Co-Chair of Citizens Movement Against Corruption, Edem Senanu is questioning why a lawyer’s client will allegedly give USD500,000 to Chief Justice Kwesi Anin-Yeboah after he [Anin-Yeboah] has demanded a bribe of USD5,000,000 to influence a case pending before the Supreme Court and without the knowledge of his Lawyers and will later come and give full details.
A Kumasi-based Lawyer, Akwasi Afrifa, Esq, has implicated the Chief Justice, Kwasi Anim Yeboah in a GHS 5 million bribery scandal.
Akwesi Afrifa had accused the Chief Justice of demanding a 5 million dollars bribe from his client to influence the final judgment of a case at the Supreme Court.
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The allegation is in response to an invitation by the General Legal Council for him to appear before it, in relation to a petition by his former client, Ogyeedom Obranu Kwesi Atta IV, for failing to pay an amount of $75,000 he (Akwasi Afrifa, Esq) owes the latter.
Lawyer, Akwasi Afrifa, Esq, alleged that his former client, Ogyeedom Obranu Kwesi Atta IV informed him that Chief Justice Kwesi Annin-Yeboah, “demanded a bribe of USD5,000,000 for a successful outcome of his case and that he had already paid USD500,000 to the Chief Justice.” The case under reference is OGYEEDOM OBRANU KWESI ATTA IV V GHANA TELECOMMUNICATIONS COMPANY & LANDS COMMISSION.
According to Edem Senanu, the allegations are very dicey, tricky, and confusing.
Speaking on the Happy Morning Show [HMS] with Samuel Eshun, the Anti-Corruption campaigner said, there are too many disconnects in the allegation which don’t make sense. “There are just too many disconnects. What exactly the client is seeking as against the 5m dollar bribe. There is clearly a disconnect that doesn’t add up. I’m wondering if the client that dumps that if you are going to do all these things you are going to give full details.
If you do work for a client and the work has to be abrogated, the standard practice is that, there is a weight, which looks at how many days, how many months and proportionally you are given the value on the work is already done, that’s equity and it happens because one acknowledges that some work has been done,
it’s extremely rare for the client to say pay back everything I have given you. as soon as you get to the narrative it means that the client is saying you haven’t done anything of value, this is standard international best practice. So if the lawyer did not justify the work done paid the money to the client without arguing that I have done some work worth the value of ‘xyz’ so that there is acknowledgment his professional services had contributed in that ‘xyz’ case, it means that there is disconnect somewhere.”
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Mr. Afrifa is currently facing disciplinary proceedings after his client Ogyeedom VI asked the General Legal Council to help him retrieve some money from the lawyer.
Ogyeedom VI dragged Mr. Afrifa to the GLC, alleging that the lawyer collected $100,000 from him with a promise to secure a favorable judgment on his behalf.
Ogyeedom Atta IV asked the GLC to order Mr. Afrifa to refund the $100,000, saying the lawyer failed to deliver on his promise.
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In the response dated July 8, 2021, Mr. Afrifa denied the claims by Ogyeedom Kwesi Atta VI, further alleging that he was asked to refund $300,000 in legal fees to enable his client to raise a $5million bribe to be paid to the Chief Justice to get a favorable decision in the legal dispute.
Mr. Afrifa further alleged that Justice Anin Yeboah had agreed to ensure a favorable ruling for the Chief provided he selects Mr. Akoto Ampaw as a lawyer in the stead of the former.
Mr. Ampaw has since denied his involvement in the $5 million bribery claim leveled against the Chief Justice.