Martin Kpebu, a private attorney, has responded to media reports that on October 11 at a court, he had an altercation with the troubled former Sanitation and Water Resources Minister, Madam Cecilia Abena Dapaah.
Mad. Dapaah is seen interacting with Lawyer Martin Kpebu in a series of photos shared by the Legal Platform portal that went viral. In one particular photo, the former Minister is seen pointing his left hand at the well-known anti-corruption campaigner.
Mr. Kpebu in an interview with Yaa Konamah on Mpe Ne Mpu show on UTV, monitored by InsighNewsgh.com, said there was no altercation between them.
He claims that Mad. Cecilia Dapaah only questioned him about his public statements regarding the legal dispute she was involved in with the Office of the Special Prosecutor (OSP).
“Its normal, I don’t hold any grudges against her. I can understand what she’s going through. I didn’t panic, she didn’t threaten me. I didn’t like some of the things she said but I understand her because she is in pain,” he said.
He added that Mrs. Dapaah was very nice to him during their conversation.
Cecilia Dapaah did not threaten me; she was very nice – Martin Kpebu#UTVGhana pic.twitter.com/PXLL23YjQ6
— UTV Ghana (@utvghana) October 13, 2023
Outside the courthouse, Mrs. Barth approached Mr. Kpebu and struck up a heated conversation with him.
Mrs. Barth disagreed with Mr. Kpebu’s remarks regarding negative media coverage because he is a lawyer and therefore subject to ethical standards.
In response to statements Mr. Martin Kpebu made that she thought were inaccurate and unfair to her client, especially coming from a lawyer, Mrs. Barth was heard yelling at him, “as a lawyer,” “as a lawyer.”
Mad. Dapaah calmly approached Mr. Martin Kpebu and criticized his remarks for being unfair.
She had earlier made gestures toward Mr. Kpebu that appeared to be an attempt to soothe him.
When commenting on legal matters in court, Mr. Kpebu did not disregard Mrs. Barth’s advice to observe the ethical standards expected of a lawyer.
To Mad. Dapaah and others, he made a compelling case that all he was doing was offering a real-time analysis of the circumstance based on the facts at hand, suggesting a sense of fearlessness in his analysis.
