Embattled Bawku Central Member of Parliament (MP), Mahama Ayariga, on Tuesday, June 4, 2019, stormed an Accra High Court in the company of a cattle farmer, Sumaila Biebel, whose legal action against then New Patriotic Party (NPP) MP for Bawku Central, Adamu Dramani Sakande, paved the way for he (Ayariga) to recapture the Bawku seat in 2012.
Mr. Ayariga was in court over an alleged tax fraud.
Justice Afia Serwaa Asare Botwe had ordered for the Bawku Central MP to appear in court on June 4, 2019, by 1pm.
Speaker of Parliament, Prof. Aaron Mike Oquaye, had to suspend parliamentary sitting for 30 minutes earlier today for broader consultation on the prosecution of the Member of Parliament for Bawku Central by the Special Prosecutor, Martin Amidu.
Mr. Amidu is prosecuting the MP for alleged tax fraud.
Mr. Ayariga had tried to use parliamentary privileges which according to him do not allow the State to drag him to court while on parliamentary duty.
Interestingly, accompanying him to court was Mr. Biebel.
Mr. Biebel’s presence in court apparently to lend moral support to Mr. Ayariga has left many wondering as to whether he was not sponsored by the embattled in 2012 to initiate a suit against the then NPP MP for Bawku Central who was jailed as a result of Mr. Biebel’s legal action.
Background
It would be recalled that Mr. Ayariga was MP for Bawku Central from 2005 but lost his seat in the 2008 elections to Mr. Dramani Sakande of NPP.
However, Mr. Dramani Sakande was convicted and jailed by a court for having stood for the election while being the citizen of another country which was against the 1992 Constitution of Ghana.
That made the Bawku Central seat vacant, paving way for Mr. Ayariga to recapture it in the 2012 parliamentary election.
Adamu’s trial
Adamu Sakande had challenged the court action and on May 23, 2012, the Supreme Court dismissed Mr. Dramani Sakande’s submission of ‘no case’ in a civil matter brought against him by the cattle farmer.
The then MP was at the time expected to open his defence on July 16, 2012 while still a sitting MP.
Mr. Biebel, in March 2009 filed a suit at the High Court challenging the eligibility of Mr. Dramani Sakande on the grounds that he held both British and Burkinabe passports.
The High Court, in a default judgment on July 15, 2009, ordered the then NPP MP to vacate his seat.
However, dissatisfied with the High Court’s decision, counsel for the then MP appealed against it, resulting in the Court of Appeal, in a unanimous decision, declaring that Mr Biebel should have gone by an electoral petition, since the matter bordered on electoral dispute.
Aggrieved by the Court of Appeal’s decision, Mr Biebel went to the Supreme Court, which decided to take evidence from him.
He testified and been cross-examined by Egbert Faibille, a member of the legal team for Dramani Sakande.
The defence filed a submission of ‘no case’ after Mr. Biebel had completed his evidence-in-chief and been cross-examined.
According to the defence, Mr Biebel had failed to fully comply with the rules of evidence and, for that reason, there was no evidence before the Supreme Court.
But the Supreme Court held otherwise.
