Lawyer Threatens Legal Action Against NDC Communication Team Member

A Private legal practitioner has threatened court action against a member of the government's Communication team for allegedly making spurious remarks about his personality.

Lawyer Dr. Maurice Ampaw has issued a two-week ultimatum to government Communicator, Alhaji Naziru Mohammed to retract his disparaging remarks or else meet him in court.

It could be recalled that Lawyer Ampaw, in a statement he issued regarding the conduct of the Supreme Court Judges who sat on the 2012 election petition case, stressed that majority of the Judges handled the petitioners in an impolite manner by the use of their intemperate language.

He concluded that, after carefully scrutinizing the judgment written by the nine-member panel, some Judges used offensive words and insults in writing their judgments.

He therefore advised Judges to avoid using harsh words and vituperation when delivering their verdicts.

But speaking on Okay FM's "Ghana Decides" programme, government's Communicator, Alhaji Naziru Mohammed stated on authority that the research by the Legal Advocacy Foundation which is headed by Lawyer (Dr.) Maurice Ampaw was not fairly and independently done.

He asserted that Dr. Maurice Ampaw's remarks were motivated by the opposition New Patriotic Party (NPP). He branded him (Maurice) a liar should he deny his ( Naziru�s) assertions.

��..I speak on authority of what I know and that is, the work and report the lawyer has brought is not fairly independently done...I have heard him on the same platform that the NPP sent him to do the work; I challenge him to deny if he did not receive any assistance from NPP Executives and used their branded vehicles when he conducted his research in Cape Coast,� he contended.

But Maurice Ampaw had denied receiving any form of assistance from the New Patriotic Party (NPP) on his research.

Addressing the issue in an interview with Peacefmonline.com, Dr. Maurice Ampaw expressed resentment over the comments by the NDC Communicator and threatened legal action against him.

According to him, he only made certain relevant observations about the conduct of the Judges in writing their judgments and toured the 10 regions of the country educating the media and Ghanaians about some lapses he discovered regarding the verdict which was given.

�I went on my own voluntarily. Individually, went through all the regions�So, the allegation by Nasiru that I was supported by NPP is false. It�s unfair and it is malicious�I have made my opinion. I have raised legal issues with the judgement and I am expecting the NDC legal team; that legal team that has the legal knowledge to respond to the issues but because they respect my opinion, none of them have responded to the issue.

�None of them has attacked me but Naziru Mohammed who is a Communicator. Has no knowledge about law goes out there and makes damaging remarks about me that Dr. Maurice Ampaw is a liar without responding to the issues that I have raised�NPP as a party, I don�t belong in that party. I will never receive any money from any politician�.Because when you receive money from a politician, they dictate to you and then you cannot speak your mind.�

He also strongly denied any attachment to the opposition New Patriotic Party.

�I have not been supported by the NPP. I am not NPP; I am not NDC. I don�t belong to any political party. I don�t hold their card. I�ve not registered as a member."

To him, the allegations leveled against him by Alhaji Naziru have no basis and so he's "giving Naziru two weeks to retract this unfortunate statement because if he fails to do so, then he�s daring me and challenging me about what he said that NPP sponsored me. They�ve given me car; it�s true. Therefore, he will then have to go to court and then prove that allegation and then to set the record straight.�

Source: Ameyaw Adu Gyamfi/Peacefmonline.com