The Supreme Court has issued a 4-1 majority decision to suspend the Koforidua High Court’s sentencing of Akwatia MP Ernest Yaw Kumi in a contempt case until a final ruling is made on a motion to overturn the conviction.
Justice Gabriel Pwamang dissented, while the other four justices on the panel supported the stay.
The Member of Parliament for Akwatia, Ernest Yaw Kumi filed a certiorari and prohibition application at the Supreme Court to challenge his February 19 contempt of court conviction.
In the application, Kumi’s counsel, Gary Nimako Marfo, argued that Justice Emmanuel Senyo Amadehe of the Koforidua High Court made a “jurisdictional error of law apparent on the face of the record” by assuming jurisdiction in the Parliamentary Election Petition for the Akwatia Constituency before the Electoral Commission had published the Gazette Notification of the election results.
Justice Senyo Amadehe had previously convicted Ernest Yaw Kumi for contempt and issued a bench warrant for his arrest, citing Kumi’s defiance of an interim injunction that prohibited him from being sworn in as a legislator.
