Chief Executive Officer of the now-defunctMenzgold Ghana Limited, Nana Appiah Mensah, commonly known as NAM1, claimed to have deposited GH¢5 million with the Ghana Police Service.
According to NAM1, this amount was intended for distribution to customers of the collapsed firm as part of a reimbursement process.
However, the government has refuted these claims.
The Attorney General and Minister for Justice, Godfred Yeboah Dame, addressed the issue in Parliament, stating that only GH¢2.5 million was received from NAM1, contradicting the reported GH¢5 million.
NAM1 had specified that the funds were meant for customers who successfully completed a verification process conducted by Menzgold, including those eligible for a GH¢2.5 million judgment debt.
The discrepancy between NAM1’s statementand the government’s response adds to the ongoing complexities surrounding the Menzgold saga.
The accurate amount deposited and the subsequent distribution process remain points of contention between the involved parties.
“The record I have before me indicates that an amount of GH¢2.5 million was paid, so the claim of GH¢5 million having been paid to the Ghana Police Service is untrue. It was only GH¢2.5 million that was paid to the Ghana Police Service by the accused person.”
Customers who were adversely affected by the suspension of operations by Menzgold in 2018 have been fervently demanding the release of their funds.
The company, which halted its activities in the wake of the suspension, has faced allegations of operating a Ponzi scheme.
Nana Appiah Mensah,widely recognized as NAM1, is presently undergoing trial for fraud. The legal proceedings underscore the serious accusations leveled against him and the company.
The aggrieved customers continue to seek resolution and restitution for the financial losses they experienced due to the suspension of Menzgold’s operations.
The Attorney-General and Minister for Justice, Godfred Yeboah Dame, has condemned the opposition National Democratic Congress (NDC) for its stance on the government’s handling of illegal mining, known as galamsey.
He argues that the NDC lacks the moral authority to complain about the damage caused by this issue.
According to Mr. Yeboah Dame, the NDC’s past efforts to combat galamsey were ineffective and should not serve as a basis for criticism of the current government.
He described the NDC’s track record in addressing the problem as “wretched and miserable”, asserting that they did not manage to apprehend or prosecute any major figures involved in illegal mining during the Mahama administration.
In a press release issued on Wednesday, October 18, he emphasized that during the previous Mahama administration, the NDC was unable to apprehend or bring to justice a single influential figure involved in illegal mining activities in the country.
“I consider it ironic for the NDC, whose record in the fight against Galamsey can be described at best, as wretched and miserable, to mount personal attacks on me for the brave efforts in the fight against Galamsey.”
“The record shows that the NDC woefully failed and/or neglected to arrest and prosecute a single kingpin of Galamsey, including the touted Galamsey queen, Aisha Huang.”
Additionally, in response to the party’s call for his resignation due to the guidance provided by his office to the CID regarding Professor Frimpong-Boateng’s report, Mr. Dame highlighted his success in the arrest and prosecution of Aisha Huang.
He asserted that his exemplary efforts led to the apprehension and ongoing prosecution of Ms. Huang.
“It is noted that all acts committed by Aisha Huang for which she gained notoriety, took place between 2014 and 2016.”
“However, remarkably, it was the current NPP administration which commenced the prosecution of Aisha Huan in 2018.”
Mr. Dame remained unimpressed with the NDC’s actions against the menace, citing their inadequate penalties for galamsey operators during their time in office.
Despite this, he maintained that “no significant convictions for Galamsey offences were recorded in the regime of the NDC when that political party had the opportunity to govern.”
“Their Flagbearer before the 2020 General Elections, openly declared amnesty for all those arrested for engaging in Galamsey activities in communities affected by the heinous environmental hazard.”
Ghana’s Attorney General and Minister of Justice, Godfred Yeboah Dame, highlighted the critical need for robust measures to ensure corporate accountability in the fight against corruption in Africa.
Speaking at the 2023 Concordia Annual Summit with the theme “Navigating Corporate Accountability and Human Rights in Africa,” the Attorney General emphasized the detrimental effects of corruption on public sector operations and overall public trust.
He called for enhanced collaboration among African nations to combat corruption effectively and underscored Ghana’s efforts in addressing this issue through the enactment of legal frameworks aimed at promoting transparency in public sector operations.
Ghana’s Attorney General and Minister of Justice, Godfred Yeboah Dame, highlighted the critical need for robust measures to ensure corporate accountability in the fight against corruption in Africa. Speaking at the 2023 Concordia Annual Summit with the theme “Navigating Corporate Accountability and Human Rights in Africa,” the Attorney General emphasized the detrimental effects of corruption on public sector operations and overall public trust.
He called for enhanced collaboration among African nations to combat corruption effectively and underscored Ghana’s efforts in addressing this issue through the enactment of legal frameworks aimed at promoting transparency in public sector operations.
Godfred Dame also advocated for the enhancement of justicesystems across African nations to prioritize and safeguard human rights.
“There must also be an effective justice system that will take care of violations of human rights. We should have a justice system that will clearly ensure that all elements of the rule of law will be protected and that whenever violations occur, they are punished,” the Attorney General added.
The Sheraton New York Times Square Hotel is the site of the 2023 Concordia Annual Summit.
During the 2023 Bar Conference in Cape Coast on Monday, September 11, Ghana’s Attorney General and Minister for Justice,Godfred Dame, expressed his belief that the next president of Ghana would likely be an economist.
While he expressed his wish for another lawyer to assume the presidency, Dame was confident that the economist, who has a legal background through his father, would uphold the core values cherished by the legal profession.
It’s worth noting that in the Fourth Republic, three out of the last five presidents have been lawyers, including John Agyekum Kufuor, John Evans Atta Mills, and Nana Akufo-Addo.
“Throughout much of the history of post-independence Ghana, there has been a shared culture between the Bar and the higher reaches of government and the civil service.
There has never been a gulf between the worlds of law and politics. A very large number of practising barristers have been members of the House of Parliament.
“The Speakers of Parliament Ghana has had thus far have been lawyers. The Fourth Republic has seen three of its five Presidents so far being lawyers. Unfortunately, it looks like the next President will not be a lawyer.
“However, it is becoming increasingly quite clear that, even though the next President will be an economist, being the son of a lawyer, he will hold fast to the values the legal profession cherishes.”
Dame made the point to underscore the importance of the law and for that matter, lawyers in the governance of the country.
He posits thatGhana can hardly thrive without the critical input of the legal profession, as captured in the theme of this year’s Bar Conference, “Ensuring high standards and integrity in public life: the role of the legal profession”.
The Ghana Bar Association today held its 2023–2024 Ghana Bar Association (GBA) conference.
The opening ceremony of the conference is being held at the National Examination Center, University of Cape Coast, Cape Coast. The event is on the theme: “Ensuring High Standards and Integrity in Public Life: The Role of Legal Profession.
Present at the event were President Akufo-Addo, Chief Justice Gertrude Torkornoo, and Attorney-General Godfred Dame, among others.
The continuous efforts of Attorney-General and Minister for Justice, Godfred Dame, have prevented Ghana from being hit by numerous judgement debts.
His reputation has recently been questioned by Member of Parliament for North Tongu, Samuel Okudzeto Ablakwa who says the Attorney-General is assisting senior New Patriotic Party (NPP) member, Gabby Otchere-Darko to exert influence on Ministry of Finance officials to release GHS 187.3 million to one of his clients, West Blue Company Limited.
In his August 1st edition of the Good Evening Ghana show, broadcast journalist, Paul Adom-Otchere denied Mr Ablakwa’s claims.
According to Mr Adom-Otchere, the Attorney-General cannot be considered to be “bad” as he is “resolving the problem.”
He noted that the works of the Attorney-General show he is a man of integrity. The journalist noted that Ghana has saved millions of cedis and dollars due to the efforts of Godfred Dame.
Mr Paul Adom-Otchere listed some major cases won by the Attorney-General.
NDK’s GH¢1.2bn judgement debt
In June 2021, a legal intervention by the Attorney-General (A-G) prevented the state from being liable for a judgment debt of over GH¢1.2 billion, which was being pursued by NDK Financial Services.
NDK Financial Services had initiated legal proceedings to compel the government to pay them GH¢1.273 billion, claiming it as an outstanding balance along with accrued interest on a judgment debt.
However, following the A-G’s challenge to the legitimacy of these claims, the Supreme Court ruled in favor of the state, awarding NDK Financial Services only GH¢14,699.74 with applicable interest.
The dispute in question pertained to a credit facility granted by NDK between 2005 and 2008 to Ahaman Enterprises Limited. The credit was meant for the installation of electrical poles and related materials on behalf of the Ministry of Energy.
Cassius Mining Limited vs Ghana
On August 1, 2023, the Accra High Court granted an injunction against Cassius Mining Limited, an Australian-owned mining company. The injunction was issued following an application by the Attorney-General (A-G) and Minister of Justice, Mr. Godfred Yeboah Dame, at the Commercial Division of the High Court in Accra on July 12.
In the application, the A-G requested an order of interim injunction against the mining company. The purpose of the injunction, as requested by the A-G, is to prevent Cassius Mining Limited from initiating or pursuing any arbitration proceedings outside the jurisdiction of Ghana.
This pertains specifically to the Prospecting Licence Agreement dated December 28, 2016, which was entered into between the Government of Ghana and Cassius Mining Limited. The injunction was granted by Justice Akua Sarpomaa Amoah, who presided over the case.
Earlier this year, the company had initiated an international arbitration against the Government of Ghana at the Permanent Court of Arbitration, seeking approximately US$300 million in compensation. However, this arbitration process was halted by the court due to objections raised by the Attorney-General.
Following the suspension of the arbitration at the Permanent Court of Arbitration, the company had opted for other international arbitration forums to pursue its case against the Government of Ghana.
According to the Attorney-General, on October 12, 2016, Cassius Mining Limited had applied for a prospecting license from the Government of Ghana. This license covered an area of 13.791 square kilometers in the Gbane/Datoko region of Talensi, located in the Upper East Region of Ghana.
Beijing Everyway Traffic & Lighting Technical Company Limited vs Ghana
On February 1, 2023, the Permanent Court of Arbitration rendered a final award on January 30, 2023, in a case involving an investor-state arbitration brought forward by Beijing Everyway Traffic & Lighting Technical Company Limited against the government of Ghana.
The tribunal ruled in favor of a preliminary objection raised by the Attorney-General, Godfred Yeboah Dame, who represented Ghana in the case.
The Claimant had initiated the arbitration based on the provisions of the Treaty between China and Ghana Concerning the Encouragement and Reciprocal Protection of Investments, which was concluded on October 12, 1989.
In its claim, the company sought damages totaling “not less than $55 million.”
Background
On December 16, 2011, Ghana entered into a Master Facility Agreement and related Finance Documents with the China Development Bank to secure a term loan facility for the development of 12 infrastructure projects, including the AITMS Project, in the country.
The AITMS Project was awarded to the Claimant, Beijing Everyway Traffic & Lighting Technical Company Limited, around April 2012. Following this, on September 17, 2012, the Claimant and the Ministry of Roads and Highways of Ghana entered into the EPIC Contract.
Under the terms of the EPIC Contract, Beijing Everyway agreed to supply equipment and offer technical services to the Ghanaian Ministry in relation to the AITMS Project in Accra. The Contract Price was set at US$100 million, and an initial payment of 30% was agreed upon.
Parliament of Ghana approved the EPIC Contract on December 22, 2018. The project’s commencement was set for August 26, 2019, with a completion timeframe of 24 months.
The Claimant asserted that between November 12 and 15, 2019, a delegation from the Ministry of Roads and Highways of Ghana visited their facilities in China to inspect equipment for the AITMS Project. In January 2020, the Department of Urban Roads of Ghana confirmed that the equipment could be shipped to Ghana. Additionally, the Department issued an onsite work permit for the project in January 2020, and the first installations for the project were initiated in February 2020.
During the project’s progress, the Claimant issued two Interim Payment Certificates totaling US$21,995,728 for completed work. By the time of the Notice of Arbitration in February 2021, the Claimant maintained that works with a contractual value of at least US$21,995,728 had been accomplished.
However, a series of events unfolded. In March 2020, the Minister of Finance of Ghana called for discussions regarding the AITMS Project. Subsequent meetings involving various Ghanaian officials led to decisions about the project’s supervision and responsibilities. Notably, the Parliament of Ghana rescinded approval of the EPIC Contract on November 19, 2020, leading to the Claimant’s termination notice on December 30, 2021.
