Mallam Isa loses appeal against conviction

Accra, April 2, GNA - The Supreme Court on Wednesday dismissed an application brought before it by Mallam Ali Yusif Isa, former Minister of Youth and Sports, against his conviction and sentence by an Accra Fast Track Court.
In a unanimous decision, the five-member panel of the court re-affirmed and upheld the earlier decisions on the matter by the courts below and consequently dismissed the application.
Mr Justice Edward Kwame Wiredu, Chief Justice, chaired the panel, which had Justices George Kingsley Acquah, Sophia Akuffo, Dixon Kwame Afreh and Dr Seth Twum as members.
Ms Justice Akuffo read the ruling of the court.

Social Court Isa 2 Accra
On July 20, 2001, the government's policy of "Zero Tolerance For Corruption" was tested for the first time when the Fast Track Court convicted Mallam Isa on two counts of stealing and fraudulently causing financial loss to the State.
Mr Justice Julius Ansah, Appeal Court Judge with an additional responsibility as a High Court Judge, sentenced Mallam Isa to four years' imprisonment each on both counts, with both sentences running concurrently.
Additionally, the former Youth and Sports Minister was fined 10 million cedis or in default serve a 12-month jail term.
The court further ordered Mallam Isa to refund the 46,000 dollars he stole within one month or serve additional two years' imprisonment.
The money was meant as an imprest and payment of bonuses of the Senior National Football Team, the Black Stars, during a World Cup qualifying encounter in Sudan on February 25, 2001.
On August 18, 2001, a special Court of Appeal dismissed an application for bail for the Ex-Minister pending the final determination of an appeal he filed against his sentence.
Two months later, on October 23, the Court of Appeal dismissed a petition brought before it by Mallam Isa against his conviction and sentence.
The three-member panel chaired by Mr Justice Omari Sasu, with Justices Sophia Adinyira and Sule Gbadegbe, contended that the convict's grounds of appeal failed and could not be entertained.
The court, however, quashed an order by the trial court that compelled Mallam Isa to serve additional two years in jail if he failed to refund the 46,000 dollars he stole.
The court found this consequential order to b! e harsh since, in its view, the order contravened the provisions of the Criminal Code.
Mallam Isa late last year took the matter up at the Supreme Court.
In his nine-point ground of appeal, counsel for the convicted Minister, Mr Ambrose Dery, now nominated by President John Agyekum Kufuor as a Deputy Minister of Justice and Attorney - General, submitted that his client's conviction for stealing and fraudulently causing financial loss to the state could not be supported in law, having regard to the evidence adduced.
Mr Dery further submitted that the trial court erred in law when it held that there was direct evidence that his client dishonestly appropriated the 46,000 dollars, and fraudulently caused financial loss to the state when there was no direct evidence whatsoever to that effect.
He said it was also wrong for the trial court to have held that Mallam Isa's ex-body guard, who is a serving Police Officer, and who was present at his office on February 23, 2001 when his client left for Sudan, was not a vital witness in the case.
By losing his appeal at the Supreme Court, the highest court in the land, Mallam Isa, who looked smart and cheerful in court, is to complete his four-year jail term.