The seeming legal tussle between former Sanitation Minister Cecilia Abena Dapaah and the Office of the Special Prosecutor continues to linger as all cases before the Accra High Court in relation to her, remain in hiatus.
This has been caused by an apparent petition by the OSP to the Chief Justice against presiding judge on the cases, Justice Edward Twum of the Financial and Economic Court 2 of the Accra High Court.
On Thursday, October 12, 2023 lawyers for the Special Prosecutor notified the court of its petition to the Chief Justice to have the judge hearing the case to be changed, citing prejudice towards the former Sanitation Minister who is under investigation for corruption and corruption related activities by the OSP.
Things turned awry on October 18 after what appeared to be a mix up in communication. Before proceedings could begin, lawyers for Cecilia Dapaah sought clarification from Justice Edward Twum regarding the petition to have him changed.
He told the court that he had been notified that the OSP had withdrawn the petition before the Chief Justice and summoned the case to proceed.
Lawyers for the Special Prosecutor, led by Dr Isidore Tuffuor filed a motion of certiorari at the Supreme Court to quash an earlier decision of the Accra High Court granting an application of an abridgement of time which had been filed by Cecilia Dapaah explaining to the court that delay in the hearing of the case was causing her discomfort and stress since her assets and bank accounts remained seized and frozen.
Additionally, lawyers of the OSP also filed a motion to suspend proceedings until their application at the apex court had been determined. The presiding judge thus adjourned the hearing to October 25 for the OSP to move the motion to stay proceedings.
Shortly after filing the motions however, Dr Isidore Tuffuor told the court that the Office of the Special Prosecutor had not withdrawn the petition to change the judge as had been communicated earlier by the court.
The Financial and Economic Court 2 hence adjourned the case indefinitely pending the decision of the Chief Justice on whether to remove the judge or not.
When the parties turned up in court in anticipation of the motion by the Office of the Special Prosecutor, there appeared to be no show from the quarters of the OSP as there was no representation.
Justice Edward Twum in an in-chambers meeting with Cecilia Dapaah and her husband together with their lawyers disclosed that the case has been adjourned to November 8 citing that Chief Justice Gertrude Torkornoo is yet to make a decision on the petition filed by the OSP to remove him from the case.
This substantially means that until the determination of the petition by the OSP to have the judge changed, all cases involving Cecilia Dapaah and her husband remain pending.