The Claimant alleged that Ghana’s actions constituted a breach of the China-Ghana Investment Treaty, including unlawfully expropriating the Claimant’s investment and violating the Umbrella Clause.
Ghana contended that its actions were in the interest of national security and that the Tribunal lacked jurisdiction over the Claimant’s claims. The dispute centered around differing interpretations of the Treaty and the legality of Ghana’s actions within that context.
$15.3m Heritage Imperial ‘galamsey’ judgment against State
The High Court in Kumasi on May 2, 2023, overturned a $15.3 million judgment that was previously ruled in favor of Heritage Imperial, a mining company.
The Attorney-General and Minister of Justice, Godfred Yeboah Dame, initiated the application to nullify the judgment, asserting that the high court lacked jurisdiction to address the case.
In 2018, Heritage Imperial took legal action against the Ghanaian government due to the intrusion on its mining site in the Ashanti Region and the confiscation of its excavators by the Inter-Ministerial Task Force on Illegal Mining.
Following a comprehensive trial, Justice Samuel Diawuo, presiding over the case, determined on July 30, 2020, that the government’s actions were unlawful. Consequently, the court ordered the government to pay $15,304,714.20, the equivalent value of the machinery and equipment seized, or its present value in Ghanaian Cedis. The court also awarded general damages of GH¢500,000 and imposed costs of GH¢100,000 against the government.
However, when Godfred Yeboah Dame assumed the role of Attorney-General in 2021, he moved to set aside the judgment, arguing that the court lacked jurisdiction to hear the case. He later revealed that he had learned about the judgment through a news program on Joy FM, Newsfile, and hadn’t been aware of it during his tenure as Deputy Attorney-General.
Mr. Dame presented the application at the High Court in Kumasi on July 23, 2021. He highlighted several procedural discrepancies in the plaintiff’s case and contended that the plaintiff’s initiation of the legal action did not adhere to the obligatory statutory provisions of the State Proceedings Act, 1998 (Act 555), rendering it unlawful.
Furthermore, he asserted that the order for the government to pay $15,304,714.20 lacked a valid basis, as there was no endorsement on the writ of summons issued in support of the action.
Parliament has granted its endorsement to the Whistleblower Amendment Bill, 2023. The approved bill aims to strengthen whistleblower protection measures and encourage the reporting of misconduct, signaling a promising step forward in the nation’s fight against wrongdoing and malfeasance.
According to the report, the main goal of this bill is to amend the current Whistleblower Act, 2006 (Act 720), with the aim of strengthening the funding channels for the Whistleblower Reward Fund.
On March 7, 2023, the Attorney-General (A-G) and Minister of Justice, Godfred Dame, presented the bill before parliament. Following its submission, the bill was referred to the Committee on Constitutional, Legal, and Parliamentary Affairs for a comprehensive assessment.
The Whistleblower Act, 2006 (Act 720), was enacted to incentivize and establish robust structures to strengthen Ghana’s ability to combat corruption and other illicit practices that hinder sustainable development efforts.
One of the key sections of Act 720, Section 20, is what captures the Whistleblower Reward Fund.
It relied on voluntary contributions and budgetary allocations from Parliament as its primary funding sources.
However, the Committee on Constitutional, Legal, and Parliamentary Affairs, led by Kwame Anyimadu-Antwi, in its report submitted to the House prior to the bill’s passage, noted certain shortcomings that needed to be addressed.
One major concern was the possibility of delays in releasing approved budgetary funds into the Whistleblower Reward Fund, which could affect the prompt payment of rewards to whistleblowers.
Additionally, Act 720 lacked clarity on the timeframe within which whistleblowers should receive their rewards for their efforts leading to the successful recovery of money or proceeds obtained from the sale of confiscated assets.
“The amendments proposed are, therefore, meant to cure the shortcomings in Act 720 by reducing over-reliance on budgetary allocations as the main sources of revenue into the Whistleblower Reward Fund and to also provide for timeliness for payment of the rewards to successful whistleblowers,” it said.
To rectify these issues, the proposed amendments aim to reduce reliance on budgetary allocations as the primary revenue source for the Whistleblower Reward Fund. This shift intends to ensure the timely payment of rewards to successful whistleblowers, thereby preventing demotivation due to delays.
The committee underscored the vital need to protect the identities of whistleblowers to shield them from potential hunts by powerful individuals in society.
Robust whistleblower protection mechanisms are crucial to encourage citizens to report misconduct, promote public accountability, and uphold integrity.
As part of the approved amendment, individuals and institutions receiving disclosures of impropriety, as per Section 3 of Act 720, are urged to maintain the utmost confidentiality and implement stringent protective measures to safeguard the whistleblowers’ identities.
The report further emphasized that motivating individuals to expose wrongdoing in both private and public sectors play a pivotal role in combating fraud, corruption, and unethical behavior.
Hence, continuous review and improvement of policies and legal frameworks that incentivize and protect patriotic individuals providing information on misconduct are essential.
The proposed amendment is seen as a crucial step in strengthening national efforts to combat corruption and reinforces the country’s commitment to promoting a culture of transparency and accountability.
In a recent scandal that has captured public attention in Ghana, senior police officers and an official from the ruling New Patriotic Party (NPP) have been implicated in a plot to oust the Inspector-General of Police (IGP) from office. The leaked secret recording of their conversation has sparked widespread discussion in the country.
According to the leaked tape, the senior police officers sought the support of a prominent NPP member to carry out their agenda. They accused Dr. George Akuffo Dampare, the IGP, of being anti-NPP and posing a threat to the party’s success in the upcoming 2024 general elections.
One of the recordings features a senior officer enumerating the alleged “sins” of the IGP, including conflicts with the Attorney General and Minister of Justice.
The officer claims to have been informed by Jerry Ahmed, the Chief Executive Officer of the Coastal Development Authority, that there is a discord between Dr. Dampare and Godfred Yeboah Dame, possibly due to differences in leadership style.
“According to Jerry, Godfred doesn’t want to see him at all. He doesn’t like him at all. Godfred Yeboah Dame the Attorney General, he doesn’t like Dampare at all,” the senior officer noted.
The media, on Tuesday, July 11, 2023, reported on the revelation of a secret recording involving police officers discussing the removal of Dr. Dampare from his position.
The initial report included a 50-minute audio recording that outlined the officers’ agenda during a meeting with an NPP member known as Alhaji. However, more compelling evidence in the form of video recordings has since emerged, shedding further light on the plot.
One of the videos captures a Superintendent of Police named Asare passionately advocating for the agenda of the group during a separate meeting with a senior NPP member.
Superintendent Asare makes various allegations against the current IGP, including labeling him as anti-NPP, stating, “because he [Dr. Dampare] is naturally born bad.”
In the audio recording published by GhanaWeb, a Commissioner of Police referred to as Mensah is heard seeking political support for their campaign to remove Dr. Dampare.
Commissioner Mensah expresses concerns about Dr. Dampare’s leadership style and its potential impact on the New Patriotic Party’s ability to retain power in the 2024 elections.
The Minister for Justice and Attorney General, Godfred Yeboah Dame, confronted lawyer Tsatsu Tsikata during a court session due to Tsikata’s objection regarding the AG’s failure to announce himself.
As reported by Asaaseradio.com, the AG retaliated by highlighting Tsikata’s own history of intentionally withholding his name during court proceedings.
This incident occurred during the trial of James Gyakye Quayson at the High Court on July 14, 2023.
While Deputy Attorney General Alfred Tuah-Yeboah announced his presence in court on behalf of the Attorney-General, Tsikata concluded his submission and requested the court to halt the proceedings.
Tsikata had previously filed an application at the Court of Appeal to challenge the High Court’s rejection of his request to suspend the proceedings.
Additionally, he filed a judicial review application at the Supreme Court to overturn the ruling of the High Court.
Upon the arrival of Godfred Dame, the Attorney-General, he immediately opposed Tsikata’s application, arguing that there were no substantial grounds to justify staying proceedings based on the pending applications at the Court of Appeal and the Supreme Court.
Dame emphasized that there existed no legal provision, rule of practice, or precedent that mandated the court to halt proceedings in such circumstances. He further criticized Tsikata for failing to cite any supporting authorities throughout his argument.
In response to the AG’s opposition,Tsikata raised his concern in open court, pointing out that the AG did not announce himself before addressing the court, which deviated from normal practice.
He expressed his hope that the court would not entertain such deviations. However, Justice Mary Maame Ekue Yanzuh noted that the AG’s name was already displayed on the screen, rendering Tsikata’s issue moot.
In a counterattack, Godfred Dame expressed his surprise at Tsatsu Tsikata’s complaint regarding the proper announcement of counsel’s presence, highlighting Tsikata’s own consistent violation of court rules by deliberately withholding his name.
Dame pointed out that his presence had been duly recorded and displayed on the screens for all the lawyers present, as acknowledged by the trial judge. Thus, he deemed Tsikata’s complaint baseless.
Justice Yanzuh, taking exception to Tsikata’s reply to the AG’s response, admonished him to be mindful of his language when addressing the court.
Following the exchanges, the judge ruled against Tsikata’s application for a stay of proceedings based on the pending Court of Appeal case, citing the absence of any legal requirement mandating such a stay.
The court also adjourned the ruling on the application for judicial review pending at the Supreme Court to Tuesday, July 18, 2023.
The High Court in Accra is set to deliver a ruling today, July 11, on the application for a stay of proceedings in the case involving the Assin North legislator, James Gyakye Quayson.
Quayson is currently facing charges of forgery and perjury at the High Court in Accra.
His legal team has filed an application for the court to stay the proceedings, allowing the Court of Appeal to review the trial judge’s decision to hear the case on a daily basis.
Lead counsel Tsatsu Tsikata argued that proceeding without a stay would prejudge the appeal, while the prosecution, led by Godfred Dame, opposed the application.
The issues for Quayson began when he declared his intention to contest the Assin North Parliamentary elections in 2020.
A group called the ‘Concerned Citizens of Assin North’ petitioned the Electoral Commission to withdraw his candidature, claiming he was a Canadian citizen.
Despite the petition, Quayson successfully contested on behalf of the National Democratic Congress (NDC) and secured the victory with 55.21% of the votes.
Following his victory, a resident of Assin Bereku filed a petition at the Cape Coast High Court to annul his declaration as the MP.
After three years of court proceedings, the Supreme Court concluded the case on May 17 and directed Parliament to remove his name from its records. Subsequently, he won the seat again through a by-election.
In a related development, Quayson has cited KT Hammond, the MP for Adansi Asokwa and Minister of Trade and Industry, for contempt.
He filed the necessary processes at the High Court, seeking punishment for Hammond’s alleged prejudicial comments in an ongoing case against him. Quayson’s lawyers claim that Hammond accused their client of being guilty and stated that he would go to jail in a media interview.
The Accra High Court will announce its decision on Tuesday, July 11, regarding the application for a stay of proceedings in the case involving James Gyakye Quayson, the Member of Parliament (MP) for Assin North.
Mr. Quayson is currently facing charges of forgery and perjury, with his trial taking place at the High Court in Accra.
The legal team representing the MP has submitted an application to the court, requesting a stay of proceedings to allow the Court of Appeal to review the trial judge’s decision to conduct the case on a day-to-day basis.
Tsatsu Tsikata, the lead counsel for Quayson, argued that denying the stay of proceedings would prejudice the pending appeal.
On the other hand, the prosecution, led by Godfred Dame, has opposed the application.
During the court proceedings, the Attorney-General, Godfred Yeboah Dame, addressed the Accra High Court and stated that Tsatsu Tsikata’s application was based on irrelevant matters, factual distortions, and confusion.
Opposing the application, the AG emphasized that there were no exceptional circumstances presented that would justify a stay of proceedings in a criminal trial.
He further argued that the application appeared to be a deliberate attempt to impede the ongoing criminal trial of the Assin North MP.
The Attorney-General and Minister for Justice, Mr. Godfred Dame, has engaged in productive discussions with the Director-General of the World Intellectual Property Organisation (WIPO), Mr. Daren Tang, on the sidelines of the ongoing General Assembly of Member States in Geneva.
Leading a government delegation, Mr. Dame, accompanied by officials from the Ministry of Justice, the Registrar-General of Ghana, and Ghana’s Ambassador to Switzerland, attended the 64th edition of the General Assembly, representing Ghana’s role as the Coordinator of the African Group of Member States of WIPO from 2023 to 2024.
The WIPO Director-General commended Ghana for its recent leadership in intellectual property matters on the African continent.
