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A Deputy General Secretary of the ruling National Democratic Congress Mr Kofi Adams says Justice Anthony Oppong chickened out of the Ya-Na murder case because he didn’t want to confront the massive evidence of bias against him.
He said if the judge refused to recuse himself from the case, incontrovertible evidence would have been adduced to prove his guilt in the matter.
Kofi Adams was speaking on Joy FM’s news analysis programme, Newsfile Saturday, August 28, 2010. |
“When the judge was running away from the obvious [facts] that will face him if he should continue to sit on the case, he now tried to bring in politics and make it look like the AG was attacking the whole Bench,” he stated, adding, “if the judge knew that he was clean, he should have stayed on [the case] and allow the case as they had started to continue to its logical conclusion but he ran away, he abandoned that course.”
Justice Anthony Oppong who was the trial judge of the case involving some 15 persons alleged to have played various roles in the murder of the overlord of Dagbon, Ya-Na Yakubu Andani II, recused himself from the case following allegation that he made prejudicial comments on it at a drinking bar.
But he did not leave in silence. The judge challenged the Deputy Attorney-General, Mr Ebo Barton Oduro to provide proof of his allegations or render him an unqualified apology, denying ever making any of the comments attributed to him by the Deputy A-G.
“Barton Oduro, Esq accused me of being a drunkard and being irresponsible enough to have gone to a drinking bar and under the influence of alcohol made prejudicial comments about this case. I vehemently deny this. I have never been to a drinking bar and made any comment whatsoever on this Yaa Naa's murder case.
“I challenge Barton Oduro Esquire to substantiate this allegation or render an unqualified apology to me for running me down,” Mr Oppong noted.
He didn’t leave it there, “I have felt insulted, scandalized and indeed bastardized all in the name of the Attorney-General's office attempt to play politics with the Bench in general and with me in particular. I am no politician. I am a judge and have taken oath to dispense justice to all manner of persons irrespective of whatever.”
But Kofi Adams says he (Adams) may never feel confident that he will get justice or fair judgement should he have a case adjudicated by Mr Anthony Oppong.
He said “that is why … if I were the AG’s department, I would make some information available to the appointing authority to see what can be done as far as this judge is concerned but I wasn’t too comfortable [because] the judge was very political, he ended up exposing himself when, in dealing with the issues raised by the prosecution and the Attorney-General, he sought to bring the NDC as a political party into this matter.”
Supporting Mr Adam’s argument, Spokesperson for Vice-President John Jinapor rejected suggestions that the Deputy A-G’s evidence was banal since it was based on a third party account.
Mr Barton Oduro had said he had a tape recording of his conversation with a an unnamed lady who alleged that Justice Oppong had said the case against the 15 persons will be thrown out.
Mr Jinpor said the evidence against the judge was overwhelming and that there were people who were willing to testify against the judge in court.
Story by Malik Abass Daabu/Myjoyonline.com/Ghana
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