Court jails Power FM broadcaster over claims against Akufo-Addo and judges

A broadcaster with Accra-based Power FM has been jailed for claims he made against President Akufo-Addo and the Supreme Court judges regarding the 2020 election petition.

Reports say the High Court in Accra found Oheneba Boamah Bennie guilty of charges proffered against him and slapped him with a 14-day jail term on Tuesday.

According to a report by Starrfm.com.gh and attributed to Radioxyzonline.com, the court presided over by Justice Elfreda Dankyi also fined the broadcaster an amount of GHS 3000.

It is reported that the lawyer for Boamah, Victor Kojoga Adawudu pleaded with the court presided over by Justice Elfreda Dankyi to be lenient with his client but she insisted she was already charitable in determining the sentence.

“I have been magnanimous,” the judge is quoted as having said.

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Background

The A-G dragged Bennie to court for contempt of court

It was the case of the A-G that, after the declaration of President Akufo-Addo as the President-elect by the Electoral Commission (EC), Bennie allegedly published a video on his Facebook wall, claiming that President Akufo-Addo had met with eight justices of the Supreme Court, led by the Chief Justice, and had influenced them.

He claimed the President used the supposed meeting to influence the justices of the apex court to rule in his favour in the event of any election petition challenging his re-election as declared by the EC.

In the said video, he allegedly said Ghanaians would not allow the justices of the Supreme Court to destroy the country and urged the military to stage a coup d’etat.

Constitutional violation

The A-G makes a case that through his publication, Bennie wants to tell the public that judges, including the justices of the apex court, decide cases not independently but by taking directives from the President.

Such an assertion, the A-G argued, if allowed to go unpunished, would amount to gross disrespect for the judiciary, which is a violation of the 1992 Constitution.

According to the A-G, Bennie knew that there was a possibility of a challenge to the presidential election at the Supreme Court and, therefore, by poisoning the minds of the public against the court, he wanted to cause disaffection for the court.

“That the respondent’s disrespect for the Judiciary and the publication of false news intended to bring the Judiciary into disrepute makes him liable to be committed to prison in order to vindicate the undoubted authority of the Judiciary enshrined in Article 125 of the 1992 Constitution,” the affidavit in support of the A-G’s case added.

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