Chief Justice Baffoe-Bonnie Rejects Bid to Defer NSB and NAFCO Cases Until October
- Chief Justice Paul Baffoe-Bonnie has turned down a petition to suspend cases involving former NSB and NAFCO chiefs during the legal vacation
- Lawyers Samuel Atta Akyea and Godfred Dame cited prior commitments and travel plans as grounds for adjourning proceedings until October
- The court has adjourned the matter to August 18 for further case management proceedings despite defence objections
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Chief Justice Paul Baffoe-Bonnie has dismissed calls to suspend proceedings involving former National Signals Bureau (NSB) Director-General Kwabena Adu-Boahen and former National Food and Buffer Stock Company Limited (NAFCO) Chief Executive Officer Hanan Abdul-Wahab until the legal vacation ends.
The decision came after lawyers representing the accused persons filed a petition contesting a warrant the Chief Justice had issued authorising the presiding judges to sit as vacation judges and continue hearing the cases through the recess period.
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Defence lawyers push for october adjournment
Senior counsel Samuel Atta Akyea and Godfred Dame, acting on behalf of the accused persons, argued that defence team members had made prior commitments and in some cases had already travelled abroad before the warrant was issued.
On those grounds, they requested that both matters be adjourned to October when the courts return from vacation.
According to a report by Citinewsroom, Chief Justice Baffoe-Bonnie, however, firmly rejected the request.
Speaking at the 2nd Quadrennial Delegates Congress of the Senior Staff Association of the Judicial Service, he stated that applications for adjournment are judicial matters to be determined by the courts themselves and cannot be handled as administrative decisions linked to the legal vacation calendar.
Cases to continue with August date set
With the Chief Justice's position now clear, proceedings in both cases will press ahead during the vacation period.
The court has scheduled August 18 as the next date for case management proceedings in the matters.
The two cases have drawn significant public attention. Adu-Boahen, who previously led the National Signals Bureau, and Abdul-Wahab, the former head of NAFCO, are among a number of high-profile figures facing legal proceedings that the current administration has indicated it intends to pursue without delay.
The insistence on continuing the cases through the legal recess signals a firm stance from the judiciary's leadership that the vacation period will not serve as a basis for stalling proceedings of public interest.
GBA backs petitions Chief Justice
Earlier, YEN.com.gh reported that the Ghana Bar Association had petitioned Chief Justice Paul Baffoe-Bonnie over judges directing lawyers to appear in court during the statutory legal vacation.
Three law firms, including one representing former National Signals Bureau head Kwabena Adu-Boahen, had raised grievances after being called to appear in criminal trials.
The GBA had warned that compelling lawyers to attend Vacation Courts undermined the annual recess and violated long-standing judicial tradition.
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Source: YEN.com.gh
