Supreme Court Overturns Contempt Conviction Against Akwatia MP Ernest Kumi: "He's a Free Man"

• The Supreme Court has overturned a contempt conviction issued against Akwatia MP Ernest Kumi
• Kumi’s team argued that the High Court lacked the jurisdiction to entertain the election petition
• He was convicted by the high court in Koforidua after defying an injunction against his swearing-in

The Supreme Court has overturned a contempt conviction by the High Court in Koforidua issued against Ernest Kumi, the Akwatia MP.

Citi News reported that the court also stopped Justice Emmanuel Senyo Amedahe from sentencing the MP.

Kumi's legal team hailed the judgment in an address to the press after court proceedings on June 11.

The judgment follows a judicial review application filed by the MP, challenging the High Court’s ruling.

Kumi’s team argued that the court lacked the jurisdiction to entertain the election petition that led to an initial injunction against him.

The lawyers noted that Ghana’s electoral laws require that an election petition be filed within 21 days of the publication of certified results in the official gazette.

But in this case, though the petition was filed on December 31, 2024, the results were not gazetted until June 6, 2025.

They thus argued that because the court’s jurisdiction was improperly invoked, all subsequent rulings were invalid.

About the arrest warrant for Ernest Kumi

The Koforidua High Court had issued a bench warrant for Kumi’s arrest after he failed to appear before the court for sentencing on February 19.

GBC reported that the court had earlier restrained the MP from presenting himself for swearing-in, pending the resolution of the legal dispute.

Citing evidence of willful defiance, the court ruled that the lawmaker had acted in contempt, and an injunction order was granted on January 2, 2025.

This followed a petition filed by Henry Boakye-Yiadom, the National Democratic Congress parliamentary candidate in Akwatia, which was in line with the Representation of the People Act, 1992 (PNDC Law 284).

Other areas like Nsawam suffered similar legal contentions.

Boakye-Yiadom is claiming that electoral infractions saw Kumi win the parliamentary election with 19,269 votes to his 17,206 votes.

The declaration was made at the National Police Training School in Tesano, Accra, after multiple failed attempts to finalise the results in the Eastern Region.

Kumi still made appearances in Parliament after his conviction, prompting opposition from the Majority Caucus on one instance where he tried to speak during proceedings.

The caucus insisted that a convict and someone against whom a bench warrant has been issued could not be allowed to deliver a statement.

The beginning of Ghana's ninth Parliament

YEN.com.gh reported that the acting Clerk to Parliament, Ebenezer Ahumah Djietror, chaired the first sitting of Parliament on January 7.

There were 274 out of 276 constituencies that were submitted to the ninth Parliament as having duly elected candidates within the House.

Ablekuma North and Akwatia were the two seats with eligibility issues, and Djietror served Kumi with a warning as well as an injunction.

Proofreading by Bruce Douglas, copy editor at YEN.com.gh.

Source: YEN.com.gh