Dr Opuni’s stay of proceedings application dismissed

 The Accra High Court, yesterday dismissed a stay of proceedings appli­cation filed by Dr Stephen Kwabena Opuni, the former Chief Exec­utive Officer (CEO) of Ghana COCOBOD.

Dr Opuni was charged together with Mr Seidu Agongo, the Man­aging Director of Agricult Ghana Limited, a fertiliser manufacturing company, for allegedly causing GH¢217 million financial loss to the state in a fertiliser deal.

The CEO, the first accused, caused his counsel, Mr Samuel Codjoe, to challenge the decision of Justice Aboagye Tandoh taken on July 25, this year, to adopt pro­ceedings of the ongoing case.

The applicant’s appeal at the Supreme Court was in the nature of certiorari to quash the decision of the High Court, Accra, and prohibition to restrain the judge from hearing the matter.

Appearing before Justice Tan­doh, Mr Codjoe argued that the motion for stay of proceedings sought to stop the judge from con­ducting proceedings until the final determination of the two appeals at the apex court.

Mr Codjoe told the court that when a party appeal the decision of a lower court at the Supreme Court, the lower court must wait for the Supreme Court to make a determination before proceedings continue.

He said that the motion for stay of proceedings had merit and grounded in law.

Counsel for the second and third accused, Mr Benson Nutsuk­pui, associated himself with the submissions of Mr Codjoe.

But the prosecution, led by Mrs Evelyn Keelson, a Chief State Attorney, opposed the motion for stay of proceedings, arguing that the mere filing of stay of proceed­ings does not operate as stay of proceedings.

Mrs Keelson told the court that the motion for certiorari and pro­hibition was not before the High Court and that the Supreme Court had not made any order barring the High Court from hearing the case.

She said it was only when the trial court has taken an application for interpretation that the court would have to stay proceedings.

“It is our submission that the mere filing of an application by applicant at the Supreme Court does not constitute stay,” Mrs Keelson said.

She said the decision of ex-parte Kennedy Agyapong was not an authority mandating the high court to stay proceedings pending an application before the Supreme Court.

In March 2018, the Attor­ney-General charged Dr Opuni and Agongo with 27 counts for al­legedly engaging in illegalities that caused financial loss of GH¢271.3 million to the state, and led to the distribution of sub-standard fertiliser to cocoa farmers.

Agongo is alleged to have used fraudulent means to sell sub-stan­dard fertiliser to COCOBOD for onward distribution to cocoa farmers.

Dr Opuni is accused of facil­itating the act by not allowing Agongo’s products to be tested and certified, as required by law.

The two accused have pleaded not guilty to all the 27 charges and are on GH¢300,000 bail each.

 BY MALIK SULLEMANA