An Accra High Court has granted an application filed on behalf of one Dickson Adjei Danso for interlocutory injunction against Joseph Appiah Boateng, National Democratic Congress (NDC) Member of Parliament (MP) for Afram Plains South constituency, restraining the defendant from undertaking political activities in the constituency ahead of the December polls until a final determination of a motion.
Lawyer Nkrabeah Effah Dartey of Nkrabeah & Associates, counsel for Mr Danso, told the court that the incumbent Member of Parliament for the Afram Plains South Constituency, Joseph Appiah Boateng does not deserve to represent the constituents in the legislator because he got involved in criminal case, asking the court to disqualify him.
The High court, presided over by Justice Mrs. Patience Mills Tetteh on Tuesday, dismissed a motion filed by the lawyer for the defendants that the court should strike out the motion of the plaintiff.
The court gave the ruling on the motion following the explanation Lawyer Effah Dartey gave to the court on the issue.
The High court, presided over by Justice Patience Mills Tetteh, after hearing the arguments of Effah Dartey and that of the lawyer for Appiah Boateng, ruled that the case has merit, adding that should all the allegations be proven against Appiah Boateng, he cannot contest as a parliamentary candidate.
Mr Danso is praying the court for “a declaration that upon a true and proper interpretation of the letter and spirit of the constitution of the 1st defendant, Hon. Joseph Appiah Boateng is disqualified from being Member of Parliament.
He wants an order to restrain the 2nd and 3rd defendants National Democratic Congress and Electoral Commission respectively from allowing the 1st defendant (Joseph Appiah Boateng to contest the general elections of 2016 as parliamentary candidate.”
Nkrabeah Effah-Dartey, in an interview with DAILY GUIDE after the hearing, alleged that Mr. Joseph Appiah changed his name and ran from a criminal case which was lodged against him at the Osu Police Station and left to New Zealand where he got involved in a case of fraud that led to his conviction.
“In 1998/99, the Honourable MP, known as Joseph Appiah, run away from a criminal case against him at the Osu Police Station changed his name to Charles Yeboah and travelled to new Zealand. Along the line, he got involved in a case of fraud and was convicted in Auckland and sent home to Ghana,” it stated.
The suit was first filed against the legislator, the NDC and the Electoral Commission (EC) by the plaintiff’s counsel, but after the sitting on Tuesday, the court strike out the charges against the EC.
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