Saturday, 24 March 2012

BAWKU MP TRIAL, CATTLE DEALER DAZZLES DEFENCE

By Felix Engsalige Nyaaba
Mr. Sumaila Biebielle, the cattle dealer who has dragged the Bawku Central sitting Member of Parliament, Hon. Adamu Dramani Sakande to the Supreme Court for allegedly holding multiple nationality, yesterday dazzled the defence when he was being cross examined in the constitutional interpretation case.
Mr. Biebielle who has been defending the case without a legal counsel since the boycott of his lawyer, Dr. Raymond Atuguba by the Association of Magistrates and Judges of Ghana (AMJG) yesterday told the nine panel judges hearing the case that, although he is not a lawyer, the little knowledge he had gathered after reading the country 1992 constitution has given him an insight of illegality when section or Articles of the constitution are being violated.
According to the plaintiff, who was being cross examined by Mr. Egbert Faibille, a member of the defence team, he has never been to the Homes office in the United Kingdom neither has he met any officer from the Homes office pursuant to the documents he intercepted from the Ghana security agency which indicated that, Hon. Sakande was holding a British passport at the time he picked election forms to contest has a member of parliament in Ghana.
Asked whether the UK Homes office has written to him personally to confirm that the defendant, Hon. Adamu Sakande was a citizen of that country, Mr. Biebielle answered in the negative and said he had never written any letter to them for information about the MP national status in the UK.
He also told the Supreme Court that, he has not met any officer from the Foreign and Commonwealth office at the UK nor has received any document or letters  with regards to the embattled sitting member of parliament for Bawku central.
Mr. Biebille told the panel of the Supreme Court that, all the documents he tendered and attached to his statement of case was obtained upon a request to the security agencies in the country and do not have personal knowledge of their origins.
Defence lawyer: All these letters and documents you have attached to your statement of case were not written to you personally?
Plaintiff:  No my Lords.
Defence Lawyer: You have also not written a letter personally to the Homes office in respect of the defendant status of nationality?
Plaintiff: No my Lords.
Defence Lawyer: You did not tender these documents when you were called as prosecution witness at the lower court on the criminal case?
Plaintiff: No my Lords, I did not.
Defence Lawyer: So you will agree with me that these documents are not genuine documents?
Plaintiff: That is not so, my Lords
However, in a cross examination by the principal state Attorney Mr. Sylvester Williams, the plaintiff said he got all the documents and letters from the national security and the police services of Ghana upon a request.
According to him, he wrote to the police and obtained the documents when he went there and made a request for it.
Asked by the principal state Attorney how the documents was given to him, the plaintiff said, he first went to the police and made a verbal request but he was asked to put that request into writing and he complied for which he came into possessing of the documents.
He told the Supreme Court that, after obtaining the documents and examined them; he was convinced that Hon.Adamu Dramani Sakande was not a citizen of Ghana at the time he filed forms to contest for elections in Ghana.
Mr. Biebielle further told the court that, the documents shows that the defendant was holding a British passport and by the constitution it was illegal for someone to hold a foreign passport and contest for election in Ghana.
“My Lords, when I collected the documents, it shows that the MP holds a British passport, and the little knowledge I have about the constitution, I believed anyone who holds a different country or foreign passport cannot be an MP in this country,” the witness stated.
But the defence counsel contended  that piece of evidence and prayed the court to grant it leave to re-cross examine the witness.
According to Mr. Faibiile, the statement that he obtained the documents upon a request to the police was not in his statement of case and that the defence would ask further question in that regards.
The court then went into chamber and came and ruled granting the defence a second opportunity to cross examine the plaintiff who was in the witness box.
The defence after asking the plaintiff few question prayed the court to adjourn the case to enable them gather some compelling documents that would support the defence to re-cross examine the plaintiff on the documents he purportedly receive from the security services.
According to Mr. Egbert Faibille, the lead counsel in the case Mr. Yonni Kulendi was not in town and some of the relevant issues need to be cross check by him before the defences continued to question the plaintiff.
The Chairman for the nine member panel, Professor Date Baah therefore obliged the defence request and adjourned the case to Thursday 22, for continuation.
The other members of the panel were, Justice Julius Ansah, Justice Sophia Adinyira, Justice Rose Owusu, Justice Jonse Dotse, Justice Anin Yeboah, Justice Paul Baffour- Bonne, Justice Sulleiman Gbadebey and Justice Vida Akoto Bamfo as members.
Mr. Biebielle who filed the suit in 2010, wants a declaration from the court in a true and proper interpretation of Article 97(1e) and Article 94(2a) that the MP, Adamou Daramani Sakande who holds a British passport, therefore owns allegiance to a country either than Ghana and is therefore in contravening and in violation of the 1992 constitution of Ghana.
According to Mr. Beibiele, there are credible evidences enough from the National security coordinator and the British High Commission consular to the effects that the defendant, Hon. Adamou Daramani Sakande holds a British nationality while sitting in Ghana parliament.
He also wants any consequential orders that the court may deem fit or meet to declare in the proper application of the laws of the country.

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