‘You can’t disrespect my court’ – Judge orders arrest of Fomena NPP ‘rioters’

A judge issued a bench warrant for the immediate arrest of four persons who led a protest and further altered the Fomena Constituency office of the governing New Patriotic Party with opposition party colours.

His Honour Mark Diboro Tairima granted the request by the prosecution after it emerged that the accused persons and their lawyer failed to appear before the Bekwai Circuit Court, when the case was called on April 15, 2022.

“The other time you [prosecution] were not in court when the lawyer and the accused persons were here. A date was rescheduled but the accused persons weren’t here. This is unacceptable. You can’t disrespect my court”, the presiding judge, remarked as he adjourned the case to 28 April 2022.

The four suspects; Isaac Agyei, Gilbert Oppong Akwasi, Micheal Ankapong, and Silas Yeboah, have been charged with unlawful assembly, among others.

The prosecution is hopeful the warrant will be executed for the suspects to appear before the court on the next adjourned date.

Head of Legal and Prosecution at the Ashanti Regional Police Command, Chief Superintendent, Kofi Blagodzi who spoke to reporters shortly after proceedings said, “the party has set up an ADR mechanism to address issues bordering on the party. Some prominent people have been appointed to address these issues, so I do not know why they refused to show up in the court. However, this problem will be addressed.”

The protestors had vowed to resist attempts by the Independent Member of Parliament for the area, Andrew Amoako Asiamah, to be imposed on them in the next parliamentary election.

They alleged that the leadership of the party had begun some machinations to favour supporters of the independent MP as against those believed to be from other camps in the ongoing polling station elections.

A spokesperson for the aggrieved supporters of NPP in the Fomena Constituency, Emmanuel Domah, told Accra-based Citi News, their protest was a result of unfair treatment meted out to some party members by the party hierarchy.