Minister of Trade and Industry Kobina Tahir Hammond has been dragged to High court on Friday, July 7, 2023 by the lawyers of the James Gyakye Quayson, the member of Parliament for Assin North after his controversial interview with Kumasi-based television station.
According to the lawyers of the Assin North MP, KT Hammond allowed the media to break the right of Gyakye Quayson to be presumed innocent as well as enjoy a fair trial.
In the complaint, Attorney Justin Pwabra Teriwaja said the defendant’s words also amounted to disrespect to the Court of Honor because they were so detrimental to the court’s proceedings.
He added that KT Hammond, who is also a Member of Parliament for Adansi Asokwa constituency, has brazenly usurped the office of trial judge.
To keep the judicial stream pure, he said the courts have the power to try K.T. Hammond and the like for self-loathing under Section 126(2) of the 1992 Constitution.
READ ALSO: Gyakye Quayson Will Go To Prison – NPP’s KT Hammond Insists
The decision stipulates that the minister will be tried for contempt of court and, if found guilty, will be sentenced to imprisonment.
Prior to this, KT Hammond announced on Tuesday 4 July 2023 in an interview with Kumasi-based broadcaster Oyerepa TV that Gyakye Quayson will go to jail.
James Gyakye Quayson faces perjury charges in Accra High Court.
He faces charges of forgery and perjury in connection with certain criminal charges ahead of the 2020 Assin North general election.
He pleaded not guilty to five counts of forging passports and travel documents, willfully making false affidavits, perjury and making false statements of office.
In the prosecution’s case, Quayson allegedly made a false statement to the passport office that he did not hold a passport from another country when he applied for a Ghanaian passport.