Court dismisses CJA motion

Accra, March 2, GNA - An ex-parte motion filed by the Committee for Joint Action (CJA) seeking an order to set aside an Accra Fast Track High Court's ruling prohibiting them from embarking on a procession on March 6 was on Friday dismissed by the same court.

The court presided over by Mr Justice P. Baffoe-Bonney reiterated that at certain times the interest of the nation should override individual rights or parochial interest.

No cost was awarded by the court.

According to the court the inability of the police to provide security for the procession because they did not have enough personnel constituted enough grounds to grant the application to restrain the CJA, a political pressure group, from going on its march.

The court said the application to set aside its ruling did not find favour, hence dismissed it.

Arguing before the court, Mr Mahama Ayarigah, Counsel for CJA, said the Court ruling on March 1 was irregular because it was not warranted by any enactment or rule of procedure.

According to him the application by the Police should have originated from motion on notice.

Mr Mahama said the court therefore erred in law when it granted an "Order Interlocutory Interim Injunction".

He said, "there was no subsisting matter between the IGP and CJA even though the IGP deceitfully titled his application as if there was a subsisting matter between him and the CJA".

Mr. Ayariga said that fundamental error rendered null and void the order made by the Court He submitted that the Constitution guaranteed freedom of association and that included the freedom to take part in a procession. Mr Ayariga said the Public Order Act did not require any person who wished to organize a public event to obtain written permission from the Police.

He said the Act only required that the Police should be notified, adding that, for the court to order that CJA or any organization wishing to organize any activity within that period should express that in written permission, was to give to the Police a power that had no basis in either the Public Order Act or the Constitution.

Mr Ayariga therefore prayed the court to set aside its own order. On March 1, the court granted an interim injunction restraining the Committee for Joint Action (CJA) and others from holding any procession on Independence Day.

The Court ruled that no procession shall be held from March 5-15, but the order could be varied after March 15.

"The CJA or its agents or servants or any other organisation is hereby restrained from holding any peaceful procession or otherwise," the Court said.

"It is further ordered that for the avoidance of doubt, it shall be unlawful for any person or persons acting under the banner of Committee for Joint Action or any other organisation to organise and undertake any activities or procession in celebration of the 50th anniversary from March 5 to 15 without express permission in writing to the Police. The CJA last month announced that it would hold a Peoples' Jubilee Procession on Independence Day in Accra from Kwame Nkrumah Circle to Kwame Nkrumah Mausoleum where it would lay a wreath.

However, the police said they could not allow the procession to go ahead since they would be unable to give the demonstrators protection because of commitments during the Independence Day celebrations where scores of foreign delegations were expected. The police filed an ex-parte motion for an order restraining the CJA from holding any procession on March 6.

The CJA said it wanted to provide "a popular platform for the masses as an alternative to the essentially elitist Ghana@50 programme". It said it wanted to underline the political significance of Ghana's independence as an important victory in the worldwide struggle of the ordinary people against elitism.

The CJA said it wanted "to celebrate Kwame Nkrumah, the pre-eminent strategist and tactician of the struggles against classical colonialism".

The Tertiary Students Confederacy (TESCON) of the New Patriotic Party (NPP), a group calling itself the Campaign for Patriotism (CAP) said they would hold counter demonstrations.

Soon after the court's ruling, Mr Ayariga who had indicated to appeal against the ruling told sympathizers that "we will fight on." Some sympathisers carried banners reading "Kwame Nkrumah never dies," "Thank you party Policemen," "Ghana @50, Commander at partisan," "Ghana @ 50 no personal freedoms."