Sam Okudzeto suffers setback

Mr. Sam Okudzeto, an Accra Legal practitioner and leading member of the NPP who sued the Government and the Bank of Ghana for withdrawing his appointment to the Board of Directors of the Bank of Ghana suffered a setback yesterday when an application filed by the Attorney General in the Court of Appeal for a stay of proceedings in the High Court was granted.

In her defence to a claim of unlawful termination of appointment by Sam Okudzeto, the Attorney General has stated in the High Court that Sam Okudzeto¹s appointment to the Board of the Bank of Ghana by President Kuffour was unconstitutional since the appointment was not made in consultation with the Council of State.

However the High Court presided over by Justice Aduamah Osei sitting as an additional High Court judge refused to hear the Attorney General¹s defence when the Attorney General sought to raise the objection.

The Attorney General therefore appealed to the Court of Appeal on the basis that the issue of non-consultation with the Council of State meant that Sam Okudzeto in law should not be a member of the Board of the Bank of Ghana and that the High Court was wrong in refusing to hear her objection. It also meant that Sam Okudzeto lacked the capacity to sue the Government in this case.

In its ruling the Court of Appeal noted that the issue of the capacity of Sam Okudzeto raised by the Attorney General was so fundamental that further proceedings in the High Court must be stayed pending the determination of the Appeal filed by the Attorney General.