He expressed confidence that Ghana’s coordination of the African Group would contribute to meaningful development in intellectual property, provided it receives the necessary ministerial support, which Ghana has demonstrated.
Significant steps taken by Ghana, such as the registration of the “Bolga basket” as a geographical indication and the deposit of the instrument of ratification of the UPOV Convention, were acknowledged by Mr. Tang, who expressed WIPO’s readiness to assist Ghana in its progress in the field of intellectual property.
The Attorney-General, Mr. Godfred Yeboah Dame, conveyed Ghana’s gratitude for WIPO’s hospitality and affirmed the country’s commitment to strengthening its relationship with WIPO.
Recognizing the importance of innovation, creativity, and industrialization for national development, Mr. Dame emphasized the government’s dedication to fostering an enabling environment for creativity and innovation, including the establishment of a dedicated intellectual property division within the African Continental Free Trade Area Secretariat.
As the Coordinator of the African Group, Mr. Dame assured WIPO of maximum cooperation and collaboration from Ghana.
He also requested WIPO’s technical assistance in upgrading Ghana’s intellectual property system and emphasized the importance of training staff in the area of geographical indications. Furthermore, the Attorney-General sought support from the Director-General for Ghana to secure additional senior positions within WIPO.
He highlighted the competence of Mrs. Loretta Asiedu, the acting Director of the African Bureau, expressing hope that she would be favorably considered for the substantive position when nominations are open.
In response, the WIPO Director-General acknowledged Mrs. Asiedu’s capabilities and stated that while positions within WIPO are usually advertised and competed for, her experience and abilities would be a valuable asset.
Mr. Dame has returned to Ghana after his meeting with the WIPO Director-General, while the remainder of the Ghanaian delegation continues its participation in the General Assembly, which concludes on July 14, 2023.
Two young boys, Ernest Mensah (11) and Kingsley Agormetor (14), have lost their lives after drowning in Nsakye river at Mfrebiem, a farming community in Akuapem South municipality in the Eastern region.
They drowned when they attempted to fetch from the river which was overflowing its banks as a result of a dam constructed byBlue Skies Company Limited.
The first victim slipped into the river and the second victim attempted to save him but both drowned.
Father of one of the victims, Kwaku Agormetor blamed the flood caused by the Dam for the death of the children.
The dam constructed in the river has caused serious flooding which has submerged a total of about 70 acres of oil palm plantation, cassava, pineapple, maize, pepper and garden eggs farms and flooded homes in Mfrebiem, Deikrom and Agyarkokrom, all farming communities.
The only borehole serving the communities have been heavily polluted as result of the flooding denying residents access to safe drinking water.
The Odikro of Deikrom who is also a farmer Abusuapanin Oko Amoaniexplained the devastation caused by the construction of the dam by Blue Skies Company Limited on their farms as a result of the recent downpour making it difficult for them to depend on their farms for their daily meal.
Michael Agyarko, unit committee member of Mfrebiem community said the dam has blocked smooth flow of the river hence the flooding in that area.
He said the Akuapem South Municipal Assembly has been dully notified to take action before more devastating disaster befall the communities.
Sources say Engineers from Akuapem South Municipal Assembly raised concerns over possible environmental consequences of the Dam but the company went ahead to construct same.
The District Chief Executive Frank Aidoo was however unavailable for interview on subsequent consequential interventions by the Assembly for both short and long and terms solutions to avert future disaster.
A motion submitted by attorney Tsatsu Tsikata in the James Gyakye Quayson perjury case has been criticized by Attorney-General (AG), Godfred Yeboah Dame as incompetent, unjustified, and ignorant of the law on criminal procedure.
The Attorney-General was opposing a motion filed by Tsatsu Tsikata seeking to set aside an order of the court to conduct a day-to-day trial of the case of perjury against Gyakye Quayson, the deposed Member of Parliament (MP) for Assin North.
Tsatsu Tsikata sought the authority of the court to suspend its day-to-day trial in order for Gyakye Quayson to pursue his desire to campaign and contest the by-election in his constituency occasioned by his sacking from parliament on grounds of ineligibility.
However, the Attorney-General, founding himself on severallegal authorities, argued that the application before the court was alien to the law.
“Every step that ought to be taken in criminal procedure is clearly regulated by the Constitution and the statutes of Ghana. The laws on criminal procedure from the Constitution to Act 30 and the Practice Directions on the conduct of criminal cases do not permit this application. ” Godfred Dame said.
He described the approach by Tsatsu Tsikata as a grand attempt to waste the court’s time which militates against a speedy trial.
Godfred Dame stated that, first, the Constitution enjoins a speedy trial of criminal cases. The Constitution is clear in Article 19(1) that “a person charged with a criminal offence shall be given a fair hearing within a reasonable time by a court”. This provision in the Constitution is to ensure that criminal cases are disposed off in a speedy manner.
Further, the Practice Directions for trial courts issued by the Supreme Court in 2017 require criminal cases to be heard from day to day.
The Attorney-General also argued that per the provision of Article 17 of the 1992 Constitution, all persons are equal before the law. If a teacher or farmer cannot refuse to attend or resist a daily hearing of his. criminal case because has to go to work, why should a politician be able to avoid trial because he wants to go and campaign?
The A-G argued that a grant of the application would result in discrimination contrary to the Constitution.
The A-G pointed out that he cannot understand the claim of lawyer for the accused person, that, if his client appears before the court on 22 and 23 of June, the right to vote of the people of Assin North who are not parties to any case before the court, will be affected when none of the constitutional rights of the Assin North constituents have in any way been tempered with.
The AG supported his argument by citing Sections 168 and 169 of the Criminal Procedure Act 1960 (Act 30). He signalled the importance of Section 168, which is titled “Appearance of both Act parties”. The provision states: “Where at the time appointed for the hearing of the case both the prosecutor and the accused are present before the Court, or if the prosecutor appears personally or by counsel and the personal attendance of the accused person has been dispensed with under section 70, the Court shall proceed to hear the case”.
Section 169, which is on “Adjournment”, states that; “Before or during the hearing of a case, the Court, a) may adjourn the hearing to a certain time and place to be then appointed and stated in the presence and hearing of the parties or their respective counsel then present, and;
b) In the meantime, may suffer the accused to go at large, or may commit the accused to prison, or may release the accused on the entry into a bond with or without sureties, conditioned for the accused person’s appearance at the time and place to which the hearing or further hearing is adjourned.
On the basis of these provisions, the AG urged that the Criminal Procedure Act gives the Court the power to decide the venue, time and date for court sittings and no other person or authority has the power to determine same or to change it.
According to the Attorney-General, the case of Republic versus Eugene Baffoe-Bonnie, established that criminal trials must be prosecuted within a reasonable period of time and that the courts of first instance must do everything possible to sit as regularly as possible to ensure that this is achieved.
Tsatsu Tsikata, in opposition to the AG’s arguments, averred that a speedy trial did not necessarily mean a day-to-day trial despite it being stated black and white in the Practice Directions of the Court.
He further argued that his client had a constitutional mandate to participate in politics and that the right to vote of the people of Assin-North will be adversely affected if the case proceeds from day to day.
The trial judge Marie Yanzuh adjourned the case to Friday, June 23, 2023, to rule on the day-to-day trial. Her Ladyship, however, excused Gyakye Quayson from coming to court on Friday for the ruling.
Attorney General, Godfred Dame, has suggested that Professor Kwabena Frimpong-Boateng’s report on illegal mining should be disregarded or not given much significance.
According to him, the former Chairman of the Inter-Ministerial Committee on Illegal Mining’s reports were his opinion and must be investigated to justify their authenticity.
“I realise that even if the report made reference to Heritage Imperial, which you just brought up but significantly, it omitted reference to the judgment that has been set aside and all that, I think that these are very important matters and all that.
“Preliminarily, I indicate or suggest that it is not the full perspective of issues that were addressed by the respected Professor, and it’s just his view on certain matters. It is being put through the processes and I understand that there are some petitions at CHRAJ and Special Prosecutor’s office, and that is the process that we all have to subscribe to,” he said in a yet-to-be-aired interview on JoyNews.
Responding to questions on whether it was fair to describe Professor Boatengs’s report as his view, he said, “Yes, because even an as Attorney General, when I take a matter to court, it’s my view on the matter, and many a time, the court does not subscribe to our view.”
He continued, “The galamsey matters that we have just discussed there were some convictions in the Eastern Region. Two persons were sentenced to terms of at least 18 years. This morning, I confirmed with my Eastern regional head that one of them the conviction was set aside on appeal, and the convictions relating to one of them were affirmed.
“So really a report or a statement by the Attorney General does not constitute evidence against any person. The evidence would have to be adduced before the proper forum. So the statement set out in a report, emanating from a person respected, yes in my view has to be tested. There is no basis for a person to accord any sanctity to such a report,” he added.
On April,20, the former Minister of Environment, Science, Technology and Innovation, named some top government officials as being complicit in the illegal mining menace.
The renowned heart surgeon indicated that the rot goes as high as the seat of government, the Jubilee House.
Prof. Boateng stressed that the allegations of some 500 missing excavators from illegal miners in 2020 were fabrications of some persons in government to get him out of the way.
Following the claim, there were calls from a cross-section of Ghanaians for state security agencies to look into it.
Subsequently, the President asked the Ghana Police Service to probe the matter.
This, the former Minister has written to the presidency, naming the specific individuals he referred to in his claim.
The Supreme Court (SC) of Norway have declined to grant leave to Messrs Jongsbru AS, a party to the Norway Court of Appeal decision ruled in Ghana’s favor on November 2, 2022.
This was a preliminary decision by a three-member panel of the SC to Norwegian civil procedure rules.
The case concerns the litigation over the purchase of a property previously identified by the Republic of Ghana for use as a chancery building inOslo.
Per the Norwegian law, if a Court of Appeal gives a judgement in a civil case and same is appealed at the SC, the court, would first, make a preliminary decision by taking into consideration, whether a new or major issue of law is raised in the matter.
The Norway SC does not hear an appeal on matters concerning the facts or evidence in a civil matter.
This judgement brings finality to the four year litigation in which the Attorney General and Minister of Justice, Mr Godfred Dame represented Ghana.
The Court of Appeal on November 2, 2022 awarded cost of $250,000 in favour of Ghana.
The SC ordered Jongsbru to compensate Ghana nominal legal costs of USD 1 871.
Mr Dame said he was elated by the decision of the SC.
He explained that the cost awarded to Ghana, which was still outstanding, would be used to defray his travel expenses and those of witnesses from Ghana’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs, who testified on behalf of Ghana.
Prior to the decision of the SC, Mr Dame explained that, under Norwegian civil procedure rules, any civil judgment of the Court of Appeal may be appealed to the SC but the hearing of that appeal is not as of right.
In the appeal at the SC, Jongsbru contended that the decision of the Court of Appeal was too short, vague, unclear and contained deficiencies, which rendered a proper appeal on the merits impossible and therefore, the judgment had to be “repealed.”
An application for a judgment to be repealed, in Norwegian law, is similar to a request to set aside the judgment.
On Monday 20th March 2023 Ghana’s Attorney-General & Minister for Justice, Godfred Yeboah Dame, was present at the Justice Ministers’ Conference in London.
He led a high-level delegation from Ghana to London in the United Kingdom to attend the Justice Ministers’ Conference.
The delegation included Mr. Alfred Tuah Yeboah, Deputy Attorney-General & Deputy Minister for Justice, Mrs. Helen A.A. Ziwu, the Solicitor-General and Mrs. Yvonne Atakora Obuobisa, the Director of Public Prosecutions.
The Justice Ministers’ Conference which took place at Lancaster House in London saw several Justice Ministers and Attorney-Generals from over 43 countries with Ghana’s Attorney-General & Minister for Justice representing the entire African continent as the only African country present at the high-level Conference.
The Conference which was convened under the auspices of the Governments of the United Kingdom and the Kingdom of Netherlands focused on supporting the International Criminal Court (ICC) in its investigations into the Russian-led war in Ukraine.
The Conference of Justice Ministers was aimed at affording State parties the opportunity to provide the requisite support to the ICC to facilitate its investigation into the situation in Iraq.
The Conference focused on areas including support for witnesses; operationalising ICC filed presence in Ukraine; support for effective use of digital evidence in trials before the Court; support in terms of collection of forensic evidence and psychological support for victims of sex and gender-based violent crimes and crimes against children.
