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Alexander Afenyo-Markin
“The importance of consistency in the application of the principles of law is necessary as inconsistency tends to undermine the coherence of the law and generates a mass of disparate special rules distinct from those known under the law.
Its approach to the Application for Stay of Execution by Alexander Afenyo-Markin in the vacant seats saga is most confusing.
The first problem is the nature of the application, which was sought. A party cannot seek an Application for Stay of Execution in respect of a matter which is not a Judgment or a Court order. The speaker’s order is not of such. In any case, it is absurd to seek a Stay of Execution in a case in which the Court has not made any orders. There was no jurisdiction in the Court.
The second point and the most fundamental one is that, the cause of action for which the applicant went to Court had long been superseded by the conduct of the speaker who had declared the seats vacant.
The action was filed at a time when the seats were yet to be declared vacant. At the date of hearing, the Application was not in sync with the writ before the Court.
It is important to note that the speaker’s conduct, by which he declared the seats vacant, created a new cause of action.
The Applicant has not amended the writ to fit the new facts in the Application.
The action was filed at a time when the seats were yet to be declared vacant. At the date of hearing, the Application was not in sync with the writ before the Court.
It is important to note that the speaker’s conduct, by which he declared the seats vacant, created a new cause of action.
The Applicant has not amended the writ to fit the new facts in the Application.
The grant of the Application was thus a merger of the new facts with the old cause of action. You cannot put new wine in old wineskins. It cannot hold.
Under the circumstances, the Court was procedurally wrong in many ways.
And then again, the Court’s assumption of jurisdiction in the face of Article 99 of the 1992 Constitution leaves a lot of unanswered questions.
This case can only come before the Supreme Court by way of reference after a filing in the High Court. …
https://www.myjoyonline.com/lawyer-kwame-akuffo-punches-supreme-court-over-vacant-seats-ruling/?fbclid=IwY2xjawGA68xleHRuA2FlbQIxMQABHYzMOlrdwXizOjEeLKvvr3iOKinuzJA1sdf4-QtF2Gj6oTsz0746BljLjg_aem_IWp-AMNHsF2LQLr6vUU9eQ
[20:29, 19/10/2024] Mr Pratt: If you have never been jailed in Ghana, you DO NOT know Ghana.
As a teenager, I was jailed in Airport Police Station (5 nights), Kotobabi Police Station (1 night) and Achimota Police Station (2 hours). All for crap I didn’t do. I did however learn some valuable lessons about life.
First lesson I learned is life of crime is not for me. I love my freedom too much to live a caged life. The second lesson is that there is a very dark side to Ghana, and that is what this post is about.
At Airport Police Station, there was a prisoner nicknamed Mandela. It was said that he had been there for nine years without a day in court. He was never charged with a crime. He was a houseboy whose massa drove him there and order he’d be locked up. Mandela came to Accra from some village in another region.
Prisoners don’t get to make phone calls. There’s no way to contact their loved ones. I was a minor amongst hardened criminals and had no way to contact my parents. The officers made no effort — none — to contact my parents.
Airport Police Station has no bathroom. Just one big WC toilet. Prisoners don’t shower. Mandela had not showered or bathed in the nine years prior to my arrival and the five days I was there.
Airport Police Station does not feed prisoners. Prisoners eat at the benevolence of fellow prisoners whose loved ones bring them food.
Airport Police Station does not have female cells. The one female prisoner that was brought there one night during my “stay” was ushered into the “officers’ mess,” where a number of officers took turns in groping her all night long with her young son helplessly looking on in tears. They, the mother and son, had been deported from a European country, I was later told.
Airport Police Station has no beds. Prisoners sleep on the floor.
Airport Police Station has no occupancy capacity limits. When I got there, we were 19 in a room about the size of my current bedroom. By day 3, we had about 35 prisoners and we slept in 2-hour shifts. I’d often just hang by the “seashore.” Seashore is the area by the jail bars just behind the intake desk. The breeze from front entrance to the station gave it its moniker.
Airport Police Station isn’t well ventilated. On the scale of 1-10, I’ll place its ventilation on 1. There is a small high window, designed to make escape impossible.
Today, I have no reason to think the conditions there have improved. I always go by the police station each time I visit Ghana. I don’t go inside. I just stand there and reflect. I often wonder what happened to Mandela. He was such a nice guy. Did he die there? Was he released? I’ll never get the answers. And oh, there’s no record keeping for prisoners. No mug shot, no release dates and so on.
This a tiny fraction of my experience of Ghana. Some ask me why I will never live in Ghana again. They’d have to walk in my shoes to understand. I just know we experienced two different Ghanas. There are two Ghanas — one for the haves and another for the have-nots!
P/S. I’m collecting testimonies of folks who have had similar encounters with Ghana Police Stations. Please feel free to direct message me to set up interviews
Ras Tozo
Your articles never fail to captivate me. Each one is a testament to your expertise and dedication to your craft. Thank you for sharing your wisdom with the world.