Jamal KonnehThe National Democratic Congress (NDC) has pushed back strongly against suggestions that the contempt proceedings involving New Patriotic Party (NPP) Member of Parliament for Akwatia, Ernest Kumi, have been fully resolved.
According to the NDC, the case remains active and unresolved in court despite a recent Supreme Court ruling.
This follows a decision by the Supreme Court which overturned an earlier contempt conviction handed down by High Court Judge Justice Emmanuel Senyo Amedahe and ordered that the judge recuse himself from the case. The NDC insists, however, that the ruling did not nullify the contempt charges themselves.
Speaking on Channel One TV’s Newsroom on Sunday, June 15, Eastern Regional Secretary of the NDC, Jamal Konneh, accused the NPP of misleading the public by painting a picture of total legal victory, even though the apex court’s decision was limited to procedural matters.
“The NPP filed about five reliefs at the Supreme Court. The first one was that the court should set aside the petition, arguing that the petitioners filed it without a gazette,” Konneh explained. “That was dismissed by a unanimous 5-0 decision of the court.”
He clarified that while the court agreed with the NPP on the issue of judicial bias — ruling that the High Court judge should step aside — the contempt matter itself remains before the court.
“What was upheld was the fact that the judge sitting on the case should recuse himself. But the contempt case still holds,” Konneh emphasized.
He further stated that the Supreme Court directed the assignment of a new judge to continue hearing the contempt proceedings. “That is the impression they [NPP] are creating outside, but the contempt still holds. The court said the judge who sat on that case should recuse himself for another judge to come in and handle that aspect,” he said.
The Supreme Court’s decision followed a judicial review application filed by Kumi’s legal team, led by NPP Director of Legal Affairs, Gary Nimako-Marfo. Their central argument was that the NDC’s election petition, filed by its parliamentary candidate Henry Boakye Yiadom, was invalid because it was submitted before the official gazette of results—contrary to Ghana’s electoral laws.
However, Konneh emphasized that even this argument did not lead to the dismissal of the petition. “The substantive case is still going on. We are yet to go into that case, but they [NPP] are there jubilating that they have won,” he said.
The NDC maintains that the Supreme Court’s intervention only addressed the question of judicial impartiality, not the legitimacy of the contempt charges or the broader election petition. According to the party, any claims of total victory by the NPP are not only misleading but a calculated attempt to misinform the public and shift attention from the unresolved legal issues.
