The Member of Parliament for Akwatia, Ernest Yaw Kumi, has filed a certiorari and prohibition application at the Supreme Court, seeking to overturn a February 19 contempt of court conviction against him. Counsel for the MP, Gary Nimako Marfo, argues in the application that Justice Emmanuel Senyo Amadehe of the Koforidua High Court committed “a jurisdictional error of law apparent on the face of the record when he assumed jurisdiction in [the] Parliamentary Election Petition at Akwatia Constituency at the time when the Electoral Commission had not published the Gazette Notification of the results to which the Election relates in the Gazette.”
Justice Senyo Amadehe had convicted Ernest Yaw Kumi for contempt of court and issued a bench warrant for his arrest, citing his defiance of an interim injunction that barred him from being sworn in as a legislator. However, the MP’s legal team contends that the High Court Judge breached the rules of natural justice, stating:
“The learned High Court Judge breached the rules of natural justice when he proceeded to hear and determine the Contempt application despite the pendency of Applicant’s Motion to set aside the said Contempt application for want of jurisdiction.”
The application further accuses Justice Amadehe of bias, arguing:
“The learned High Court Judge was biased and highly prejudiced against the Applicant when he, among others, refused to grant Counsel for the Applicant audience on the basis that Counsel had not filed ‘Appearance’ in the Contempt application.”
As part of its reliefs, the legal team is asking the Supreme Court to declare that:
- “The Petition filed by the 1st Interested Party [Henry Boakye-Yiadom] on 31st December 2024 in the absence of the Gazette Notification of the Parliamentary Election Results to which the election relates is incompetent, as same did not properly invoke the jurisdiction of the High Court, and that any Order founded on same is void and of no effect.”
Additionally, the MP is seeking:
- “A declaration that the Contempt Proceedings and the Ruling dated 19th February 2025, founded on the premature election petition filed on 31st December 2024, is void and of no effect.”
- “An Order quashing the Ruling delivered on the Contempt Application and the Execution of the Bench Warrant issued by the Court dated 19th February 2025, by His Lordship Justice Emmanuel Senyo Amadehe.”
The Supreme Court is yet to set a date for hearing the application.
By: Kabah Atawoge
