<<Print>>

Desperate attempts by the Presidential Spokesperson Mahama Ayariga to return to Parliament via a bye-election in the Bawku Central Constitutuency, suffered a setback yesterday when the Court of Appeal sitting in Accra ruled that the Parliamentary seat is not vacant and therefore the embattled MP, Adamu Daramani Sakande, should keep it. This follows relentless battle by Hon. Sakande to tell his side of the story over allegations of citizenship fraud leveled against him, leading to an unfavourable court ruling. However, three Appeal Court Judges unanimously granted the MP�s application for a stay of execution of the judgement in default of Defence, which ordered him to leave parliament, shattering Ayariga�s dream of returning to the house after he lost the Bawku Central seat in the December 7, 2008 polls. The second application by the MP for a stay of proceedings, pending the final determination of his appeal on the default judgement, was also granted by the judges who ordered that all proceedings against Hon. Sakande be halted till the outcome of the appeal. The judges also ordered that the MP should continue representing his people in Parliament. Giving reasons for the verdict, Justice Yaw Apau, presiding judge who read the ruling, noted that �it would amount to great injustice� for the MP who is the applicant, to be denied the opportunity to have his case heard, as there were issues to be determined such as whether or not the High Court Judge who gave the default judgement exercised his discretion wisely among other issues. Justice Apau said the doors of justice must not be closed to persons without them bring given the opportunity to tell their side of the story, especially when that person is willing to do so, adding that to deny the MP the right to such a fair hearing will not be right. He therefore pointed out that the court �will not perpetrate such injustice� and went ahead to grant both applications. The justices in addition awarded GH�2,000 costs against the respondent, Mr Sumaila Bielbiel, the cattle dealer who initiated the legal action against the applicant, accusing him of duel citizenship. Speculations are that Mr Bielbiel is acting on behalf of Ayariga, who had since vacated his post at the Presidency at the Osu Castle, and is seriously campaigning for a possible by-election in the constituency. Yoni Kulendi, lead counsel for the MP, who moved the motion on the stay of execution, told the court that the appeal stood a greater chance of succeeding and consequently prayed the court to grant his client his reliefs. Giving reasons why the MP did not file his Defence at the High Court which gave the default judgement, Mr Kulendi said they filed an affidavit in opposition and notified the judge that they had filed an application for a stay of proceedings and said they were challenging his capacity to hear the case. He said a great injustice would have occurred if their application had been dismissed, since his constituents would have been denied the right to representation only for the Appeal Court to later realize that the MP had indeed renounced his citizenship.