Ayariga Shot Down

Presidential Spokesperson Mahama Ayariga

Desperate attempts by the Presidential Spokesperson Mahama Ayariga to return to Parliament via a by-election in the Bawku Central constituency, 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 judgment 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 judgment, 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 judgment exercised his discretion wisely among other issues.

Justice Appau said the doors of justice must not be closed to persons without them being 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 dual 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 judgment, 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.

Dr Raymond Atuguba, counsel for Sumaila Bielbiel, opposed the application on grounds that Hon. Sakande had every opportunity to tell his side of the story but refused to appear in court to answer to the allegations, hence the default judgment.

Dr Atuguba sounded very emotional in the course of his submissions when asked certain questions by the judges on why the application should be dismissed and had to be calmed down by Justice Appau. “Don’t be emotional about these things because we are all trying to develop the law,” the presiding judge said, after which the lawyer apologized.

Atuguba noted that two judges independently dismissed the MP’s application when he argued that the application was misconceived and subsequently prayed the court to dismiss it since the issue before the court was not about citizenship but rather passport.

Counsel for Bielbiel stated that the applicant had misled the court on the issue at stake and said whether or not the MP renounced his British citizenship “he would always be a British Citizenship except for a passport”, prompting one of the judges to ask whether a renunciation was not an issue, to which the lawyer answered in the affirmative.

The judges also asked Atuguba if the issue of citizenship and renunciation was not for the court to decide.

The application for stay of proceedings, pending the outcome of the appeal, was not opposed by Atuguba

The MP has been charged with nine counts of nationality fraud and has pleaded not guilty to all the charges and said when given the opportunity, he would prove he had renounced his British citizenship even before filing his nominations.

Other judges in the case were Justices P.K. Gyaesayor and Aduama Osei.

By Fidelia Achama