because that is the nature of politics,” he explained.

He, however, was of the view that the judgement had lent credibility to the manner the NPP handled Mr Crabbe’s case as the court is “a neutral institution and an authority with legitimacy and trust” whose decision would not be interpreted as “one NPP faction winning a case against another faction”.

He continued: “This will allow neutral people as well as others who did not understand or agree with the suspension to support the party to foster unity within it to ensure progress.

“The court’s decision must be accepted by all before this can work, and if it brings about trust within the NPP, it will help them ahead of the elections.”