NCA case against Prof Date-Bah: Lawyers of applicants absent from court

Lawyers of Radio XYZ and four others yesterday, failed to appear before the Accra High Court to move a motion in the case in which the National Communications Authority (NCA), has asked Professor Justice Samuel Date-Bah to step aside in the mediation of closure of radio stations.

Prof Date-Bah, a retired Supreme Court judge, has recused himself as the Chairman of Electronic Communications Tribunal (ECT), following allegations of bias made against him by the NCA.

The NCA in a motion filed by their lawyers on June 12, 2019, contended that the Chairman of the ECT was likely to be biased against the NCA, having accused the regulatory body of gross neglect of the tribunal.

At the hearing yesterday, neither the lawyers for the affected radio stations, closed for non-renewal of licence nor their clients were in court.

It is the case of the radio stations that “the application for prohibition against the Chairman of the Electronic Communications Tribunal from sitting on cases involving the NCA is a subtle attempt to remove the Chairman of the ECT through the backdoor and to bring the work of the tribunal to a complete stop and into disrepute”.

The applicants argued that the instant motion in the nature of prohibition only sought to give advantage to the NCA beyond what the law permitted.

 The court ordered counsel for NCA, Gary Nimako Marfo, to serve hearing notice on the applicants.

The case has been adjourned to July 22, 2019.    

BY MALIK SULLEMANA