Lawyer asks court to jail IGP and eight officers.
Nana Obiri Boahen, a private legal practitioner, has filed a writ at the Sunyani High Court, praying the court to commit the Inspector General of Police, (IGP) Dr. George Akuffo Dampare and eight other officers of the service to prison.
They include the Deputy Commissioner of Police (DCOP) Joseph Gyamerah Oklu, the Bono Regional Police Commander, one Deputy Superintendent of Police (DSP) Gyasi and Chief Inspector Mohammed Mustapha.
The rest are DSP Peter Owusu, Chief Superintendent Solomon Korli, as well as Police Officers Alhaji Shaibu, Bernard Asare and Emmanuel Kpodo.
At its sitting on Tuesday, the Court presided by Justice Harry Acheampong Poku (vacation judge) granted a “motion on notice for contempt filed by the applicant by way of substituted service by posting copies at the notices of the High Court, the Ghana Police Service headquarters and the Bono Regional Police Command.”
The plaintiff prayed the court to commit the respondents to prison for their “contumacious, gross disrespect of law and order to the decision or orders contained in the judgment of a circuit court,” delivered on July 28, 2022, by Justice Sylvester Nii Okine Ablorh.
Now an accompanying affidavit filed by the “Enso Nyame Ye Chambers”, a Sunyani-based legal firm, and Counsel, explained the plaintiff mounted an action before the circuit court against DSP Gyasi who used to “harass, intimidate, bully my agents who operate from my self-acquired land always clad in his police uniform.”
“That unable to countenance the insubordination of the DSP Gyasi and his cohorts, I mounted the action against the said DSP Gyasi before the circuit court in which the matter traveled through a full trial and judgement was delivered,” it stated.
The affidavit said plaintiff later filed an “entry of judgment” and to “put DSP Gyasi and all those hiding behind to unleash violence, intimidation on my agents, privies, assigns, my counsel wrote a letter and notified the respondents”.
“Almost all the respondents were duly served with the letter by way of EMS,” it added, saying that notwithstanding, “the respondents have disregarded the judgment and have been consistently harassing, intimidating, bullying, arresting and detaining my agents who have gone onto my land which the honourable court has ruled in my favour.”
The affidavit explained “on February 27, 2023, one Kofi Peprah, Kwadwo Takyi and Kwame Nkrumah were sent to demarcate some lines on my land and in the process some of the respondents caused their arrests and detained them at the Municipal police cells, Sunyani overnight.”
“Some of the respondents always insist that the IGP has instructed them to defy all the court orders and thereby treated the court orders with disdain”, it said, adding “on the instructions of the IGP some of the respondents arrested and detained one Douglas Addo, who was asked to go and mould blocks on February 15, 2023.”
“The total sum of the respondents’ conducts is to challenge, deny, disrespect and disregard the judgment and willfully be treated with contempt and disdain,” it explained.
The affidavit stressed the continuous and incessant arrests, harassment, intimidation and detention of the agents of the applicants by the respondents, directly or indirectly and on their directives and orders were bent on ignoring the decision or judgment of the court, and to expose the administration of justice to public ridicule and contempt.
It, therefore, prayed the court to “crack the whip to put the fear of the law in the respondents so that the respondents do not seem to be above the law” and to further protect the sanctity of the judiciary and thereby enhance the public confidence in the judicial processes.
Source: Ghana News Agency.
