Chief Justice Runs To CID For Exoneration

The Chief Justice, Justice Anin Yeboah has charged the Criminal Investigation Department (CID) of the Ghana Police Service to investigate a five million dollar bribe scandal in which he has been incriminated.
The name of Justice Anin Yeboah has popped up in a scuffle between a plaintiff, Ogyedom Obranu Kwesi Atta VI and his lawyer, Lawyer Kwesi Afrifa.
The plaintiff petitioned the General Legal Council in March 2021 accusing his lawyer of owing him an amount of seventy five thousand dollars after taking one million dollars from him to conduct “gymnatics” for him to win his pending trial in court which he subsequently did not.
According to the plaintiff, they (Lawyer Afrifa and himself) agreed on 300000 cedis for his services which he paid.
He also noted that after giving the lawyer the said money for the “gymnatics”, he realised from his demeanour that he did not use the money for the intended purpose and therefore fired him and demanded a refund for which he has paid twenty five thousand dollars but has failed to refund the rest.
Lawyer Kwesi Afrifa in a response to the General Legal Council on the same matter denied taking an amount of one million dollars from the plaintiff to conduct “gymnastic”.
He admitted to owing the plaintiff but said a fee of one million cedis was rather agreed for his services after which the petitioner paid three hundred thousand cedis and promised to settle the rest later.
He explained that the petitioner informed him that some friends of his who have political affiliation took him to see the Chief Justice who agreed to help him win the case on the basis that he pays a five million dollar bribe and also institute Lawyer Akoto Ampaw in his (lawyer Affrifa) stead.
According to Lawyer Afrifa, the petitioner called on him to refund the initial payment of 300, 000 cedis in dollars which was equivalent to 50,000 dollars so he could pay the Chief Justice after the plaintiff had paid 50,000 dollars to him.
He claimed he had paid 40,000 dollars with a remainder of 10,000 dollars which he looks forward to settle on 15th July, 2021.
After a media publication of both petitions to the General Legal Council, Ogyedom Obranu Kwesi Atta VI published a press statement saying, “I unequivocally deny allegations of intended bribery or actual bribery of any judge including the Chief Justice whom I have never met or known personally apart from seeing him a distance from the bench. “
“I reemphasize that I have never met the Chief Justice before nor dealt with him directly or indirectly in official or private capacity neither do I even know where he lives nor have his phone number to have communicated with him”, he said.
The Chief Justice however in his letter to the IGP on 12th July, 2021 said he does not know and has not seen or met with the plaintiff except in the court room when he rises to announce his name when his case is called.
The Chief Justice has therefore “directed a formal complaint be made to the Criminal Investigations Department of the Ghana Police Service for investigations and any necessary action.”
Meanwhile, the Alliance for Social Equity and Public Accountability (ASEPA) has petitioned Parliament to investigate the bribery scandal involving the Chief Justice.
Source: Opemsuo.com/Hajara Fuseini