The following distinguished persons gave addresses at the Conference; Dominic Raab, the Deputy Prime Minister of the United Kingdom, Secretary of State for Justice and Lord Chancellor; Didier Reynders, the European Commissioner for Justice; Denys Maliuska, the Minister for Justice of Ukraine; Andriy Kostin, the Prosecutor General of Ukraine and Karim Khan, the Prosecutor of the ICC.
Speaking at the Conference, Godfred Yeboah Dame stressed that owing to Ghana’s track record as a firm adherent to human rights, Ghana had no difficulty supporting the work of the ICC, especially relating to the investigation of war crimes committed in Ukraine.
With Ghana being one of the first countries to sign and ratify the Rome Statutes as far back as 1999, the AG affirmed Ghana’s recognition and support for the work of the ICC in line with her cherished tradition and culture in the protection of international human rights and the work of international courts set up with the object of consolidating such values.
Mr. Dame, as part of his remarks at the Conference, noted that in January 2017, when a number of member states of the African Union voted to pass a non-binding resolution for a mass withdrawal from the ICC, Ghana was not one of those nations and accordingly, Ghana was willing to support the taking of measures to protect global peace and security.
On Ghana’s position on the situation in Ukraine, Mr Dame highlighted that Ghana has unequivocally and consistently stressed that Russia’s actions in Ukraine constitute an unjustified violation of the territorial integrity of Ukraine accordingly justifying Ghana voting in favour of a UN Resolution on 23rd February 2023 which demanded the immediate, complete and unconditional withdrawal of Russian military forces from the territory of Ukraine and called for a cessation of hostilities.
He noted that Ghana is of the fervent belief that a pathway to the resolution of the war is through honest and sincere dialogue between the warring parties. However, the course of recent events suggests that a peaceful resolution through dialogue will be illusional.
Ghana’s Attorney-General, Mr. Dame, highlighted that the ICC has a responsibility to identify suspects, gather evidence and prosecute perpetrators.
He stated that Ghana supports the investigative work of the Prosecutor in the situation in Ukraine in line with its accountability mandate to ensure that individuals found culpable of egregious crimes in violation of the Rome Statutes are investigated and brought to book under international law.
On the role Ghana could play in supporting the ICC, Mr. Dame said that the Office of the Attorney-General and Ministry of Justice in Ghana has recently moved to fill a lacuna in Ghana’s laws by preparing an International Criminal Court Bill to enable courts in Ghana to try offences recognized under the Rome Statute, and to provide a legal framework within which the ICC can prosecute cases in circumstances where the Ghanaian courts are unable to do so. Currently, the said Bill is undergoing stakeholder consultations as part of the processes for its enactment and will soon be laid before Parliament.
He also noted that in view of the peculiar nature of investigations anticipated to be conducted in the Ukraine situation, there will be the need to provide witnesses with adequate protective and security measures and assist them in obtaining medical, psychological and other appropriate assistance.
Thus, Mr. Dame noted that the repertoire of services offered by the Domestic Violence and Victim Support Unit of the Ghana Police Service places it in a position to contribute effectively to the work of the ICC. He explained that the Domestic Violence and Victims Support Unit is the agency within the Ghana Police Service specifically trained to offer support for victims.
He noted that its output makes it the best of such units within the Police Service of any African nation and that personnel of the Unit have the requisite training to assist the ICC within the countries of victims if needed.
He also stated that Ghana can offer relocation assistance to the ICC for victims and witnesses. He said that Ghana’s track record as a nation speaks to an established capacity to provide accommodation in-state, identity protection and a home for refugees.
He noted further that Ghana is currently in negotiations with the ICC to sign a relocation agreement which would allow the country to provide the necessary support to victims and witnesses in the manner stated already.
Ghana’s Attorney-General & Minister for Justice, Mr. Godfred Dame, as part of the visit to the UK also had series of other bilateral and trilateral meetings including meetings with the UK Attorney-General and the Ukrainian Prosecutor General; the Lord Chief Justice of the United Kingdom at the Royal Courts of Justice; Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon; the Deputy Prime Minister and Minister for Justice of the United Kingdom amongst others.
Minister of Lands and Natural Resource, Samuel Abu Jinapor, is optimistic that the state will be victorious in its case against galamsey kingpin, Aisha Huang, whose alleged unlawful activities have destroyed the environment.
For Mr Jinapor, it is imperative the state addresses the case with all the seriousness it deserves so it serves as a signal to other culprits of illegal mining that the government would no longer be dormant in the enforcement of the law.
Speaking to the media, he said “We will prosecute this case with the vigour that it requires so that it will serve as a clear signal in the country that Ghanaian law will be applied and applied to the letter.”
“So let me assure you that prosecution is being waged relentlessly and when it is all said and done we will secure a conviction,” he added.
Aisha Huang (En Huang) is standing trial for her alleged involvement in illegal mining activities after it was found out that she returned to the country despite being repatriated.
Per reports, upon her arrival, she resumed her galamsey activities.
The Attorney-General, Godfred Dame, following reports on her arrival, called for the docket on Aisha Huang from the police to enable his office to prepare a complete docket covering offences from 2018 to the present.
In 2018, the Chinese illegal mining ‘queen’ faced three counts of undertaking small-scale mining operations, contrary to Section 99 (1) of the Minerals and Mining Act, 2006 (Act 703); providing mining support services without valid registration from the Minerals Commission, contrary to the Minerals and Mining Act, 2006 (Act 703) and illegal employment of foreigners, contrary to the Immigration Act, 2000 (Act 573).
An Accra Circuit Court hearing the case has since September 2022 allowed five witnesses to mount the witness box to testify.
Timothy Teye Ali, a farmer at Sukuumu, Bepotenten, in the Amansie Central District of the Ashanti Region, who was the fifth to appear before the court said Aisha Huang’s activities led to the destruction of River Offin and other water bodies in the Ashanti Region.
Timothy Teye Ali told the court that in 2017, he was contacted by one James Ogbey over his interest in purchasing land to mine gold.
He added that after an assessment of what he had to offer, they came to an agreement on GH¢28,000 as the final charge.
He continued that he was then informed by Ogbey that the accused, Aisha Huang, was on that day elsewhere and for which reason she could not be present with them.
A former president of Ghana, John Dramani Mahama, has characterized members of the Akufo-Addo-led government as complicit in the corruption in the nation.
According to him, a letter from the Attorney General and Minister of Justice, Godfred Dame, to the Auditor-General, Johnson Akuamoah-Asiedu, after a recently released report on COVID-19 expenditure in the country, is an attempt to gag the latter.
“The Attorney General’s letter to the Auditor General is clearly meant to silence him and create a conducive atmosphere for corruption to thrive,” he wrote.
John Dramani Mahama further stated that this action by Godfred Dame is an indication that the Nana Akufo-Addo government is a collaborator in corruption.
“President @NAkufoAddo’s administration is not only indifferent in the fight against corruption – they are collaborators!” he added.
Background:
After the Auditor-General released a damning Special Audit Report on its findings on the government’s expenditure of COVID-19 expenditures in the country since the deadly pandemic was recorded in Ghana, the Attorney General wrote a letter to the A-G.
In the letter, Godfred Dame asked Johnson Akuamoah-Asiedu to stop the publication of the report on the Special Audit of COVID-19 expenditures.
He further stated in the letter, based on Article 187(5) of the constitution, that the Auditor-General is rather mandated to submit his report to parliament, and in that report, draw attention to any irregularities in the accounts audited which is often concurrently published with the submission.
The Attorney General added that it was only after satisfying the constitutional requirement of submitting the Auditor-General’s report to parliament that the report might be considered final and relevant action might be taken thereon.
The Permanent Court of Arbitration has, in a final award dated January 30, 2023, dismissed an investor-state arbitration instituted by Beijing Everyway Traffic & Lighting Tech. Co. Ltd. (the “Claimant”) against the Government of Ghana (“Respondent”) after upholding a preliminary objection by the Attorney-General acting as counsel for the Government of Ghana.
Beijing Everyway Traffic & Lighting Tech. Co. Ltd invoked the jurisdiction of the tribunal under a Treaty between the Government of the People’s Republic of China and the Government of the Republic of Ghana Concerning the Encouragement and Reciprocal Protection of Investments concluded on 12th October 1989, seeking the award of damages amounting to “not lower than US$55 million”.
Arbitral Tribunal and Counsel on Record
The Members of the Arbitral Tribunal who delivered the final award are Professor Stavros Brekoulakis (presiding arbitrator), Mr. V.K. Rajah SC and Professor Richard Oppong.
The final award of the Permanent Court of Arbitration shows that at the proceedings, the Government of Ghana was represented by the Attorney-General and Minister for Justice, Godfred Yeboah Dame. Other Counsel listed as part of Ghana’s team include Ms. Diana Asonaba-Dapaah (Deputy Attorney-General); Mrs. Helen Akpene Awo Ziwu (Solicitor-General); Dr. Sylvia Adusu; Mrs. Grace Mbrokoh Ewoal and Ms. Yvonne Bannerman, all state attorneys.
Background
The dispute leading to the arbitral proceedings relates to an intelligent traffic management system project in Accra, Ghana, namely the AITMS Project. On 16th December 2011, Ghana signed a Master Facility Agreement and other related Finance Documents with the China Development Bank for a term loan facility to develop twelve (12) infrastructure projects in Ghana, including the AITMS Project. The Claimant was awarded the AITMS Project on or about April 2012. Subsequently, on 17 September 2012, the Claimant and the Ministry of Roads and Highways of Ghana signed the EPIC Contract.
Under the EPIC Contract, the Claimant, Beijing Eeveryway, agreed to supply equipment and provide technical services to the Respondent in respect of the planning, design, construction, supervision, operation and training for the AITMS Project in Accra. The Parties agreed to a Contract Price of US$ 100 million and an advance payment of 30%.
On 22nd December 2018, the Parliament of Ghana approved by resolution the EPIC Contract. The Commencement Date of the EPIC Contract was fixed as 26th August 2019 and the works were scheduled to be completed in 24 calendar months.
According to the Claimant, between 12th and 15th November 2019, a six (6) member team of the Ministry of Roads and Highways of Ghana conducted a technical visit to its factory and warehouses in China to inspect the production and inventory of the equipment for the AITMS Project.
During the visit, the Ghanaian delegation observed, inspected and counted the manufactured equipment prior to shipment to Ghana. In January 2020, the Department of Urban Roads of Ghana, under the instruction of the Ministry of Roads and Highways of Ghana, confirmed that Beijing Everyway could ship to Ghana the equipment inspected by the technical team in November 2019. On 15th January 2020, the Department of Urban Roads of Ghana issued an onsite work permit to Everyway for the AITMS Project, covering the installation of new traffic signals, communication network and general civil works at signalized and non-signalized intersections in Accra.
On 3rd February 2020, Everyway reported to the Department of Urban Roads of Ghana that it had loaded nineteen containers of equipment for shipment for the AITMS Project and asked it to prepare for import customs clearance in Ghana. On 21st February 2020, about six months after the commencement of the AITMS Project, the first installations at two intersections in Accra were switched on, indicating the official launch of the AITMS Project in Ghana.
During the course of the AITMS Project, the Claimant issued two Interim Payment Certificates amounting in total to US$ 21,995,728 for works that had been performed up to the date of issuance of each Interim Payment Certificate. According to the Claimant, by the time of the Notice of Arbitration (i.e. 10 February 2021), Everyway had completed works with a contractual value of at least US$ 21,995,728.
According to the Claimant, on 24th March 2020, the Minister of Finance of Ghana requested the Vice President of Ghana to convene a meeting to discuss the AITMS Project. Two meetings among the Vice President of Ghana, Minister of Finance of Ghana, Minister of Roads and Highways of Ghana, Minister of National Security of Ghana, and Deputy Attorney General of Ghana were subsequently called in early April 2020, where it was agreed that two technical teams from the Ministry of National Security and Ministry of Roads and Highways of Ghana would be formed to supervise certain of the AITMS Project. It was also further agreed that Ministry of Roads and Highways of Ghana would remain responsible for certain other aspects of the AITMS Project.
On 24th April 2020, the Vice President of Ghana issued a decision letter to direct the Minister of Finance of Ghana to convey to the China Development Bank that the project would proceed as approved, with Everyway being the contractor and the Ministry of Roads and Highways of Ghana being the implementing agency on the part of Ghana. However, on 19 November 2020, the Parliament of Ghana suddenly informed the Claimant of Parliament’s decision to rescind the approval of the EPIC Contract.
