Court Refuses To Stop Coup Planners’ Trial

A High Court in Accra yesterday refused to stay proceedings in the trial of 10 persons arraigned before it for attempting to savagely overthrow the Nana Akufo-Addo-led New Patriotic Party (NPP), by dismissing two applications for stay.

The court, in its ruling on the two applications, said it will be unfair on the other eight accused persons if it ought to grant the request for stay of proceedings pending the determination of a matter at the Supreme Court.

Counsel for ACP Dr. Benjamin Agordzo had gone to the Supreme Court to challenge an order by the court on him to open his safeguard after the court found that the prosecution had made a prima facie case against him.

He and another accused person in this manner filed an application for stay of proceedings pending the determination of the case by the Supreme Court.

A three-member panel of the court, presided over Justice Afia Serwah Asare-Botwe and assisted by Justices Stephen Oppong and Hafisata Amaleboba, all Court of Appeal judges sitting as additional High Court judges, in their ruling held that the applications demonstrated no exceptional circumstances for which the trial should be stayed.

The court added that, it would be unfair to grant the applications to the impediment of eight other accused persons, who were ready to continue with the trial.

Yet again meanwhile, the court has ordered the accused persons to file their disclosures by January 27, 2023.

The court, in July 2022, had ordered all 10 accused persons to file their disclosures after it ordered them to open their protection in a ruling on submission of no case filed by the guard lawyers.

But the accused persons failed to comply with the order, a situation which didn’t do down well with the court, which cautioned the protection team that it won’t entertain any delays.

A portion of the guard lawyers attempted to explain their inability to comply with the court’s order, but the three-member panel said there was not any justification or whatsoever for the parties to have failed in complying with its orders.

The court adjourned the trial to February 1, 2023 and ordered the accused persons to file their disclosures before January 27.

Dr. Frederick Mac-Palm, Donya Kafui aka Ezor, Bright Allan Debrah Ofosu aka Bright Alan Yeboah or BB, Lance Corporal Ali Solomon, Lance Corporal Sylvester Akapewu, Lance Corporal Seidu Abubakar, WO II Esther Saan Dekuwine aka Mama Gee and Johannes Zikpi, a civilian employee with the Ghana Armed Forces, are facing two counts of conspiracy to commit high treason and high treason.

ACP Dr. Benjamin Agordzo and Col. Samuel Kojo Gameli on the other hand have been charged with two counts of abetment of high treason each.

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The accused persons including three civilians and six military officers are being accused of planning to usurp the executive powers of the state.