Press Statement By PNC ON THE CONVICTION AND SENTENCE OF MR. TSATSU TSIKATA BY THE FAST TRACK HIGH COURT.September 9, 2008

The PNC has been following with keen interest reports of the circumstances leading to the conviction and sentence on 18th June, 2008 of Mr. Tsatsu Tsikata, the Former Chief Executive Officer of GNPC, by the Fast Track High Court, presided over by Mrs. Justice Henrietta Abban, and the events following thereafter. Having studied the reports and some documentation on the trial, conviction and sentence, we, as a major political party in this country, having a vested interest in the future of our people and the integrity of the institutions of state wish to state as follows:

1. The conviction and sentence of Mr. Tsatsu Tsikata on 18th June, 2008 and the circumstances surrounding it raise very fundamental issues about the integrity and independence of our judiciary as protector of the fundamental human rights of the individual as enshrined in the 1992 Constitution;

2. While not advocating generally that persons charged with offences punishable under our laws and found should not be punished, we take the view that the processes of the trial, judgment, conviction and sentence of such persons should be in accordance with due process, be impartial and devoid of prejudice in any form. It should also be free from political interference and vindictiveness. The reports on the trial and circumstances surrounding the incarceration of Mr. Tsatsu Tsikata give us in the PNC concern.

3. We therefore lend our collective voice as a political party to the cry for justice, and for the judiciary to re-examine dispassionately (and with its constitutional mandate in mind), the circumstances surrounding Mr. Tsikata’s case, and then begin the slow process of redeeming its sinking image in the eyes of the public.

4. We stand in solidarity with the family and friends of Mr. Tsatsu Tsikata as well as all well-meaning Ghanaians, who have in various ways been engaged in trying to raise conscience and consciousness of the public in relation to his incarceration. We salute your quest for justice and share in your hope of his release soon.

5. We hope the judiciary would adhere to the PNC’s call so as to enlist public confidence in our institution of “Justice”. We believe in fairness and justice for all and not selective justice.

Issued and dated in Accra

BERNARD MORNAH [General Secretary