[ 2017-03-21 ]

Akrasi Sarpong, former executive secretary of the Narcotics Control Board

Former NACOB boss convicted
An Accra High Court has convicted former Executive
Secretary of the Narcotics Control Board, Akrasi
Sarpong of contempt.

He was found guilty over his comments after a High
Court granted bail to one Chief Sunny Ikechukwu
Benjy Eke, a 53- year-old businessman, and his
alleged accomplice, James Eleke Chukwu, 47, a
second-hand clothes dealer in Accra.

The applicant, Chief Eke was arrested and remanded
in Prisons custody in 2013 for allegedly
attempting to smuggle 281,604 grammes of liquid
cocaine with a street value of over $12.5 million
into the country.

The drug was allegedly concealed in a 40-footer
container filled with 1,946 boxes of shampoo
import­ed from Bolivia in South America, to
Ghana.

But Mr. Sarpong, unsatisfied with the bail, is
quoted to have said that the terms for the bail
were very unfortunate because Chief Eke was known
to have jumped bail in Brazil. The applicants thus
sued the Former NACOB boss for contempt

The court, presided over by Justice Charles Edward
Ekow Baiden today held that Mr. Sarpong’s
comment was meant to derogate the authority of the
court that granted bail to the suspects.

Additionally, the presiding judge said the
comments were wrong and unacceptable.

Mr. Sarpong was sentenced to sign a bond to be of
good behaviour and in default, serve two months in
prison with hard labour.

Second accused, a graphic journalist who published
the said comments was also sentenced to pay a fine
of GHC5, 000.00 and in default serve two months in
prison.

Background

Mr. Sarpong alleged that all international drug
agencies were hunting for Chief Eke but could not
arrest him until he was nabbed in Ghana.

He argued that the judge, in using his discretion
as required by law, should have considered the
past record of the suspect, which was public
knowledge.

The NACOB boss said the fight against
transnational organised crime is not for the
security agencies alone but the whole justice
delivery system in the country.

He warned that if the suspect escaped, nobody
should blame NACOB because the board would use
meagre state resources to monitor him (the
suspect) as “he walks free on the streets of
Accra, a situation which he could take advantage
of to escape again.”

He said while the Judiciary upheld the 1992
Constitution and the rule of law, there was the
need to understand that the characters involved in
transnational organised crime, such as Chief Eke,
could undermine democracy, promote impunity of the
private sector against the public sector, engender
corruption both in the public and the private
sectors, as well as give cause for the rise of
fake and wrong role mod­els.

“For NACOB, the condition under which the
accused was granted bail was not the best, judging
from his past record of jumping bail.

Besides, we are aware that the wheel of justice is
a slow process, but no matter how slow it is,
justice is more likely to prevail than
injustice,” Mr Akrasi Sarpong noted.

However, lawyers for the suspects urged the court
to convict the NACOB boss for contempt.

In their affidavit in support of the motion for
contempt, they stated among other things that the
comments made and published in the Daily Graphic
edition of June 20, 2016 were prejudicial and
could affect justice delivery in the case.

It said it was necessary Mr. Sarpong is dragged
before the court to purge himself of the charge of
contempt.

Source - Starrfmonline.com

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