On the 12th day of November, 2024, the Supreme Court of Ghana by a majority decision of 5 -2, interpreted Article 97 (1) (g ) & (h) to the effect that a member of parliament who files nominations to contest elections on the ticket of a different political party other than the one for which he/she was elected as member of parliament, does loose his seat as a member of the current parliament.  This decision has drawn sharp division in views of opinion leaders, lawyers, academics and jurists.  In order to understand the reasoning behind the opinions of the two sides of the bench, you are encouraged to read the full case which can be downloaded in this article.   WHO ARE THE JUSTICES  Majority Y. DARKO ASARE J.S.C PG. SACKEY TORKONOO J.S.C (CJ),  M . OWUSU J.S.C.,  Y. GAEWU J.S.C.   S .K.A. ASIEDU J.S.C. Minority (dissenting) Tanko Amadu J.S.C.  Lovelace -Johnson J.S.C   SUMMARY OF CASE Four members of the 8th parliament of Ghana,...

On 30th of July, 2024, the Court of Appeal of Ghana by a majority decision of 2 -1, acquitted and discharged the Hon. Cassiel Ato Forson and Richard Jakpa in the trial popularly known as the Ambulance trial case. You can scroll down to download the full judgment, but I have also summarized it below for easy reading.   WHO ARE THE JUDGES  Majority Judges 1.      Kweku T. Ackaah-Boafo J.A 2.      P. Bright Mensah J.A Minority (dissenting Judge) 1.      Alex Poku-Acheamong J.A. For you to understand, note that the two majority judges are the ones who agreed that Ato Forson and Richard Jakpa should be set free. The dissenting Judge disagreed that’s why he is characterized as minority or dissenting. This is normal in both the Court of Appeal and Supreme Court and that is why they always have an odd number. You can read their independent detailed reasons in the full case when you click on the link at the end...

    Social media has been buzzing with a picture of a writing on the walls of an alleged loan defaulter. The writings also allege that QUICK CREDIT, a popular loans company, is the person behind the writings. Let me say here that I have not done any independent check to confirm if Quick Credit is behind the writings on the walls of the person and this article is not in any way intended to take-on the said company but rather provide general advice to the public at large. This “quick credit” defaulter and other issues concerning how companies treat customers who default in paying loans has inspired my decision to take up this topic and share a few tips to both individuals and companies alike.   This Article will throw some light on the rights of a defaulter as well as the right of the creditor and what the two parties can safely do to ensure they do not fall at the wrong side of the law.   To set the tone, let me share the story of a client whose name I cannot mention....

  I read with dismay a circular dated 13 th April, 2023, authored and circulated by the Ministry of Health to directorates, institutions and affiliate bodies under the Ministry. The Ministry’s directive is simply to remind these institutions that it has seen some Senior Staff in the Health Sector engaging in active partisan political activities. And that the Ministry is warning those Senior Staff to abreast themselves of the under listed guidelines and sanctions attached thereon, which guidelines and sanctions were culled from the Human Resource Management Policy and Manual for the Ghana Public Services particularly at pages 104 to 105: i.                    A Public Servant shall not openly participate in partisan political activities, seek political office whilst still in the public service or use Government facilities, equipment or resources to assist any candidate seeking elected politi...