Nii Ayikoi Otoo   A former Attorney General and Minister of Justice under ex-President Kufuor’s administration has slammed the legal team of the ruling National Democratic Congress, accusing them of being interested in practicing “law on radio”. Lawyer Ayikoi Otoo expressed disappointment at the rapidity with which the NDC legal team go on radio to argue cases yet are found wanting at the law courts, stressing that the public is “gradually becoming tired of this radio law”. Reacting to calls by Lawyer David Annan that the embattled NPP MP for Assin North, Kennedy Agyapong, should be dealt with drastically for allegedly breaching the conditions of his bond of good behavior, Lawyer Ayikoi Otoo charged him to seek redress in court instead of screaming his voice hoarse on radio. Speaking on OkayFM’s Ade Akye Abia Morning Show, the former A-G pointed out that if Mr. David Annan thinks any crime has been committed, “as a lawyer he should strap his boot, wear his gown, put on his wig and go to court and prosecute that matter”. “These are some of the things they do and lose cases; they go on radio and talk yet they are not very active in prosecuting cases in court. If he thinks that Ken has broken his bond of good behavior, my advice is that he should strap his boot, wear his gown and wig and go to court and go and prosecute that matter. Now we are getting fed up with this radio law, they are practicing law on radio and yet when they go to court…they go and lose; they’ve lost about 15 cases,” he stated. Mr. Ayikoi Otoo, who is leading a group that has sued the Electoral Commission over the creation of 45 new constituencies, also stated that he is not surprised that the immediate past Attorney General, Martin Amidu had cause to complain about how members of the legal team were interfering with the official work of the A-G. According to him, some of them are inexperienced in trial matters yet go on radio to argue cases.

NDC Chairman Blows Party Cash......Asked to Vomit ¢2.1Bn? A National Executive Council (NEC) Member of the ruling National Democratic Congress (NDC) is in trouble for his inability to adequately account for an amount of GH¢270,000 meant for party work. The NDCs Greater Accra Region Chairman, Joseph Kobina Ade Coker, is said to have received the amount on behalf of his region from the Electoral Directorate of the NDC with an agreement that he would disburse the amount equally among the 27 constituencies in Greater Accra for the biometric registration exercise. Each constituency according to the agreed budget was to have received an amount of GH¢10,000, but the money is yet to reach the constituencies even though the registration exercise is over and Mr. Coker is in hot waters over the issue. Checks by THE PUBLISHER in each of the 27 constituencies in Greater Accra showed that the highest amount Mr. Ade Coker gave a constituency was GH¢2,000 instead of the budgeted GH¢10,000. The remaining GH¢8,000 per constituency has not been accounted for and its whereabouts have since remained a mystery. When THE PUBLISHER contacted Mr. Ade Coker over the issue he admitted that he actually held back a greater chunk of the budget meant for the constituencies. He however explained that he held back an amount of “only” GH¢3,000 per constituency and not GH¢8,000. The NDC Chairman swore to THE PUBLISHER that he was given an amount of GH¢5,000 for each of the 27 constituencies but he chose to give each constituency an amount of GH¢2,000 and hold back the remaining GH¢3,000 because as the Regional Chairman, he was convinced the Region was in need of money for other purposes.   Joseph Ade Coker Therefore by Mr. Coker’s calculation, he used the powers conferred on him as Regional chairman to hold back a total amount of “only” GH¢81,000. Further checks from the Greater Accra Regional NDC showed that members of the Executive were unaware that the Regional Chairman had given the constituencies an amount of GH¢ 2,000 out of the agreed budget and kept the rest for reasons he was yet to explain. Mr. Coker also did not tell the constituencies he was keeping a greater chunk of the money and he has since also not explained what exactly he planned using the money for. As at press time on Sunday evening, THE PUBLISHER picked up signals that some of the constituencies were meeting over the issue and a press conference had been scheduled for this week.

Source: The Publisher/Ghana