The suspended chairman of the opposition New Patriotic Party (NPP), Paul Afoko, took his defiant posture to another level by appointing external lawyers to represent the party in a lawsuit in which the plaintiff was presumably serving his [Afoko’s] interest.
A party member, Oppong Kyekyeku, went to court to challenge the party’s procedures to suspend Mr. Afoko.
Mr Afoko subsequently appointed some lawyers to represent the NPP, a duty that is solely performed by the party’s Constitutional and Legal Committee.
The case was however thrown out by a High Court Judge on Wednesday, after the party’s newly appointed lawyers who took over the case, argued that the plaintiff had not exhausted internal party structures to address his grievances.
Mr. Paul Afoko, who still insists he is the chairman of the party, has in several instances issued statements and signed documents on party letterheads.
Applauding the decision of the Court, the Chairman of the NPP’s Council of Elders, C.K. Tedam, questioned why Mr. Afoko will go behind the party to appoint a lawyer in a case in which the plaintiff was serving his [Afoko’s] interest.
Below are excerpts of C.K. Tedam’s statement
Firstly, why will Mr. Afoko force to appoint lawyers for the NPP when the Constitutional and Legal Committee has done so since 1992 when the party was formed?
Secondly, why will Afoko force to appoint such lawyers when the suit has been filed by someone who stated plainly that he had filed the suit solely to protect the interest of Mr. Afoko?
Thirdly, the world should know that the lawyers appointed by Mr. Afoko (S.K. Boafo & Co.) only filed an appearance and at the material time failed to file an Affidavit in opposition to the Plaintiff’s Application for Injunction which was fixed to be heard on 27 October 2015.
This was unprofessional, collusive strategy to allow an injunction to be obtained against a reputable party like the NPP in an unmeritorious suit and manner. The counter-instructions given by Prof. Oquaye and effected by Lawyer Dame saved the day. This is a very serious development.
Fourthly, why should Mr. Afoko force his way to intervene in the case when he knows clearly he has been suspended by the unanimous decision of the National Executive Committee (NEC) of the NPP?
C.K. Tedam added that although the NPP’s Constitutional and Legal Committee appointed Mr. Godfred Dame to represent them, “incidentally…the Law Office of Mr. S.K Boafo appointed lawyers for the NPP from Kumasi on the written authority of Mr. Paul Afoko.”
Source: citifmonline
