Before proceeding with the case, the High Court in Accra said it is awaiting the Court of Appeals’ ruling in the case involving investigative journalist Anas Aremeyaw Anas and former Ghana Football Association (GFA) President Kwesi Nyantakyi.
The first witness must appear before the court by April 30, 2024, failing which the accused will be released from custody and the case would be dismissed.
“If by April, no meaningful steps have been taken, Nyantakyi will be discharged,” the court declared in February.
In light of this, the accused’s attorney asked the court to dismiss the case, reminding it of its previous ruling to do so in the event that the prosecution does not appear in court on April 30, 2024.
The basis for the case to “come to an end at a point in time” was cited by him, who pointed to the inconveniences caused by the first accused (Kwesi Nyantakyi) by the state not opening their case, and the second accused (Abdulai Alhassan), who must travel from Tamale to Accra whenever the case is called.
However, the court announced that it had obtained two letters, both dated April 26, 2024, written by the state’s substantive attorney, requesting an adjournment because the attorney had been called up for “an official assignment.”
In one of the letters, the attorney requested a postponement until May 15, and in the other, until May 22, 2024.
The court did state that it was hesitant to deny the accused’s request for a discharge at the most recent adjourned date because of the two ongoing interlocutory appeals by both parties, particularly by the first accused on May 17, 2023, against the testimony of the first witness.
The registrar of the state’s court of appeals notified the court that the appeal was still pending.
The court stated that the prosecution’s error in the case title (correcting the first accused person’s misspelled name), for which the order was issued, and some logistical issues were partially to blame for the appeal’s delay.
Four other witnesses, who have not been called to testify despite the court’s repeated orders to do so, had their witness statements struck out while they awaited the Court of Appeal’s decision on Anas’ style of testifying.
The case was postponed by the court until June 10, 2024, in light of these facts.
Context
Kwesi Nyantakyi, the former head of the GFA, is accused of corruption and fraud by agent due to his participation in Anas Aremeyaw Anas’s “#Number 12 exposé.”
Further accusations of conspiracy to commit fraud are being brought against Mr. Nyantakyi and the second accused, Abdulai Alhassan, the former head of the Northern Regional GFA.