Accordingly, on 30th December 2021, the Claimant served Ghana with a notice terminating the EPIC Contract on the ground that the Respondent had “either directly or indirectly, unlawfully expropriated” the Claimant’s investment because the Parliament of Ghana, inter alia, “rescinded approval for the valid and effective EPIC Contract under which Everyway had completed substantial amount of work with (a) no national security or public interest justification, (b) no due domestic legal procedure, (c) in a discriminatory manner, and (d) with no compensation whatsoever for the damages caused.”
The Claimant sought a declaration that the Respondent has breached Article 4(1) of the China-Ghana Investment Treaty. Furthermore, the Claimant argued that Ghana had breached its duty under the Treaty to observe obligations it has entered into with regard to investments made by Chinese investors (i.e. a breach of the Umbrella Clause).
Ghana, on the other hand, argued that it has not breached the Treaty because the decision of the Parliament of Ghana to rescind the EPIC Contract with the Claimant was taken in the interests of Ghana’s national security. Ghana further submitted that the Tribunal has no jurisdiction over the Claimant’s claims.
Ghana’s submissions on the Tribunal’s lack of Jurisdiction
Arguing the objection to the jurisdiction of the tribunal at a hearing conducted virtually on 22nd March, 2022, the Attorney-General, Godfred Yeboah Dame submitted that the provision of Article 10(1) of the China- Ghana Agreement limits the Tribunal’s jurisdiction to only the determination of the quantum or amount of expropriation, and not the determination of the primary issue whether there has been expropriation at all. The Tribunal thus had no jurisdiction to determine whether Ghana expropriated the Claimant’s investment in the AITMS Project pursuant to Article 4 of the Treaty or breached its contractual obligations with the Claimant under the EPIC Contract pursuant to the Umbrella Clause obligations applicable in this arbitration through Article 3(2) of the Treaty.
The Attorney-General further argued that relying on Articles 4(1), 4(3) and 10(5) of the Treaty, it is Ghanaian courts that have jurisdiction over the question of the lawfulness of an alleged expropriation, not an arbitral tribunal. An investor bringing a claim for expropriation under the Treaty, must therefore do so “under domestic legal procedure” and under Ghanaian law.
Mr. Dame submitted to the tribunal that the object and purpose of the Treaty were not only to protect foreign investments but also to encourage foreign investment and foster economic cooperation between the two Contracting States. Accordingly, this required a balanced approach to the interpretation of the Treaty’s substantive provisions, given that a focus only on the protection of foreign investments may dissuade host States from admitting foreign investments and, thus, undermine the overall aim of intensifying the Contracting States’ mutual economic relations.
Mr. Dame referred to about twenty (20) Bilateral Investment Treaties (BIT) concluded by China prior to the China-Ghana Agreement, and pointed out that none of them provided that an investor can submit any dispute, regardless of its nature, to arbitration. Rather, these BITs provided that investors may only refer the amount of compensation to arbitration, while the question of existence and unlawfulness of expropriation is reserved for amicable settlement or domestic courts of the respective contracting states. The same was the case for other BITs entered into by Ghana with other states. Accordingly, it was evident that neither China nor Ghana recognised the right of an investor to submit the question of the existence and lawfulness of expropriation to international arbitration prior to 1989.
Claimant’s case on the Tribunal’s Jurisdiction
The Claimant opposed Ghana’s submissions and argued that the subject matter of the dispute fell under the jurisdiction of the Tribunal. The claimant argued that first, Article 10(1) of the China-Ghana Treaty provides that an arbitral tribunal has jurisdiction on “[a]ny dispute … concerning the amount of compensation for expropriation”; and second, the broad dispute resolution clauses contained in Ghana’s treaties with other countries apply in this dispute through the MFN clause contained in Article 3(2) of the Treaty.
According to the Claimant, Article 10(1) of the Treaty, when interpreted “in good faith in accordance with the ordinary meaning to be given to the terms of the treaty in their context and in the light of its object and purpose”, should be understood to include not only the question of the amount of compensation for expropriation (i.e. the question of quantum) but also the question of the unlawfulness of expropriation of the Claimant’s investment (i.e. the question of entitlement). The Claimant further argued that Articles 4(1)(a), 4(3) and 10(5) of the Treaty, read independently or jointly, do not require the Claimant to submit a claim for expropriation to the competent courts of Ghana. According to the Claimant, when the investment of a Chinese investor is expropriated by Ghana, Article 4(3) of the Treaty and Article 20(2) of the Constitution of Ghana simply give the investor an option (and not an obligation) to refer the matter to Ghanaian courts. The Claimant argued that the object and purpose of the Treaty support the Claimant’s case that an arbitral tribunal, under Article 10(1) of the Treaty, has jurisdiction to determine the question of both quantum and entitlement of expropriation.
The Claimant submitted that, according to the “most favoured nation” principle, the dispute resolution provisions of Ghana’s investment treaties with the United Kingdom (Article 10) and Denmark (Article 10) apply in the dispute between the Claimant and the Respondent and thus the Tribunal had jurisdiction over the Claimant’s claims in this arbitration.
Tribunal’s Decision
The Tribunal, upon an application of relevant principles of international investment law, came to the final decision that it does not have jurisdiction to decide the Claimant’s claims for expropriation under Article 10(1) of the Treaty.
The Tribunal stated that the ordinary meaning of Article 10(1) of the Treaty cannot be read as meaning to include the question of entitlement of expropriation. In this respect, the Tribunal noted the important qualification of the term “the amount of” prior to the terms “compensation for expropriation” as placing clear limitations on the scope of questions which can be referred to arbitration. The ordinary meaning of the phrase “concerning the amount of compensation for expropriation”, according to the Tribunal, does not include the question of entitlement or determination of whether expropriation has taken place in the first place.
Further, the Tribunal c considered that there is nothing in the China-Ghana Treaty to suggest that an investor would be precluded from referring the question of quantum to arbitration under Article 10(1) of the Treaty, once it had referred the question of lawfulness of expropriation to determination by a nation’s domestic court.
The Tribunal highlighted that it did not consider that a Contracting State may unilaterally preclude an investor from referring the matter of quantum of compensation for expropriation to international arbitration, after it has first referred the matter of entitlement to compensation or determination of expropriation, to national litigation.
The Tribunal held that the examination of the provision of Article 10(1) within the context of the China-Ghana Agreement suggested that the phrase “concerning the amount of compensation for expropriation” cannot be interpreted as vesting an arbitral tribunal with jurisdiction to decide the question of whether the expropriation is lawful or unlawful.
Thus, except for the limited scope of Article 10(1) concerning the quantum of compensation for expropriation, there is no provision which would give investors a distinct right to commence arbitration in respect of a breach of any substantive protection under the Treaty.
In conclusion, the Tribunal found that it did not have jurisdiction to decide the Claimant’s claims for expropriation under Article 10(1) of the Treaty. Also, the Tribunal considered that it did not have jurisdiction to decide the Claimant’s claims in the arbitration under Article 3 of the Treaty. The Tribunal also found that the most favoured nation provision in Article 3(2) of the Treaty cannot be used to extend the Tribunal’s jurisdiction to the Claimant’s claims in this arbitration.
Costs
In relation to Costs, the Tribunal noted that both Parties have sought their costs in respect of the arbitration to date. The Tribunal invited the Parties to directly confer and seek to agree on the issue of costs or, failing such agreement, to inform the Tribunal of their agreed format and timetable of their costs submissions within thirty (30) days of receipt of the Award. In the event that the Parties fail to agree on the issue of costs, the Tribunal will address the matter and issue an award on costs covering the arbitration proceedings to date.
Another arbitration case by Beijing Everyway
Concurrent with the proceedings at the Permanent Court of Arbitration, Beijing Everyway has instituted another arbitration seeking damages of at least US$55 million for the same subject matter at the London Court of International Arbitration. The Attorney-General has again raised objections in these proceedings, both to the procedure and the substance of the case at that forum, as well.
The Minister for Justice and Attorney General, Godfred Dame, has said that the New Patriotic Party (NPP) is in pole position to win power for an unprecedented third consecutive term.
According to him, both the NPP and the opposition National Democratic Congress (NDC) want to set a new record in the 2024 election, with the NDC seeking to bring a former president back to power, but his party has the upper hand.
Speaking in a Good Evening Ghana interview on Tuesday, (January 17, 2023), which was monitored by GhanaWeb, the attorney general said that Ghanaians will choose the NPP over the NDC in the 2024 elections because of the record of the Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo government.
“I think the NPP has always been in a better position to break the 8. And indeed in 2008, President Akufo-Addo nearly broke the 8… so we have always stood the chance of breaking the 8.
“And I think that now on account of the human resources at our disposal, on account of the record of the government indeed we stand a better chance of breaking the 8.
“Breaking the 8 has not been done before but so is the return of a former president to power. We want to break the 8, they want to reignite the past. And I think that the people of Ghana will reject it with every ability that they can command,” he said.
Dame stated that the NDC has nothing new to offer and that Ghanaians will reject them.
He went on to say that the NDC’s new national executives are people the NPP has previously defeated and will do so again.
The Minister for Justice and Attorney General, Godfred Dame, had said that the government of Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo has brought unparalleled improvement to the justice delivery system of Ghana.
According to him, not only has the government brought a much-needed improvement in the human capacity of his ministry and its agencies, but it has also equipped them with the tools to ensure effective justice delivery.
The minister, who made these remarks in a Good Evening Ghana interview monitored by GhanaWeb, went on to list some of the New Patriotic Party government’s achievements in his ministry.
Human Capacity:
Godfred said that the Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo government has boosted the human resource capacity of his ministry by recruiting about 200 attorneys since 2017.
“Last year, 70 attorneys were recruited, the year before 2021, another 70 were recruited. During Madame Gloria Akuffo’s time, another 60 or 70 were recruited… and this year I have applied for financial clearance to recruit about 50 or 60 more,” he said.
He added that the government has also been offering regular training to state attorneys both locally and internationally, with about 5 of them currently undergoing training abroad.
Infrastructure:
He stated that the Law House would be completed within a year and used as office space for the minister and its agencies.
“When I came, I ensured that there was an earnest construction of the project, and I am sure that in about six months or so the Law House will be done… from a state where it was 35 percent complete when I assumed office,” he said.
Equipment:
In the area of tools and equipment, he said that some of his agencies did not even have vehicles to run their operations, but between 2017 and 2023, the government procured a lot of vehicles for these agencies.
“My predecessor Madame Gloria Akuffo, believed there were 27 vehicles. Last year, in 2022, on account of the support of the minister of finance and the president’s decision at cabinet, I delivered 91 vehicles.
“The Law Reform Commission had only one vehicle, which was way back in 1997; Legal Aid had only about three or four vehicles… I doubled the stock of vehicles available to each agency and each regional office,” he said.
The Minister for Justice and Attorney General, Godfred Dame, had said that the government of Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo has brought unparalleled improvement to the justice delivery system of Ghana.
According to him, not only has the government brought a much-needed improvement in the human capacity of his ministry and its agencies, but it has also equipped them with the tools to ensure effective justice delivery.
The minister, who made these remarks in a Good Evening Ghana interview monitored by GhanaWeb, went on to list some of the New Patriotic Party government’s achievements in his ministry.
Human Capacity:
Godfred said that the Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo government has boosted the human resource capacity of his ministry by recruiting about 200 attorneys since 2017.
“Last year, 70 attorneys were recruited, the year before 2021, another 70 were recruited. During Madame Gloria Akuffo’s time, another 60 or 70 were recruited… and this year I have applied for financial clearance to recruit about 50 or 60 more,” he said.
He added that the government has also been offering regular training to state attorneys both locally and internationally, with about 5 of them currently undergoing training abroad.
Infrastructure:
The attorney general also said the Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo government will soon complete the Law House, which has been under construction since 2003.
He stated that the Law House would be completed within a year and used as office space for the minister and its agencies.
“When I came, I ensured that there was an earnest construction of the project, and I am sure that in about six months or so the Law House will be done… from a state where it was 35 percent complete when I assumed office,” he said.
Equipment:
In the area of tools and equipment, he said that some of his agencies did not even have vehicles to run their operations, but between 2017 and 2023, the government procured a lot of vehicles for these agencies.
“My predecessor Madame Gloria Akuffo, believed there were 27 vehicles. Last year, in 2022, on account of the support of the minister of finance and the president’s decision at cabinet, I delivered 91 vehicles.
“The Law Reform Commission had only one vehicle, which was way back in 1997; Legal Aid had only about three or four vehicles… I doubled the stock of vehicles available to each agency and each regional office,” he said.
