The General Jurisdiction Division of the High Court in Accra, presided over by Her Ladyship Justice Halimah El-Alawa Abdul-Bassit, has struck out an application filed by Counsel for Alhaji Seidu Abagre, also known as Naa Sheriga Kulga II.
The application was struck out as withdrawn on Monday, January 26, 2026 following the decision of lead Counsel, Mr. Martin Kpebu, to discontinue the process after reviewing a report filed by the Attorney-General’s Department.
Alhaji Seidu Abagre, a 79-year-old retired teacher, is standing trial over charges of acting as a chief without qualification, provocation of riot, offensive conduct conducive to breaches of the peace, fighting with weapons and provoking persons to fight with deadly weapons.
He has pleaded not guilty to all the charges.
At the sitting, Mr. Mohamed, holding brief for Mr. Kpebu, informed the court that at the previous adjourned date, the court had ordered the Attorney-General to file a report in respect of a habeas corpus application.
Counsel said although they had learned that the Attorney-General had complied, they had not been served with the report.
Responding, the Deputy Attorney-General, Dr. Justice Srem-Sai, confirmed that the report had indeed been filed earlier that morning and indicated his readiness to share a copy with the defence. The court acknowledged that its attention had just been drawn to the report.
Mr Martin Kpebu subsequently prayed for the matter to be stood down for 30 minutes, to enable the defence to study the report, a request to which the Deputy Attorney-General raised no objection. The court accordingly stood the case down.
When the case was recalled, Mr. Martin Kpebu told the court that upon reviewing the report, the defence had identified what it described as inaccuracies and sought leave to file an affidavit to controvert those portions.
He argued that putting the defence’s position on record would complete the process, leaving issues of admissibility to be determined by the court at the appropriate time.
However, the Deputy Attorney-General drew the court’s attention to a notice of preliminary objection filed earlier in the day, arguing that there was a misalignment in the procedure adopted by the applicant.
Justice Abdul-Bassit questioned the need to prolong the matter, observing that the parties’ energies and resources might better be directed toward the substantive case.
In outlining the defence’s objections, Mr. Martin Kpebu disputed statements in the Attorney-General’s report, which claimed that the Supreme Court had declared Abugrago Azoka II as the rightful chief and overlord of Bawku.
He said the Supreme Court had not determined the merits of the chieftaincy dispute, but had only granted a withdrawal of the case without liberty to reapply.
He further challenged a claim in the report that the applicant’s actions in Bawku had provoked riots leading to the deaths of at least 134 persons, stating that Alhaji Abagre had not been charged with causing such deaths.
Counsel also argued that references to PNDC Law 7 in the report were erroneous, as the law had been repealed by the Statute Law Revision Act, 1996 (Act 516).
The Deputy Attorney-General described the objections as opinions on facts and urged the court to treat them as such.
Following the exchanges, Mr. Martin Kpebu informed the court that, in the circumstances, he was withdrawing the application.
Justice Abdul-Bassit subsequently ruled that the application was struck out as withdrawn.
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