Jake's Bungalow Saga: Go For Review; We�re Solidly Behind You

The Peoples� National Convention (PNC) has appealed to the Attorney-General and the two deputy ministers who recently filed a conflict of interest suit against National Chairman of the New Patriotic Party (NPP), Jake Obetsebi-Lamptey, to immediately apply for a review of the Supreme Court�s decision on the matter. The PNC is also calling on Government to adapt the Accra Redevelopment Policy and any other policy of similar nature to serve the interest of the large public The party says it fears that the Supreme Court is departing from its enviable standards giving credence to their own words that there is "SOMETHING BADLY WRONG WITH OUR JUDICIAL SYSTEM". At a press conference held in Accra today and addressed by the party�s General Secretary, Benard Mornah, the PNC said it is willing to assist the Plaintiffs with the full complement of its team of legal experts in order to seek a reversal of the majority decision of the Supreme Court. The Nkrumaist party maintains that though there are some positives in the ruling, two of the conclusions reached by the learned judges are �problematic�. Samuel Okudzeto Ablakwa, Deputy Minister of Information and Dr. Omane Boamah deputy Sports Minister had dragged the NPP chair to court accusing him of abusing his office in his purchase of a government building at the No 2 Mungo Street in the Ridge residential area. But on Tuesday, May 22nd, the Supreme Court, in a 9 - 0 decision, dismissed the claims of corruption, conflict of interest, abuse of office and cronyism writ filed by the two plaintiffs. And by a 6 � 3 decision, the court noted that the process used in acquiring the property, contrary to the claimants� claims, was not unfair and illegal. �The claim of the Plaintiffs that the decision of the Government of Ghana to sell the disputed land to Jake Obetsebi-Lamptey is unconstitutional as being a gross abuse of discretionary power has not been proven (6 judges to 3 judges)�.�Mr. Jake Obetsebi-Lamptey may keep the disputed property, since his title to it has not been successfully impugned by the Plaintiffs (6 judges to 3 judges)�", transcripts of the ruling indicate. However, the PNC seems unhappy with those two pronouncemnents, and has therefore called on the judiciary to ensure their decisions particularly in election matters are so patently fair and just that peace in Ghana prevails. �The irresistible conclusion is that by arriving at the fourth and fifth conclusions above, the majority of the Supreme Court ignored the clear, patent and easy to understand provisions of the 1992 Constitution on the matter�The greatest challenge to our current democracy is the question of what we should do when the Supreme Court (in some cases the High Court), which has the exclusive jurisdiction to interpret and enforce the Constitution, neglects to do so,� the PNC said. Read below the full statement issued by the PNC at the press conference on Wednesday.