No Show At Rawlings Trial

The case filed by former President Jerry John Rawlings at an Accra Fast Track High Court seeking to restrain Ghana�s immediate past High Commissioner to the United Kingdom, Professor Kwaku Danso-Boafo, from launching his book on the former President, will soon be re-assigned to a different judge. This has become necessary due to the fact that the case went to court during the legal vacation, and so Justice Mustapha Habib Logoh was assigned the docket. Yesterday when representatives of both parties arrived in court, they were informed that the matter had been re-assigned to another judge and therefore there was no sitting. Both parties were in court to check where the case docket had been forwarded, but were told by court clerks to return to the court on October 15, 2014 as the case was yet to be re-assigned. Alex Quartey, counsel for the professor, in a short interview with the media, hinted that there was progress, expressing the hope that the parties would soon resolve the issue. The defendant wanted to launch a book titled, �JJ Rawlings and the Democratic Transition in Ghana�, which the former President is seeking to have the court place an injunction on. Samuel Atta Akyea, counsel for Mr Rawlings, had at the last hearing prayed the court to allow them time to explore an out-of-court settlement. The book was initially scheduled to be launched on August 20, 2014, but Mr Rawlings wanted the event cancelled altogether, accusing Professor Danso-Boafo of bad faith. Mr Rawlings, in his affidavit in support of the motion, stated that Prof Danso-Boafo had undertaken to wait for him (Rawlings) to review the book and correct all factual inaccuracies in it, but �has breached his own solemn undertaking with me and has published it with the view to launching it�. The plaintiff believed the professor had not extended due courtesy to him relating to the said agreement and had only dropped a special invitation inviting him to the launch of the unapproved book. The defendant, in his affidavit in opposition, said the book was not intended to and would not bring Jerry Rawlings and his family into disrepute; but was rather authored from an �intellectual perspective and fair analysis of historical events which occurred during the plaintiff�s (Rawlings�) public life from military rule through transition to democracy and written in a very objective light.� Prof Danso-Boafo�s affidavit said the author, after completing the book, gave Jerry Rawlings a copy to proofread, but the former President, after keeping the copy for well over two years, had not been able to point out a single unacceptable sentence in the book. He said even in the affidavit filed by lawyers of the former President, Zoe, Akyea and Co, led by Samuel Atta Akyea, MP for Abuakwa South, they could not exhibit proof of a single page which contains the alleged �several inaccuracies, misinformation and slants which has the potential to poison Ghana�s historical records and democratic evolution�. The book, according to the author, was intended to �put in the public domain the holistic history of what happened in Ghana under the plaintiff�s rule as Head of State, matters which are of public interest, enquiry and debate.� It said the late South African President, Nelson Mandela, in his foreword of the book said it is a �must read for all Africans�, therefore emphasising the public interest quality of the book.