“My Lord I am On Leave

A Senior State Attorney at the Attorney General’s Department in Sekondi, Mr. S. E. Akuffo, who is representing the Attorney General and the Ministry of Trade Industry and President’s Special Initiative (PSI) as counsel in the case in which the two sector ministers, Hon. Alan Kyeremanten and Joe Ghartey have been dragged to court by WAOPP Oil Mills, yesterday incurred the wrath of the court when the case was called. The plaintiff company is demanding 1.5 billion as damages.
Mr. Akufo who once charged at The Chronicle for its continued coverage of the case and sought to restrain the paper from continuing with the coverage of the case without success, yesterday sent a letter to the court presided over by Justice Ofosu Quartey and counsel for the plaintiff, Mr. Amua-Sekyi, stating that he had started his annual leave and that the case be adjourned to October this year when he is expected to resume work.
Lawyer Amua-Sekyi however rejected the request of his learned friend and pleaded with the court to strike out the demand on the grounds that it is an office that is representing the defendants and not the counsel as a person and that the office could have delegated another counsel to court.
“My Lord, this is an insult and I do not want to spoil your appetite this morning,” he said the lawyer for plaintiff submitted in court. In his ruling on the matter, Justice Ofosu Quartey noted that, “Indeed, Akuffo’s request that he is on leave and that the case should be adjourned to October is unacceptable. It is very unfair to the other party and the litigant and I will object to the request”.
The judge continued, “ Is he saying that because he is on leave, the Court should also go on leave? A Court cannot be controlled by the wishes of lawyers neither does it meet the pleasures of lawyers, what is the defence doing about the case? I have not been seeing the defence in Court.” Justice Ofosu Quartey subsequently objected to the demand and awarded a cost of three million cedis against the defendants and adjourned the case to the 20th of this month.
Earlier, Counsel for the plaintiff had pleaded with the court to compel the defendants to open their defence. He further prayed the court to close the evidence of the plaintiff and discharge him. Justice Ofosu Quartey accepted counsel’s pleading on the grounds that since counsel for the defendants was not in Court to cross examine the plaintiff as scheduled, it was deemed that the defendant had no contribution in the trial. Consequently he asked that hearing notice be served on the defendants and their lawyers for them to open their defence.