The family of a man who was allegedly killed by some police personnel at Adomfe, in the Asante Akyem South Municipality of the Ashanti Region, have filed a GH¢10 million suit against the Inspector General of Police, COP Dr. George Akuffo Dampare; the Ghana Police Service, and the Attorney General.
The suit, according to a report by The Chronicle newspaper, is jointly filed with nine others.
Stating the details available to it, the newspaper said that the deceased man, 33-year-old Kofi Ampomah, was allegedly seized by nine police officerson October 15, 2022, just after he had closed from work.
Further details said that upon his seizure, the police officers allegedly assaulted him by using pepper spray on him, after which they butchered him with cutlasses or machetes.
The police are then said to have left the man unattended.
Maxwell Boamah, who is said to be a customary successor of the late Kofi Ampomah, is also reported to have said that the body of the deceased was handled like an animal by the officers from the Konongo Division of the Ghana Police Service.
“The police finally dumped the deceased at Konongo Odumasi Government Hospital and lied that he had been killed by armed robbers,” details of the writ said.
The report added that the family of the deceased is filing a suit for GH¢10 million as compensation that will be used for the education, maintenance, upkeep, and trauma suffered by the dependants of the deceased.
Why Kofi Ampomah was killed?
The Chronicle newspaper explained that Boamah, the relative of the deceased, said that Kofi was mistaken for a young man who had allegedly reported the defendants (the nine policemen) to the Bompata police for apparently releasing a woman.
The woman, it added, was allegedly selling local gin mixed with a substance suspected to be Indian hemp to the public.
“He averred that the police, on two different occasions, arrested and released the woman in question after extorting GH¢3,000 and GH¢4,000 respectively from her,” the report said.
Police officers named in the writ:
According to the writ, the following are the names of the officers alleged to have been involved in the death of Kofi Ampomah:
General Sergeant Suleman Seidu (Sully Seidu), G/CPL Seth Agbango (Seth Agbango), D/L/CPL Salifu Yakubu, G/SGT Samuel Awrjamb, G/SGT Opare Samuel (Opare Samuel Antwi), D/CPL James Astikson Mensah (James Mensah), G/CPL Nyame Hayford, G/CPL Emmanuel Divines Delasi (Delasi Divine), and G/L/CPL Samuel Kwame Gorman (Gorman Samuel).
Additionally, the writ has named the IGP, COP Dr. George Akuffo Dampare, and the AG, Godfred Dame, jointly in the case.
About the late Kofi Ampomah:
Details contained in the writ showed that the deceased was a Sprinter ‘trotro’ driver who plied his trade along the Adomfe to Kumasi Road.
An Accra High Court has instructed the Attorney-General, Godfred Dame to submit the full complement of the evidence it intends to rely on for the prosecution of “galamsey” kingpin, Aisha Huang.
Aisha Huang is standing trial for her alleged role in illegal mining activities in the Ashanti Region.
The A-G on October 11, 2022, told the court it was ready for the trial and will disclose all evidence to be used.
It, however, emerged in court today that the documents had not been submitted.
Deputy Attorney-General, Alfred Tuah Yeboah, told the court his officers were at the registry filing the documents.
This explanation did not sit well with the lawyer for Aisha Huang, Nkrabeah Effah Dartey.
“At the last date, the AG said he was ready. Now we are here. And they are saying they are not ready. Please, I want to repeat my application the other time. Grant us bail,” he said.
Justice Lydia Marfo responded that the circumstances that led her to decline the request for bail had not changed.
She also took notice of the fact that the Chinese Interpreter needed for proceedings was also absent.
She, therefore, adjourned proceedings to November 2, 2022, directing the Attorney General to ensure that the documents are made available to enable case management and pre-trial conference to take place.
Deputy AG Alfred Tuah Yeboah told pressmen the delay was only a result of his office being diligent.
“We have complied but it wasn’t within time. As we speak, it has been done. Prosecuting a case like what we have at the moment, you need to dot the “I’s” cross the T’s. At the next adjourned date we will definitely be ready to move on,“ he stated.
Aisha Huang is accused of being heavily involved in Galamsey activities.
She was arrested and charged in 2017 but left the country after she was repatriated.
She is accused of sneaking into the country to continue with her illegal activities. She has at all times pleaded not guilty to the charges levelled against her.
A total of 187 persons charged with different mining offences have been convicted and sentenced to various terms of imprisonment in the Eastern Region since 2017.
They include 29 Nigeriens, seven Nigerians and three Chinese.
The Attorney-General and Minister of Justice, Mr Godfred Yeboah Dame told journalists that prosecution was conducted by the Eastern Region Office of the Attorney-General headed by Chief State Attorney, Mrs Emily Addo-Okyireh.
Mr Dame said since the designation of the High Court 3 and Circuit Court B, in Koforidua as courts to deal with illegal mining cases by the Chief Justice, Justice Kwasi Anin Yeboah, the Office of the Attorney-General prosecuted all cases on illegal mining brought to its attention.
He said most of the cases were tried in Circuit Court B, Koforidua presided over by Mrs Mercy Adei-Kotey, now a Justice of the High Court.
The Attorney General said that most of the accused were tried and sentenced under the old section 99 of the Minerals and Mining Act, 2006 (Act 703).
The Section 99(1) of Act 703 prescribed a penalty of a minimum fine of three thousand penalty units or imprisonment for a term of not more than five years for the offence of buying or selling minerals without a licence.
For the offence of undertaking a small scale mining operation without a licence or acting in contravention of a provision of Act 703 in respect of which an offence is created, section 99(2) of Act 703 stipulated a penalty of a minimum fine of one thousand penalty units or to imprisonment for a term not more than three years.
Mr Dame said in spite of that provision, prosecutors succeeded in getting custodial sentences imposed on the accused in 40 out of the 48 cases being prosecuted, with the court exercising discretion to impose a fine in eight of the cases.
Under the new law, Mr Dame noted that 33 of the convicted persons including 11 foreigners were convicted and sentenced under the new Minerals and Mining (Amendment) Act, 2019 (Act 995) between August 2021 and September 2022 and are currently serving various prison terms of 15 years, 20 years and 18 years together with fines imposed in the various cases in which they were convicted.
Mr Dame, however, expressed displeasure with the decision of the Circuit Court to impose sentences between three years and five years on the accused in five of the cases involving the trial of 47 persons, which were filed before the passage of Act 995 but which were determined after the Act had come into force on August, 19, 2019,
This, he said, was contrary to the law as Act 995 substituted the punishment regime provided for under Act 703 with a new punishment regime which increased the penalty for engaging in illegal mining operations and illegal trading in minerals.
In the view of the Attorney-General, the substitution of the former section 99 of Act 703 with a new section 99 under Act 995 implied that a court of law engaged with the conduct of a case pending before it, was obliged to apply the new penalties provided for by the law rather than applying the old penalties existing under the law which was no longer in force.
The Attorney-General indicated that of the 48 cases tried in the Eastern Region since 2017, in respect of which convictions have been secured, only one is on appeal.
He said that there were currently about 43 new cases involving the trial of about 250 persons including Chinese at Circuit Court B, Koforidua.
The Attorney-General said an update on the prosecution of illegal mining cases in other regions, particularly, Ashanti, Western and Greater-Accra Regions will be provided in due course.
Nkrabeah Effah Dartey, a prominent member of the New Patriotic Party (NPP), has denied claims that his defense of Aisha Huang was a part of a larger scheme by the government and his party to have the alleged “galamsey” kingpin exonerated.
He claims that Aisha Huang was brought to him by a former employee of the Ghana Immigration Service in 2017 to take the place of her prior attorney, who was departing the country.
He continued by saying that he is defending Aisha because the supposed “galamsey” kingpin is paying for his services and because he took an oath when he became a lawyer promising to defend anyone who seeks his assistance.
“Aisha Huang is a Chinese woman whom I first got in touch with in the year 2017. My friend, who used to be an immigration officer by the name Moses, called me one afternoon to meet him at Kempinski Hotel for some discussions.
“So, I went to Kempinski, and when I got there, Moses was sitting with a Chinese woman. He then told me that the woman he was sitting with (Aisha Huang) was a Chinese woman who had a case in court and needed representation.
“I accepted to represent the woman and charged her. After she had paid me, I became her lawyer,” he said in Twi in an interview on Kofi TV, which GhanaWeb monitored.
Effah Dartey, who is a two-time Member of Parliament for Berekum, also maintained that his client was innocent and that the state was just harassing her for a crime she never committed.
He added that the eight witness statements the Attorney General, Godfred Dame, has indicated he will be presenting will amount to nothing.
The Chinese national who was detained in August 2022 has since been charged with a crime and is now being tried in court.
She and three other Chinese nationals were charged on September 2 before an Accra Circuit Court.
After Aisha Huang was detained again, the Attorney General, Godfred Dame, revisited the state’s 2018 decision to close her case.
As a result, Aisha Huang is currently standing trial in two different courts; the fresh case against her at Circuit Court 9 since her rearrest in August and her old case from 2018 which was discontinued after the state filed a nolle prosequi is being heard at the Criminal Division of the Accra High Court.
The Chief Executive of the SnB Group, Odelia Ntiamoah, has charged businesses to adopt a holistic approach to maximize customer experiences.
According to her, when customer experience becomes a priority for the entire brand, revenue will be generated even in difficult times.
Speaking at the 2022 CPX Ghana Conference, she noted that even though most companies think about money when it comes to delivering good customer experiences, strategy is the most important step to take.
She said “There are so many institutions that we have engaged in recent times then again coming back to the research and what we have seen is that they are not engaging their customers, it’s not money now it’s about strategy.
“So, for example, if these companies are sitting on digital platforms how are they engaging their customers within that space. Most of the time we have left that sort of engagement sitting with the CopiComs department. If the customer experience and the customer engagement are not left in one department but it becomes a holistic responsibility of the whole brand it will surprise you that our behaviours and how we decide to treat customers will bring us even the revenues in difficult times,” she noted.
The Minister for Justice and the Attorney- General, Godfred Dame, has disclosed that up to 187 illegal small-scale miners (galamseyers) have been jailed in the Eastern Region since 2017.
According to him, out of the 187 illegal miners jailed, 29 were nationals of Niger, seven Nigerians and three Chinese with the remaining 148 being Ghanaians.
The Attorney-General indicated that most of the ‘galamseyers’ were given a minimum fine of three thousand penalty units or an imprisonment term of not more than five years for the offence of buying or selling minerals without a licence under Section 99(1) of Act 703 of the 1992 Constitution.
He also indicated that some of the illegal small-scale miners were sentenced for the offence of mining without a licence and were given a minimum fine of one thousand penalty units or an imprisonment term of not more than three years under Section 99(2) of Act 703.
Also, the AG indicated that 33 persons involved in small-scale mining were convicted under the new mining laws, the Minerals and Mining (Amendment) Act, 2019 (Act 995), between August 2021 and September 2022 and are currently serving various prison terms of 15 years, 20 years and 18 years.
The AG, who disclosed these details at a press briefing, added that 11 of these 33 people are offering nationals.
He also indicated that his office has secured convictions for 48 new cases with only one on appeal.
Dame added that 43 new cases are being trialled in courts in Koforidua with 250 other cases which involve some Chinese pending.
The AG further stated that details of the prosecution of illegal miners in other regions, particularly, the Ashanti, Western and Greater-Accra Regions will soon be provided.
He stated that the state would file an additional set of eight witness statements in place of the four witness statements he had originally filed.
The Attorney General then requested that the court be adjourned so that his office could file the required documents.
In response to the Attorney General’s request, Justice Lydia Osei Marfo postponed the hearing until October 24, 2022.
Aisha Huangis facing trial over four charges preferred against her by the state.
Charges
The first count is “undertaking a mining operation without a licence contrary to section 99(2)(a) of the Minerals and Mining Act, 2006, Act 703 as amended by the Minerals and Mining (Amendment) Act 2019, Act 995”.
Second count: Facilitating the participation of persons engaged in a mining operation contrary to section 99 (2)(a) & (3) of the Minerals and Mining Act, 2006, Act 703 as amended by the Minerals and Mining (Amendment) Act 2019, Act 995.
Third count: Illegal employment of foreign nationals contrary to Section 24 of the Immigration Act, 2000 (Act 573).
Fourth count: Entering Ghana while prohibited from re-entry contrary to section 20(4) of the Immigration Act, 2000, Act 573.
The immediate past national chairman of the governing New Patriotic Party (NPP), Mr Freddie Blay, has expressed shock at the backlash he and his firm has received because of their decision to defend some foreign nationals standing trial for alleged illegal mining offences.
