A petition made by Rev. Victor Kusi Boateng, the National Cathedral project’s secretary to the board of trustees, was dismissed by the Court of Appeal.
The lawsuit aimed to stop Samuel Okudzeto Ablakwa, the Member of Parliament for North Tongu, from bringing him up in connection with the National Cathedral project.
The High Court had dismissed two identical lawsuits filed by the founder and overseer of Power Chapel International prior to Wednesday’s decision.
As per the court’s ruling, the grounds of appeal were not in compliance with the rules established by the Court of Appeal.
The suit aimed to stop Samuel Okudzeto Ablakwa, the Member of Parliament for North Tongu, from bringing him up in connection with the National Cathedral project.
The High Court had dismissed two identical lawsuits filed by the founder and overseer of Power Chapel International prior to Wednesday’s decision.
As per the court’s ruling, the grounds of appeal were not in compliance with the rules established by the Court of Appeal.
Rev. Kusi Boateng, also known as Adu Gyamfi in other circles, is attempting to restrain the MP for the third time after Haven failed twice before.
With the intention of shifting the balance in their favour in a case that has attracted public attention, his lawyers had provided the court with more justification.
The Court of Appeal has dismissed the objection against the recently formed panel.
Samuel Okudzeto Ablakwa’s lawyers objected to the new panel’s composition, but the Court of Appeal rejected their argument prior to making a decision on the substantive issue.
The objection was founded on “speculative innuendo,” the court said. Tuesday, June 25, saw Thaddeus Sory argue that the new panel will not allow for a fair trial and is unlawful.
Thaddeus Sory argued that a panel established by the Chief Justice ought to address the specific issue for which it was established and should not be reorganized.
In open court, the lawyer also claimed that the High Court judge who denied Rev. Kusi Boateng’s contempt motion had since been moved from Accra to Sunyani and subsequently to Bolga.
He continued by saying that it might be because the person who is a member of the church and “the Plaintiff has an affinity with the person who constitutes the panel.”
But Bobby Banson, Kusi Boateng’s lawyer, called Thaddeus Sory’s assertions untrue. Mr. Banson contended that the accusations lacked legal support and were instead based on hearsay.
This claim has since been affirmed by the court. The panel determined that the MP’s solicitors lacked proof supporting their assertions.
The court also described the allegations as unfounded, and dismissed the objection.
Background
As the secretary of the project’s board of trustees, Rev. Victor Kusi Boateng was accused of having a conflict of interest by North Tongu MP Samuel Okudzeto Ablakwa, who had brought up a number of improper and illegal concerns pertaining to the building of the National Cathedral.
He then filed a request to have his conflict of interest, multiple identity, and other suspected criminal dealings looked into with the Commission on Human Rights and Administrative Justice (CHRAJ) in January 2023.
The petition further claimed that money worth GH¢2.6 million was transferred from the National Cathedral Secretariat to Rev. Kusi-Boateng’s JNS Talent Centre Limited, which he held under the alias Kwabena Adu Gyamfi.
In his petition, Mr. Ablakwa aims to utilise Article 218 of the 1992 Constitution to mandate CHRAJ to look into the “odious conflict of interest” surrounding Rev. Kusi Boateng’s National Cathedral board post, claiming that he “literally paid his own company a staggering GH¢2.6 million for no work done.”
Suit
Subsequently, Rev. Kusi Boateng filed a defamation suit against Mr. Ablakwa and then requested contempt, claiming the lawmaker would not accept service of the defamation complaint.
In an attempt to stop the MP from making any more comments on the matter, he filed for an order to uphold his human rights.
The contempt application was dismissed by the Accra High Court in May 2023 due to its flaws, irregularities, and failure to meet legal requirements.
The court, led by Justice Charles Gyamfi Dankwa, fined Rev. Kusi Boateng GH¢10,000 in favour of the MP after rejecting the contempt case.