The Accra High Court yesterday dismissed a contempt application brought against the Member of Parliament (MP) for North Tongu Constituency, Samuel Okudzeto Ablakwa.
The court presided over by Justice Charles Gyamfi Dankwa awarded GH¢10,000 cost against the applicant, Secretary of the Board of National Cathedral, Kwabena Adu Gyamfi, also known as Reverend Kwabena Kusi Boateng.
Justice Dankwa stated that the applicant failed to prove beyond reasonable doubt that the alleged contemnor dragged the administration of justice into disrepute.
The court said there was no evidence on record that the lawmaker was served with the contempt motion and that the person who allegedly served the respondent was not a judiciary approved bailiff pursuant to a directive issued by the Chief Justice in November, 2022.
The court noted that there were inconsistencies with the chronology of events as narrated by the applicant.
The court stated that Kwabena Adu Gyamfi and Rev. Victor Kusi Boateng were two different people and subject to a pending investigation by the Ghana Revenue Authority (GRA).
The court had already stated in a ruling two months ago, that the MP had not been properly served and ordered that the right procedures be followed in serving the respondent.
Rev. Gyamfi sued Mr Ablakwa in February this year and filed an interlocutory injunction to bar the MP from running commentary on alleged criminal activities about the Cathedral involving the applicant.
Rev. Gyamfi asked the court to commit the legislator to prison for allegedly stepping on an interlocutory injunction served him on the premises of Metro Television.
Before the instant action initiated by Rev. Gyamfi, Mr Ablakwa petitioned the Commission on Human Rights and Administrative Justice (CHRAJ), to investigate Rev. Victor Kusi-Boateng, over conflict of interest, including possession of multiple identities and other alleged criminal dealings.
Mr Ablakwa alleges that there was a transfer of GH¢2.6million from the National Cathedral Secretariat to JNS Talent Centre Limited, owned by Rev. Kusi-Boateng, under a secondary identity – Kwabena Adu Gyamfi.
The petition is seeking to invoke the mandate of CHRAJ, under Article 218 of the 1992 Constitution, to investigate the “odious conflict of interest” in regard to Rev. Victor Kusi-Boateng’s position on the national cathedral board as he “literally paid his own company a staggering GH¢2.6million for no work done.”
Rev. Kusi-Boateng, who is also the founder of Power Chapel Worldwide, according to Mr Ablakwa, was the same person as Kwabena Adu Gyamfi, who received GH¢2.6 million from the national cathedral board.