Law firm Blay and Associates is the law firm defending the four accomplices of En Huang, popularly known as Aisha Huang, who has been charged with the others for engaging in illegal mining activities in Ghana.
The decision of Mr Blay’s firm to defend these foreign nationals, when his party and government is battling an ongoing galamsey menace has raised eyebrows but the astute lawyer in a radio interview said every accused person is entitled to legal representation.
Mr Blay who is a stalwart of the NPP due to his immediate past position says it is rather unfortunate that he has been subjected to attacks.
Speaking to Joy FM on Wednesday, October 12, Mr Blay said, “My clients are not guilty; we’ve sworn an oath to defend them.
They came to instruct us and we as professionals, we have sworn an oath to defend our clients to the best of our knowledge and ability and that is exactly what we are doing in accordance with the Constitution of this country.
“They are not guilty. They’ve been brought before the court, they’ve pleaded not guilty and are being defended,” Mr Blay said as quoted by Graphiconline.
According to him, the four accused persons may have a relationship with Aisha Huang because in 2017 they bought a supermarket from her.
Meanwhile, the Attorney-General, Godfred Dame has assured Ghanaians that his outfit will not relent in its effort to prosecute all illegal miners in the country, adding that, for Aisha Huang, who has gained notoriety for the galamsey trade she will pay for both her past and present offences.
Godfred Dame was speaking to the press after the now-famous galamsey kingpin Aisha Huang was denied bail on Tuesday, October 11.
“In respect of Aisha Huang, we have filed most of the documents we will rely on. We have filed witness statements with four witnesses, we need about four more. But the Judge in her discretion decided to adjourn to 24th October for us to come and conduct the case management conference and we are ready to conduct the trial on a day by day basis and the Judge has also indicated the inclination to conduct the trial in that manner. So we are happy with the progress of the matter. And it is important to indicate to the world our full commitment to prosecute all these illegal mining offences. It is something that is of utmost importance to the nation.”
Aisha Huang, a Chinese national, previously deported/repatriated for dealing in illegal mining in 2018 was re-arrested this year.
She is currently standing trial with three other Chinese nationals for mining without a license and engaging in the sale and purchase of minerals.
All three were remanded into the custody of the National Investigation Bureau pending the final determination of their case.
The Attorney GeneralGodfred Dame has told an Accra High Court that the state has evidence to prove that some four foreigners charged as accomplices of galamsey kingpin, Aisha Huang were indeed engaged in illegal mining activities.
The Attorney General, during proceedings on October 11, 2022, told the court that the evidence gathered by the state against the suspects include five receipts issued to the foreign nationals as proof of purchase of small-scale mining sites.
According to the Attorney General, the suspects were engaged in criminality as the laws of Ghana bar foreigners from engaging in small-scale mining.
The four suspects are made up of three Chinese nationals; Shi Yang alias Philip, Li Wei Guo and Shi Mei Zhi, as well as a Vietnamese national, identified as Nguyen Thi Thanh Tuyen.
They are all facing a provisional charge of engaging in small scale-mining without a licence, contrary to section 99(2)(a) of the Minerals and Mining Act, 2006 (Act 703) as amended by Act 995 of 2019.
However, the Vietnamese national is facing a separate charge for remaining in Ghana after the expiration of a permit contrary to sections 20(1) and 52(1)(d) of the Immigration Act, 2000 (Act 573).
The three Chinese nationals have all pleaded not guilty to their charge while the court was compelled to defer the plea of the fourth suspect due to the absence of an interpreter.
Responding to the prosecution’s evidence against the suspects, their lawyer, Lucie Ekelebe Blay who was holding brief for Freddie Blay challenged the substance of the receipt.
According to the lawyer for the accused persons, the supposed purchase of mining sites by her clients did not materialise as they were duped in the process.
Her argument nonetheless was deemed as enough grounds to prove the prosecution’s case according to the Attorney General.
In his response to the defence lawyer, Godfred Yeboah Dame maintained that the suspects breached the law by their attempt to own a mining concession as the law prohibits foreigners from engaging in small scale mining.
The court, citing various factors such as the nature of the alleged offence committed by the suspects, their flight risk possibility and the severity of punishment if they are found guilty, denied the four bail till the end of their trial.
The case against the four has been adjourned to Tuesday, November 1, 2022.
The state’s case against alleged galamsey kingpin Aisha Huang was called after that of her alleged accomplices was adjourned.
Presiding Judge Lydia Osei Marfo, during a sitting on Tuesday, October 11, 2022, refused the plea of her lawyer, Nkrabea Effah Dartey, after the latter argued that his client deserved bail.
According to the judge, all arguments previously made against his plea for bail, including his client’s flight risk, remain and will not be changed.
She added that his constant presence in court with his client would be the only way to ensure the case is heard accordingly for the determination of his client’s fate.
State Prosecutor Godfred Dame, on his part, reiterated government’s commitment to ensuring the case is duly heard and that the accused are prosecuted if found guilty.
Aisha Huang is in court over charges of mining without a license and engaging in the sale and purchase of minerals, four other charges, including undertaking a mining operation without a license.
She is also facing four other charges, including undertaking a mining operation without a license, facilitating the participation of persons engaged in a mining operation, illegal employment of foreign nationals, and entering Ghana while prohibited from re-entry were filed at the Criminal Division of the Accra High Court on Friday, September 16, 2022.
Her case has since been adjourned to October 24, 2022, for case management.
The Attorney General, Godfred Dame, on Tuesday, told an Accra High Court that, the state has evidence to prove that some four foreigners charged as accomplices of galamsey kingpin, Aisha Huang were indeed engaged in illegal mining activities.
The Attorney General, during proceedings on October 11, 2022, told the court that the evidence gathered by the state against the suspects include five receipts issued to the foreign nationals as proof of purchase of small-scale mining sites.
According to the Attorney General, the suspects were engaged in criminality as the laws of Ghana bar foreigners from engaging in small-scale mining.
The four suspects are made up of three Chinese nationals; Shi Yang alias Philip, Li Wei Guo and Shi Mei Zhi, as well as a Vietnamese national, identified as Nguyen Thi Thanh Tuyen.
They are all facing a provisional charge of engaging in small scale-mining without a licence, contrary to section 99(2)(a) of the Minerals and Mining Act, 2006 (Act 703) as amended by Act 995 of 2019.
However, the Vietnamese national is facing a separate charge for remaining in Ghana after the expiration of a permit contrary to sections 20(1) and 52(1)(d) of the Immigration Act, 2000 (Act 573).
The three Chinese nationals have all pleaded not guilty to their charge while the court was compelled to defer the plea of the fourth suspect due to the absence of an interpreter.
Responding to the prosecution’s evidence against the suspects, their lawyer, Lucie Ekelebe Blay who was holding brief for Freddie Blay challenged the substance of the receipt.
According to the lawyer for the accused persons, the supposed purchase of mining sites by her clients did not materialise as they were duped in the process.
Her argument nonetheless was deemed as enough grounds to prove the prosecution’s case according to the Attorney General.
In his response to the defence lawyer, Godfred Yeboah Dame maintained that the suspects breached the law by their attempt to own a mining concession as the law prohibits foreigners from engaging in small scale mining.
The court, citing various factors such as the nature of the alleged offence committed by the suspects, their flight risk possibility and the severity of punishment if they are found guilty, denied the four bail till the end of their trial.
The case against the four has been adjourned to Tuesday, November 1, 2022.
Aisha Huang
The state’s case against alleged galamsey kingpin Aisha Huang was called after that of her alleged accomplices was adjourned.
Presiding Judge Lydia Osei Marfo, during a sitting on Tuesday, October 11, 2022, refused the plea of her lawyer, Nkrabea Effah Dartey, after the latter argued that his client deserved bail.
According to the judge, all arguments previously made against his plea for bail, including his client’s flight risk, remain and will not be changed.
She added that his constant presence in court with his client would be the only way to ensure the case is heard accordingly for the determination of his client’s fate.
State Prosecutor Godfred Dame, on his part, reiterated government’s commitment to ensuring the case is duly heard and that the accused are prosecuted if found guilty.
Aisha Huang is in court over charges of mining without a license and engaging in the sale and purchase of minerals, four other charges, including undertaking a mining operation without a license.
She is also facing four other charges, including undertaking a mining operation without a license, facilitating the participation of persons engaged in a mining operation, illegal employment of foreign nationals, and entering Ghana while prohibited from re-entry were filed at the Criminal Division of the Accra High Court on Friday, September 16, 2022.
Her case has since been adjourned to October 24, 2022, for case management.
The Minister of Justice and Attorney General, Godfred Dame, indicated that the state would present eight witnesses in the case against alleged small-scale mining (galamsey) kingpin, Aisha Huang, and her four accomplices.
This is after the Attorney General withdrew the four witness statements he had previously filed against the alleged ‘galamsey’ kingpin.
Speaking during the trial on Tuesday, Godfred Yeboah told the Accra High Court presided over by Justice Lydia Osei Marfo, that the prosecution had to withdraw the four witness statements to enable it to file the full set of eight witness statements.
He added that the prosecution was ready for a trial because all eight statements were ready and would be filed as soon as possible.
Justice Lydia Osei Marfo granted the request of Dame and adjourned the case to October 24, 2022, for the AG to file the documents.
Meanwhile, the court has remanded Aisha Huang to police custody.
Presiding Judge Lydia Osei Marfo, during a sitting on Tuesday, October 11, 2022, refused the plea of her lawyer, Nkrabea Effah Dartey, after the latter argued that his client deserved bail.
According to the judge, all arguments previously made against his plea for bail, including his client’s flight risk, remain and will not be changed.
She added that his constant presence in court with his client would be the only way to ensure the case is heard accordingly for the determination of his client’s fate.
State Prosecutor Godfred Dame, on his part, reiterated the government’s commitment to ensuring the case is duly heard and that the accused are prosecuted if found guilty.
Aisha Huang is in court over charges of mining without a license and engaging in the sale and purchase of minerals, four other charges, including undertaking a mining operation without a license.
She is also facing four other charges, including undertaking a mining operation without a license, facilitating the participation of persons engaged in a mining operation, illegal employment of foreign nationals, and entering Ghana while prohibited from re-entry were filed at the Criminal Division of the Accra High Court on Friday, September 16, 2022
Also, four others, who appeared in court, 3 Chinese nationals and a Vietnam national, have all been remanded to reappear in court on November 1, 2022.
The 3 Chinese nationals – Shi Yang alias Philip, Li Wei Guo and Shi Mei Zhi are on a provisional charge of engaging in small scale-mining without a licence, contrary to section 99(2)(a) of the Minerals and Mining Act, 2006 (Act 703) as amended by Act 995 of 2019.
Vietnam national; Nguyen Thi Thanh Tuyen is, however, being charged for remaining in Ghana after the expiration of a permit contrary to sections 20(1) and 52(1)(d) of the Immigration Act, 2000 (Act 573).
Hearing their cases separately, the sitting judge heard the pleas of the 3 Chinese nationals but reserved that of the Vietnamese, Nguyen Thi Thanh Tuyen, who had difficulty understanding the Chinese and English languages through which she was communicated.
The National Lotteries Authority (NLA) has launched its 60th anniversary celebration with a colourful event at its headquarters in Accra.
The event which took place on September 29, 2022, saw in attendance dignitaries from within and without the authority, including the NLA’s Director-General, Sammy Awuku, the Attorney-General and Minister of Justice, Godfred Yeboah Dame, the Deputy Finance Minister, John Kumah, among others.
During the event Director-General, Sammy Awuku, highlighted a series of activities that would characterise the celebration of the event which has been scheduled to span three months.
He noted that “the month of October has been dedicated to our cherished customers whom we recognize as our most valued assets. The month of November is slated for our Good Causes project,” and December will be the climax of the events.
He emphasised that November will be a month the Authority will give back to society by commissioning some Projects, in various parts of the country.
“These will be climaxed with a Grand Durbar of the Anniversary Celebration in December, held concurrently with a Conference on Responsible Gaming as we host the African Lotteries Association (ALA),” he said.
History of the NLA
Lottery over the years has immensely contributed to national growth and development. Established in 1962 as the Department of National Lotteries, invited a young man Mr Brennan from Malta to help set up the DNL, which now operates as the National Lottery Authority(NLA), after Act 722 was enacted in 2006.
