Two Lawyers Thrown Out At PAC Sitting

Two lawyers were Tuesday thrown out of the Public Accounts Committee (PAC) hearing when they appeared before the committee without the power of attorney from their clients, who were absent from the hearing. The two, Mr Chris Ackummey and Mr Philip Addison, presented themselves to represent the family of a deceased, Mr Kwadwo Amankwaah-Atuah, and M/S Rockshell International Limited respectively. Mr Akummey, who presented himself as the solicitor for the estate of Mr Amankwaah-Atuah, who suffered police brutalities, told the committee he had instructions from the administrator of the estate to represent the family. He explained that Mr Awuah Nyantakyi, who is the administrator, verbally told him to represent the family since the family was in Kumasi and could not respond to the committee�s call at such a short notice. Mr Ackummey further stated that since he was the solicitor who pursued the case, he was in the position to provide all the information concerning the compensation paid to the administrator of Mr Amankwaah-Atuah�s family. The compensation of GH�11,812 was paid to the family of Mr Amankwaah-Atuah who died through police brutalities at Akim Ofoase, near Akim Oda. Mr Addison, for his part, told the committee that his client, Mr Rockshell, was slightly ill and could not appear before the committee to explain why he was granted a judgement debt. Even though he was prepared to narrate what led to the payment of the judgement debt, the committee was not prepared to listen to his narration and requested that Mr Rockshell himself should appear before the committee. Mr Rockshell was paid GH�21,368,000.00 as settlement agreement for which the committee would want to know the reason for the payment. The committee, however, did not listen to the two lawyers and dismissed them for appearing before it without written authority from their clients. Other organisations and individuals who appeared before it included Novotec, Mr Alex Hammah and Mr Edward Acquah. Mr Robert Ayamga, Mr Daniel Mensah, Kpone Traditional Council, Mr William Dawson Asaam and Eva Asaam were, however, absent. Mrs Acquah narrated the ordeal she and Mr Acquah went through at the hands of a solicitor who represented them in an accident case involving Mr Acquah�s vehicle and a military vehicle. She said the lawyer, who agreed to take 10 per cent of the GH�19,000.00, ended up giving them only GH�7,000.00 out of the amount. Mr Alex Hammah, a 75-year-old veteran trades unionist and politician also appeared before the committee over the payment of GH�10,000.00 to him for the seizure of his GH�74,000.00 during the Acheampong regime in 1974. He appealed to the committee to regard the payment made to him as part of the reconciliation project to atone for the brutalities meted out to Ghanaians by the Acheampong regime. Mr Hammah also appealed to the committee to recommend that the remaining amount be paid to him since the GH�10,000.00 paid him had been consumed by medical expenses as a result of the brutalities meted out to him.