Court dismisses contempt application against Nana Kwaku Atta Banafo II

A Cape Coast High Court has dismissed an application, which prayed the court to cite the Odikro of Assin Andoe, Nana Kwaku Atta Banafo II, for contempt of court.

According to Nana Ampomah Kubrah and Prince Charles Kojo Fosu who were the applicants in the case, the respondent, Nana Banafo II had disrespected an earlier order of the court “differently constituted”.

However, Justice Bernard Bentil, in his ruling, stated that the applicant could not justify the burden of proof, adding that the acts, complained of by the applicants were not contumacious. He, therefore, awarded cost of Ten Thousand Ghana Cedis ‘GH?10,000.00’ against the applicants.

Background

Prior to the earlier or first installation of Nana Banafo II, as the Odikro of Andoe, the process was challenged but a decision on the same matter by the Assin Apimamin Traditional Council’s judicial committee was not clear.

Therefore, the plaintiff in the matter misconstrued the ambiguous ruling by the judicial committee to mean a discontinuance of the matter and, therefore, went ahead to install Nana Banafo.

The installation took place while the defendants have taken the issue to a high court in Cape Coast, challenging the ambiguous decision by the judicial committee of the traditional council.   However, the court, differently constituted in 2018, noted that the orders made by the traditional council did not suggest that the case has been discontinued, therefore, Nana Banafo’s installation was wrong.

The court, therefore, committed Nana Banafo for contempt, in view of the fact that he held himself as Odikro, while the case was pending before it and further quashed the traditional council’s judicial committee’s decision.

Following the high court’s decision, the plaintiff (Nana Banafo) went back to the traditional council and properly discontinued the case in an unambiguous term.

After the discontinuance, the kingmakers reactivated the process and went through all the traditional rites and customary norms to reinstall Nana Banafo II as the Odikro of Andoe.

In spite of the reactivation of the processes, which led to the reinstallation of Nana Banafo, the defendant argued that Nana Banafo still held himself as the Odikro, against an early order by the court.

It was upon this basis that they prayed the court to cite him for contempt, emphasising on the previous arrangements, which had him installed and a court order, which subsequently quashed same.

However, counsel for the respondent, Daniel Arthur, argued that the court order, which prohibited Nana Banafo II from holding himself as a chief only affected the earlier decision by the traditional council, which was quashed by the court.

According to Lawyer Arthur, the order of the court did not have any bearing on the new arrangement, which saw Nana Banafo reinstalled after the proper discontinuance of the matter at the traditional council.

The court (differently constituted), presided over by Justice Bentil upheld the arguments of the counsel for the defendants and dismissed the contempt application.

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