[ 2016-11-30 ]

Court of Appeal erred in Tsikata case: Prof Asare
The Court of Appeal did not have jurisdiction to
hear an appeal case brought before it by Tsatsu
Tsikata, a former Chief Executive Officer of the
Ghana National Petroleum Corporation (GNPC),
against his incarceration for causing financial
loss to the state to the tune of GHS 230,000,
Kweku Asare, a US-based Ghanaian professor, has
said.

According to him, Mr Tsikata accepted a
presidential pardon granted him by the then
president of Ghana, John Agyekum Kufuor, after his
incarceration by an Accra Fast Track High Court in
2008.

Prof Asare believes that the acceptance of the
pardon by Mr Tsikata meant he admitted his errors,
for which reason there should not have been an
appeal against his incarceration.

On Wednesday November 30, the Court of Appeal
cleared Mr Tsikata of any offence in the matter.
According to the Court of Appeal, there was a
miscarriage of justice when the High Court on June
18, 2008, found him guilty on three counts of
wilfully causing financial loss to the state and
also for misapplying public property in relation
to a loan that the GNPC guaranteed for Valley
Farms, a private cocoa-growing company.

But Prof Asare wrote on his Facebook page:
“Although the Court of Appeal's ruling in the
Tsatsu Tsikata case has no practical significance,
it will or should excite the minds of students of
the law. At issue is the effect of accepting a
pardon on a convict's right to appeal.”

He added: “The common law is settled that a
convict who accepts a pardon waives any right of
appeal with respect to that conviction. The
underlying theory is that accepting a pardon
carries with it an implied admission of guilt and
closes the chapter on the case. In effect, a
convict who wants to preserve his right to appeal
should reject a pardon.

"Having accepted a presidential pardon, my learned
friend had no standing to appeal his conviction
and the court had no jurisdiction to hear a matter
for which the appellant had been forgiven for
confessing his sin. Subsequent to his pardon-based
release, my learned friend has publicly declared
that he has rejected the pardon. That, of course,
is brutum fulmen. It is analogous to wearing a
cross around the neck while pocketing a talisman.
In my mind, the court erred by allowing Tsatsu, my
learned brother, to have his cake and eat it.”

Source - Classfmonline

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