<<Print>>

Editor-in-Chief of the Crusading Guide Newspaper, Kweku Baako Jr. says John Agyekum Kufuor, as President, never �packed� the Supreme Court to overturn an unfavourable verdict against the State in the infamous Tsatsu Tsikata v Attorney General case. The former Chief Executive Officer of the Ghana National Petroleum Corporation (GNPC) was accused of �willfully causing financial loss� of 2.15 billion old cedis to the State, due to alleged mismanagement of the facility. The charge followed a discovery, through a forensic audit report, that Tsikata allegedly side-stepped laid-down corporate objectives of the Corporation by circumnavigating the board and unilaterally committing the GNPC to guarantee a loan. He allegedly paid out the loan plus interest, which adversely affected the financial status of GNPC and caused a loss to the State. Tsatsu first appeared before a Circuit Court where proceedings were terminated. He was then arraigned before a Fast Track Court (FTC) on a charge for �willfully causing Financial loss of �2.15 billion to the state.� He then filed a motion at the Supreme Court on February 11, 2002 and sought constitutional interpretation in respect of the FTC, as, in his view, the �Constitution, in making provision for the administration of Justice did not establish any court known as FTC". Tsikata, who is a Lawyer, argued that since the FTC was not known to the Constitution, it could not try him. The Supreme Court upheld his position by a majority of 5-4 votes. The Attorney General and Justice Minister at the time, Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo, after the February 28, 2002 ruling in favour of Tsikata, held a press conference and announced the Government's intention to seek a review. There were only 10 Justices of the Supreme Court at the time and since the Bench always sat in odd numbers, there was the need for an additional Justice to be empanelled alongside the 10 others. At least two extra judges, therefore, were needed to top-up the original panel of nine. Then President John Agyekum Kufuor nominated Justice Dixon Kwame Afreh, subject to Parliamentary approval, as the eleventh Justice of the apex Court. The Minority National Democratic Congress, at the time, led by Alban Bagbin, boycotted the approval of Justice Afreh in Parliament. The eleven-member review panel eventually overturned the earlier 5-4 ruling. Critics have persistently used the Tsatsu Tsikata case as a yard stick to accuse Kufuor and Akufo-Addo of warping the tenets of justice in Ghana.