General News of Tuesday, 5 January 2021
Source: www.ghanaweb.live
2021-01-05Franklin Cudjoe speaks after Supreme Court judge ordered seizure of his phone
Founding President of IMANI Africa, Franklin Cudjoe
In a dramatic event at the Supreme Court today, January 5, 2020, a mobile phone of Franklin Cudjoe, President of Policy Think Tank IMANI Africa was seized after a Supreme Court judge issued an order.
The order to have Mr Cudjoe’s phone to be seized was because it rang in the courtroom, disrupting proceedings.
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Following reports of the incident, Franklin Cudjoe has taken to his Twitter page to open up about the incident which occurred during the Supreme Court’s verdict pronouncement on the matter of an injunction on the gazetting of the New Patriotic Party Member of Parliament-elect for Hohoe, John-Peter Amewu.
According to Franklin Cudjoe, the order by Justice Yaw Apau for his phone to seized by a Supreme Court clerk was a result of his phone’s alarm inadvertently ringing whiles proceedings were ongoing in the apex court of the land.
"I was in court. SC essentially said Amewu can't be held responsible for the sins of the EC. That the matter of SALL should continue at the Ho court. Yes, my phone's alarm inadvertently rang in Court.”
The boss of IMANI, however, adds that the judge ordered for his phone to be returned to him after the proceedings for which he has since taken possession of his phone.
“A court orderly came for it. The Presiding Judge halted proceedings and ordered the orderly to hand over the phone to me after the proceedings. I have my phone. The latter has become news,” he wrote.
The state went to the Supreme Court to seek a declaration against the inunction granted by the Hohoe High Court on Mr Amewu’s gazetting.
Contentions on the matter extend to whether the people of Santrokofi, Akpafu, Likpe, and Lolobi (SALL) were supposed to vote in Mr Amewu’s constituency of Hohoe or the Buem Constituency.
Franklin Cudjoe who has declared himself a crusader for the people of SALL on what he has described as their disenfranchisement was in court based on his interest in the matter.
In a unanimous decision in its judgement, the five-member panel of the apex court held that the Ho High Court had no jurisdiction to grant an injunction against Mr Amewu.
