Activist and musician, Kwame Asare Obeng alias A Plus has called for investigation into the work Justice Emmanuel Ankamah of the Tema High Court and private legal practitioner, Maurice Ampaw.
According to A Plus, he finds it baffling that almost all cases handled by lawyer Muarice Ampaw somehow ends up with Justice Ankamah who has recently been indicted by the Supreme Court as the presiding judge.
“I’ll go live on Facebook to report Justice Emmanuel Ankamah hereinafter referred to as Injustices Emmanuel Ankamah and Lawyer Maurice Ampaw, a social media lawyer, to the Judiciary, especially the Chief Justice.
“Everyone who knows how the court system works will wonder how come almost all Lawyer Ampaw’s cases end up with Injustice Ankamah. You see, I have a contempt case pending before him but I’ll still talk about him. I want him to jail me. He can jail me. I don’t care. Galileo, Jesus Christ, Martin Luther King Jnr, and many others died to bring about change or to create awareness which has impacted the world greatly. Shatta Wale was arrested for spreading falsehood and causing fear and panic but his actions played a significant role in ending doomsday prophecies in Ghana,” he wrote in a Facebook post on Wednesday, June 14, 2023.
The activist alleged that he has received several reports about the improper conduct of Justice Ankamah from lawyers and other people who appear in his court and is willing to put himself on the line to expose the judge and Maurice Ampaw.
“Many lawyers and their clients have suffered injustices in a court where “InJustice” Emmanuel Ankamah was expected to deliver Justice. The sad thing is that most of them have suffered in silence because of the fear of victimization. Now that the Supreme Court has ordered that he should be investigated, kindly send your petition to support the investigation. The judiciary should issue a statement asking anyone who has issues with Injustice Ankamah to send a report and promise to protect the witnesses. Some of the reports you will receive will shock you. What is out there is just the tip of the iceberg. Many lawyers have told me about their bad experiences in his court. The time to report him is now,’ A Plus stated. He emphasised that it has become a matter of interest for citizens to protect the sanctity of the judiciary as it remains the only institution which the political class has yet to exert their influence over.
Recalling the words of former Ghanaian Chief Justice, Frederick Kwasi Apaloo, A Plus urged members of the legal fraternity and the general public to ensure the judicial service is redeemed from its low image.
“During Justice Apaloo’s sending-off party, after Justice Sowah who later became the chief Justice spoke, Justice Apaloo made this statement and I quote, “The one great quality I would wish to see in my colleagues, is courage—that they should be in a position to defend to death positions they believe to be right… I bid you farewell with a heavy heart. I charge you to keep or help keep the flag of the judiciary flying and may the profession as a whole continue to provide leadership and the best counsel on those professional matters which we have all held in trust for the benefit of generations yet unborn.”
“So, how do you feel as a lawyer or a member of the profession who knows the injustice being perpetrated in a particular court but failed to exhibit the courage Justice Apaloo expects of you?
“Justice Apaloo must be turning in his grave considering how low the flag of the Judiciary is flying in that particular court. Nobody is talking about lawyer Ampaw in the matter that has led to Injustice Ankamah’s investigation. It may interest you to know that the lawyer in that matter was Maurice Ampaw. What is the relationship between Maurice Ampaw, and Injustice Ankamah? To fulfil the wish of Justice Apaloo supra, Lawyer Maurice Ampaw must be investigated by the judiciary and the General Legal Council. It is also important that those who schedule cases at the Tema High Court B answer how come almost all Lawyer Ampaw’s cases end up before Injustice Ankamah,” he added.
Supreme Court describes Justice Ankamah as ‘shameful’ and orders investigation into his ruling
A Supreme Court panel led by Justice Jones Dotse (now retired) on June 12, 2023, issued a ruling in which it ordered an investigation into a case presided by Justice Emmanuel Ankamah while describing his conduct as shamfeful.
The panel also described as “sordid” the act of the judge and the Clerk at the time, Sebastian Agbo.
In a detailed ruling of the apex court released on June 12, 2023, the court after prohibiting Justice Ankamah from further hearing the case and quashing his subsequent orders provide their reasons for calling for their investigations.
Justice Jones Dotse’s panel recommended that all officers who played roles in the shameful act be investigated.
Applicants reliefs
The applicant sought from the Supreme Court “An application for an order of Certiorari to quash the orders/proceedings of the High Court, Tema presided over by His Lordship Mr. Justice Emmanuel Ankaman dated 18? day of August 2022 striking out the Applicant’s caveat for want of
prosecution and for further orders to quash the Letters of Administration dated 18 March 2022, issued by the said court to the Interested Parties herein and for an order of Prohibition to prohibit the said Judge and the Registrar of the High Court, Tema from further hearing and/or dealing with the Applications/matters in relation to the estate of the late reverend Emmanuel Dorgadzi.
Grounds of application
It was the case of the applicants that, the High Court, Tema presided over by the learned trial Judge failed to observe the rules of natural justice, specifically, the audi alteram partem rule in Suit Number E6/199/2022.
The applicants also claims that the learned Judge had no jurisdiction or exceeded his jurisdiction when on August 18, 2022 he purportedly ordered for the striking out of the caveat of the Applicants herein for want of prosecution in Suit Number E6/199/2022.
It was also their case that, the learned trial Judge committed a jurisdictional error in respect of the estate of the deceased, Reverend Emmanuel Dorgbadzi when on the face of the record, the same court had earlier issued Letters of Administration over the same estate.
By Court
The court ruled that, it is apparent that, the conduct exhibited by the learned trial Judge would warrant this court (Supreme Court) to prohibit him from further hearing or determining this Suit No E66/199/2022 before the High Court, Tema or at any other forum.
The unanimous decision of the in granting the Applicants the orders for Certiorari and Prohibition on the 15 March 2023 as follows:-
“This is an application at the instance of the Applicants herein seeking to quash the orders/proceedings of the high court, Tema, presided over by His Lordship Emmanuel Ankamah dated 18th August 2022 and also to prohibit the said Judge from hearing and or dealing with any matter in respect of the Estate of Rev. Emmanuel Dorgbadzi (Deceased) Suit No. E6/199/2022 or any such related case.
“Having considered all the processes filed by the respective counsel and also taken into consideration their arguments as well as the exhibits tendered during the testimony of C.W.1, Hilda Epton, Registrar of the High Court, Tema, this Court is of the considered opinion that, the proceedings and orders made by the high Court, Tema presided over by His Lordship, Emmanuel Ankaman J, (as he then was) on the 18th day of August 2022 in Suit No. E6/199/2022 intitutled “In the matter of the Estate of the late Rev. Emmanuel Dorgbadzi – Deceased and In an application for the Grant of Letters of Administration by Mitchelle Dapaah Letten and Garfield Lee Jr. Applicants and in the matter of Caveat by Yaw Godwin Dorgbadzi and Monique Tetteh are hereby brought up into this court for the purposes of being quashed and same are accordingly quashed by order of
Certiorari.
“For the avoidance of doubts, the said Judge Ankaman as he then was), is alsohereby prohibited from hearing or having anything to do with this suit or any related aspect of it whatsoever,” the Supreme Court ruled.
Source: Ghana Web