NLA remains the leader in the lottery business in the sense that it has the legal mandate to regulate the industry. In addition to this autonomous role, the main objective of NLA is to raise revenue to run its affairs, and to pay whatever is left to the government to support developmental needs or projects in the country.
Against this background, NLA undoubtedly is a national asset, but this feat did not come with ease.The NLA brand was built with solid integrity as its core value while other values such as respect, excellence, accountability, leadership, and teamwork equally complemented the success story.
The NLA has its spread across the sixteen regions in Ghana, and continues to expand its tentacles to every nook and cranny. The expansion project is duly on course under the current leadership of Mr Samuel Awuku, the Director General of the authority.
Mr Awuku at the launch of the 60th anniversary celebration noted that after the establishment of the NLA some years ago, NLA can confidently boast of exemplifying its mandate to make all stakeholders ultimate winners.
“It has been 60 Years of generating revenue for national development, 60 years of touching lives, communities, and institutions and 60 years of making our patrons millionaires.”
Although he acknowledged that there are still challenges of his outfit that need to be addressed, he noted that the reforms, policies, and decisions taken by successive Boards and Director-Generals have significantly transformed the institution.
Board Chairman of NLA, Togbe Francis Nyonyo Agboada, was also at the event.
Addressing the gathering at the event, he touted the achievements of the NLA over the years, indicating that “we have successfully licensed some Private Lotto Operators, (PLOs) and look forward to welcoming more on board. The security services together with the NLA task force will continue to clamp down on defaulters to sanitize the lottery industry.
“We are also in the process of signing on some more Collaborators who will introduce some exciting new games for our cherished patrons. By the end of the year, we should take delivery of our modern machines, which purchase was done in accordance with the standards of the World Lottery Association (WLA).”
The Attorney-General and Minister of Justice, Godfred Yeboah has admonished the National Lottery Authority (NLA) to capitalise on digitalisation to transform the lottery industry in Ghana.
Speaking at the launch of the Authority’s diamond jubilee at its headquarters in Accra, Mr Dame noted that “technology has become an inevitable tool for the corporate world,” hence, his call on the leadership of the NLA to fully utilise the tool to boost its operations.
This, he also believes will help the authority maximise the generation of revenue from its operations. “There must be a deliberate process by management to ensure the modernisation, expansion of the operations of the NLA,” he stressed.
The NLA turned 60 on September 29, 2022. A colorful event where the logo, theme, and anniversary cloth for the anniversary, was launched, was held at the NLA headquarters to commemorate the occasion.
In attendance were dignitaries from within and without the Authority, including the NLA’s partners and key stakeholders, Ghana’s Defence Minister, Dominic Nitiwul, deputy Finance Minister, John Kumah, the Attorney General himself among others.
Delivering a solidarity message, Mr Dame, noted that 60 years of existence is no mean feat. He commended the authority for the various successes chalked since its inception and noted that the NLA made lottering attractive in the country.
“NLA gives you and I the opportunity to dream about what we might do if we won the lottery. “Much of the success and popularity of the national lottery can be attributed to the combination of a chance to win and dream and undoubtedly, this has been a huge success with the general populace,” he said.
Mr. Dame further congratulated the current Director-General, Mr Sammy Awuku for his exemplary leadership and the transformation of the NLA under his watch. He noted that “as this organisation continues to take giant strides into the future, I deem it appropriate to record my sincerest admiration for the innovation and creative thinking of the Director-General, the NLA, Mr Awuku.”
“I cannot be mistaken in noting that Mr Awuku’s leadership has seen a fresh injection of ingenuity into the affairs of the NLA. I can only wish him well,” he added. Additionally, he entreated the institution to operate on fairness.
“Participating in the launch of this diamond jubilee, I leave you with these observations; first is that fairness must characterise the operations of this institution and fairness must continue to be the guiding tool,” he said.
A former Attorney General and Minister for Justice, Betty Mould Iddrisu, has taken yet another swipe at the judiciary over what she describes as a failure to reform to address widespread negative public perception but rather adopting threats to silence critics.
Mould Iddrisu, who is Ghana’s first female Attorney General, described attacks on the former president, John Dramani Mahama, as unfortunate, undemocratic, and a slap in the face of Ghanaians demanding fairness from an institution bestowed with powers to protect dictates of the 1992 constitution.
She condemned the current AG, Godfred Dame, stressing that she can only forgive him for abusing the platform he had during the recent Bar Conference in Accra.
“Very unfortunate for a young Attorney General, Godfred Dame to come out with such statements about our former President. He was disrespectful and very upsetting to me, having held that position before. I forgive him because I am a Christian and it’s an act of charity,” she told Eric Ahianyo on IDEAS Exchange, a current Affairs program on TV XYZ.
Mould Iddrisu, who could not hide her emotions, emphasized, “Article 125 of the Constitution says quite clearly that the administration of Justice is vested in the people of the Republic of Ghana and it is the judiciary who is to administer that. If you did listen to the people how on earth can you administer justice for us? They need to listen to us. This should be a wake-up call.
“I chaired that conference of NDC lawyers, which John Mahama addressed. And all of us enthusiastically support his remarks about the perception of Ghanaians’ waning confidence in the judiciary.”
Explaining her position further, Betty Mould Iddrisu said being a leader of the Bar (Attorney General), does not give anyone the right to use a GBA meeting to create such chaos.
She disclosed that she has not paid her dues as a lawyer for the past 10 years because of the partisan actions of such persons who lead the Ghana Bar Association.
“Our lawyers were extremely upset. I have never had much faith in the Ghana Bar Association because it lost its capacity to withstand external influences. We saw them at critical times during the previous regime because it’s obvious they are favouring one political party or the other. I will pay my dues when I feel the GBA will be fair, a true arbiter of the interest of all lawyers in Ghana,” she emphasized.
She added that this development must be a wake up call to the judiciary.
She argued that several public surveys and observations by renowned lawyers and civil society organizations have drawn similar conclusions in the recent past.
“John Mahama was just asking them to look within, assess what various persons are saying, step out and speak to ordinary Ghanaians themselves and find out what their perception of the Judiciary is.
“It is sad to see and hear the barrage of unjustifiable attacks leveled against the former President. Hundreds of lawyers present at the conference supported the President not because they are NDC but because 99% of them practice at the bar. They go to the Courts daily and they know what is happening in the courts, yet many may be afraid to talk because they will be victimized,” she added.
“Prominent among such entities was an amorphous organisation operating a microfinance institution under the guise of gold trading and illegally using the name of a bank calling itself Menzbank.
“Against caution from the Central Bank, tens of thousands of individuals got hooked on the scheme devised by the company. Following the close down by the Securities and Exchange Commission, the customers could not retrieve their funds.
The company relied on the greed and ignorance of thousands of otherwise hardworking Ghanaians who were prepared to pay their life savings to the suspects in the case, resulting in losses worth millions of dollars†Godfred Dame explained.
The Attorney General said the saga has over the years culminated in a social crisis which resulted in protests and some level of unrest in the financial section.
“The situation caused misery and distress to many homes and unleashed a social crisis as riots and demonstrations broke out on the streets of Accra and other parts of the country,†he stated
“In real terms, people lost their homes, and some marriages have even broken up as a result of the Menzgold saga. Indeed, one lawyer suggested that the story of Menzgold could cause a civil war in Ghana in a manner akin to the civil war in Albania in 1997 caused by aggrieved customers of a Ponzi scheme,†the A-G noted.
He continued, “By the Grace of God, Ghana was saved from such a situation as a result of the prompt action taken by authorities at the helm of the financial system. I am happy to state that after painstaking investigations, dockets on that financial crime are almost ready for prosecution to commence in earnest.”
He added that apart from the Menzgold saga, the Office of the Attorney-General is prosecuting other high-profile cases involving the offences of willfully causing financial loss to the State such as stealing, corruption, fraud, procurement breaches and money laundering.
These cases, according to Godfred Dame, form parts of efforts to hold public officers and entities accountable.
He revealed that these crimes however amount to a sum of over $850 million.
The Attorney General, Godfred Dame, has said that the Assin North Member of Parliament James Gyakye Quayson must face the law like the former Member of Parliament for Bawku Central, Adamu Dramani Sakande.
This comes after the Supreme Court in a majority 5-2 decision, ruled that Assin North MP James Gyakye Quayson can no longer perform Parliamentary duties.
The counsel for the state, Godfred Dame speaking to journalists after the ruling made reference to the case of former Bawku Central MP, Adamu Sakande who was served a jail sentence for forgery among other charges.
“I think that there ought to be even application of the law, there ought to be an equal application of the law, the same fate that befell Adamu Sakande who was not qualified at the time that nominations were opened and we all know what happened to him,†he said.
In July 2021, the New Patriotic Party (NPP) Member of Parliament for Bawku Central, Adamu Dramani Sakande was convicted by an Accra High Court after he was found guilty perjury and forgery. This was after he failed to denounce UK Citizenship before contesting for the Bawku Seat.
Relating it to the case of James Gyakye Quayson, the Attorney General, Godfred Dame said there ought to be even application of the law.
Some Civil Society Organisations (CSOs) in the country have called on the Attorney-General to ensure that the country does not return to a “criminal libel regime.â€
This follows the recent arrests of journalists and the prosecution of persons for making or publishing certain statements.
According to the CSOs, the use of criminal law enforcement and prosecution to regulate and punish speech will take the country through another criminal libel regime.
A statement issued by the CSOs and co-signed by the Ghana Centre for Democratic Development (CDD-Ghana), IMANI Africa, and the Africa Centre for International Law & Accountability (ACILA), said: “We are deeply troubled by the growing use of the prosecutorial and judicial power of the State to punish criminally speech that allegedly falsely injures or damages the reputation of other persons or of an institution of state.â€
The statement continued that: “As a tool for regulating speech, the criminal law is fraught with the danger of politicisation and selective prosecution, as it leaves it to a party-aligned Attorney-General, an appointee who serves at the pleasure of the President, to determine which or whose allegedly false speech or publication to prosecute and which or whose speech to ignore.â€
The CSO emphasised that: “A return to the use of criminal law enforcement and prosecution to regulate and punish speech would take us back to a bygone authoritarian era where journalists and public speakers were jailed for politically disagreeable libel.â€
The CSOs, therefore, called for the discontinuation of the case against the Executive Director of the Alliance For Social Equity and Public Accountability (ASEPA), Mensah Thompson.
“We implore the Attorney-General to discontinue the prosecution of Mr Thompson and take steps to stop all persons acting under his authority from re-introducing in another guise the long-discredited and abolished criminal libel regime.â€
It also urged “media practitioners and users to tone down the inflammatory rhetoric that has contaminated our public square and airwaves, desist from knowingly or recklessly making or publishing false statements, and use, to the extent possible, the Right to Information Act and its processes to access information from public authorities.â€
Your most trusted news website MyNewsGh.com has authoritatively confirmed that the next Minister for Youth and Sports in the Akufo-Addo-Bawumia administration goes to Member of Parliament for Yagaba Kubore, Mustapha Yussif while former Deputy Attorney General, Godfred Yeboah Dame has been elevated to full minister.
Until his ministerial appointment, Mustapha Yussif was the Executive Secretary of the National Service Scheme.
In a confidential memo sighted from the seat of government, President Akufo-Addo also confirmed former Business Development Minister, Mohammed Ibrahim Awal as the Tourism Minister Designate. MyNewsGh.com was told his former Ministry has been scrapped by the government.
Also, Dr. Barhama Imoro Anyars, who until recently was in charge of the Nation Builders Corps has been named Northern Regional Minister-designate while Stephen Yakaubu is Upper East Regional Minister-designate.
Two days ago, we also broke the news that President Akufo-Addo has pencilled down the names of Bantama Member of Parliament Francis Asenso Boakye, Damongo Member of Parliament Samuel Abu Jinapor among others as substantive ministers whose names will be submitted to parliament on Friday (tomorrow) or latest by Monday when the house convenes for business.
The duo served President Akufo-Addo since his opposition days and were appointed Deputy Chiefs of Staff in 2017.
Following their election as MPs, the President, Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo has pencilled down Asenso-Boakye as Minister-designate for Works and Housing to replace Samuel Atta Akyea who is being reassigned.
Mr. Jinapor on the other hand is heading to the Ministry of Lands and Natural Resources as substantive Minister. Insiders say the President intends to reward them for their years of loyalty to him.
The first batch list of ministers sighted by MyNewsGh.com also includes the designation of Manhyia MP Matthew Opoku Prempeh who will be heading the Energy Ministry with his former post taken over by his Deputy Dr. Yaw Adutwum as Minister for Education.
