A businessman believed to be a member of the ruling New Patriotic Party (NPP), Nana Yaw Ntim, has been arraigned before a Kaneshie District Court for allegedly insulting the Member of Parliament (MP) for Tema West Constituency, Carlos Kingsley Ahenkorang with words such as He is a real fool, not little fool.
Mr. Ntim, who is also a constituent of the MP, was said to have verbally attacked Carlos Ahenkorang on two NPP WhatApp platforms – “Vibrant 2024 NPP and Speak Your Mind NPP.”
As a result, the accused was charged with offensive conduct, but pleaded not guilty to the count.
Counsel for the accused pleaded with the court to grants his client bail, and also afford the disputed parties the opportunity for an out of court settlement, since the case was a party matter that could be settled internally.
The counsel reiterated that the court should refer the matter for an Alternative Dispute Resolution (ADR), as the NPP had already established party structures within that could resolve the matter without wasting the time of the court.
According to the counsel, the case before it was not worth public resources, and also the MP must be at Parliament at all material time helping government business, therefore, must be referred and whatever outcome should be reported to the court.
The case attracted heavy police presence at the court yesterday.
The court, presided over by Ama Adumako-Kwakyi, yesterday granted the accused bail in the sum of GH¢10,000 with two sureties, and further advised the complainant to seek an out of court settlement with the Alternative Dispute Resolution.
However, the prosecution, after conferring with the complainant, told the court the latter preferred to pursue the case legally through the court.
The court, therefore, has adjourned the case to April 25, 2022 for continuation.
Facts of the case
According to the facts presented by the prosecution, the complainant is an MP, while the accused, Nana Yaw Ntim, is a businessman residing at Dwahenya near Tema, and also a member of the New Patriotic Party in the same constituency.
The prosecution team said on February3, this year, Mr. Ahenkorang petitioned the Director of the Criminal Investigation Department (CID) against Mr. Ntim for consistently raining insults on him on the party’s WhatApp platforms, namely, Vibrant 2024 NPP and Speak Your Mind NPP, without any provocation.
The prosecution said as part of the complaint made to the CID, the complainant also submitted a pen drive containing an alleged voice recording of the accused person as evidence.
The prosecution said in the said recording, the accused was heard uttering abusive words such as “Carlos is nobody; He is a fool; stupid Carlos and; He is a real fool, not little fool,” among other unprintable words.
According to the prosecution, the audio recordings had been forwarded to the Ghana Institute of Languages for translation and transcription.
The court was told that the accused was arrested on January 2, this year, for investigation and subsequently, admitted to some of the voice recordings and claimed that other were allegedly doctored.
