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The dust has settled and the Supreme Court has finally determined the fate of the trio who passed contemptuous comments about Judges.

The court on Wednesday handed the presenter and his two other panelists, a four-month jail term and a GH₵10,000 fine each for contempt of court.

Aside this, the owners of Montie FM, which include Edward Addo, Harry Zakuor, Ato Ahwoi and Kwesi Kyei Atuah have been fined 30,000 and were ordered to make settlement by close of day tomorrow.

A former Presidential Advisor, Ato Ahwoi, was also found guilty of criminal contempt.

The panelists, on a discussion programme on the station, threatened to kill judges, with specific reference to Justice Sulemana Gbadegbe and Chief Justice Georgina Theodora Wood.

The Court earlier issued a warrant for the owners of the station, host of the station’s ‘Pampaso’ programme, and the panelists, who threatened to kill judges over their handling of a case on the credibility of the voters’ register, to appear before them to answer for contempt charges.

The panelists, Alistair Nelson, Godwin Ako Gunn and a host of the show, Salifu Maase and owners of the radio station were found guilty of contempt charges brought against them by the court during its second hearing of the suit last week.

The Court was hearing a case brought by two politicians - Abu Ramadan and Evans Nimako - challenging the validity of the voters' register, when the trio made the contemptuous remarks.

The radio commentators were not happy with comments made by some justices sitting on the case. They threatened to deal with the judges whom they accused of wanting to create chaos in the country.

At that hearing, one of the the accused panelists by name Alistair Nelson, blamed his comments in which he threatened to kill the judges to a disease called “kpokpogbligbli.” The strange disease, according to him, could takes over a person and control whatever he does and says.

Presiding judge Sophia Akuffo said the directors were irresponsible and careless because they were to direct the broad vision of the station.

Mr Ahwoi, Director of the Network Broadcasting Company (NBC), operators of Montie FM, made his first appearance in court Wednesday.

He was absent at the first two sittings. His lawyer had explained that he was out of the country after the presiding judge Sophia Akuffo insisted that all Directors of Montie FM appear in court.

Ato Ahwoi in his plea Wednesday, told the court he was liable with an explanation. But after stating that the NBC began in 1995 and operates Radio Gold, Gold TV and Montie FM, the presiding judge Sophia Akuffo asked him to cut to the chase.

He mentioned Kwami Sefa Kayi, Randy Abbey amongst others as some of the celebrated journalists that passed through Radio Gold one of their flagships.

Mr Ahwoi related his own experience of having been called gay on a radio station.

But Justice Akuffo, apparently not in the mood for stories, insisted that he offers the explanation.

The Network Broadcasting Company has been ordered to bring to court, policies and framework that show that all of its stations will no longer be used to make contemptuous comments.

Justice Sophia Akuffo in her ruling, issued a warning to media houses to be circumspect in their reportage and let this development serve as a deterrent to them



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