The Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of McDan Group of Companies, Daniel McKorley, has been found guilty of contempt by an Accra High Court, presided over by Justice Kweku T. Akaah-Boafo and sentenced to a fine of GH¢40,000.00.
The Court, presided over by a justice of Court of Appeal, Kweku T. Akaah-Boafo, on contempt of court application, filed by Al-Hassan Iddisah.
Handing Mr McKorley’s sentence to him on Monday, February 27, 2023 after one Al-Hassan Iddisah had brought the contempt action against him, the court said it wanted to disabuse the minds of the public on the popular belief that the rich and affluent can apologise when they come into conflict with the law.
Justice Akaah-Boafo stated: In imposing the sentence, I wish to disabuse the popular imaginary notion that the rich and influential people in our society, together with public officials, can disregard the rule of law and then when the wheels of justice catch up with them, they proffer an apology.
For that matter, in this case, my initial inclination was that a fine will amount to a mere slap on the wrist of the Respondent and that incarceration is appropriate.
However, having heard from both Counsel and considered the passionate plea for leniency by learned Counsel for the Respondent, and also taking into consideration the fact that this is the Respondent’s first brush with the law, I am of the opinion that the imposition of a fine is appropriate.
Consequently the Court imposes a fine of GH¢40,000.00 against Respondent; in default he shall serve 21 days in jail.
The fine, when paid, GH¢15,000 out of the total of GH¢40,000 shall be paid out to the Applicant to help him offset part of his legal costs. No further Order as to Cost.”
According to the court, its decision indicated that the Respondent (McKorley) had been found guilty and that Contempt of Court transcends the dispute between him and the Applicant, because this finding has nothing to do with the ownership of the land in dispute.
It explained that this finding is one that strikes at the very heart of the administration of justice because as was held many years ago, “Contempt of Court” is well known in the vocabulary of the law.
His Lordship added that it is also well known that it is not a phrase to be taken literally in any sense of being concerned with protection of the personal dignity of the Judge, but rather a sanction to serve the administration of justice in the public interest that the law is no respecter of persons and their status in the society.
The contempt application was in a relation to a land situated at East Legon, which the court gave an order restraining the respondent, interested party, agent or anybody claiming through him from interfering with the applicant possession.
This order also follows the High Court quashing of a ruling by the District Court in respect of that land in question on July 30, 2019.
The full court ruling will be published tomorrow.
Meanwhile a Ghana News Agency report filed by Morkporkpor Anku indicated that On May 20, 2022 the Applicant, Al-Hassan Iddisah filed a contempt application to vindicate the law and its sanctions after the respondent forcibly took over the land in dispute.
He accused the Respondent, Dr McKorley, of breaking the law by willfully disrespecting an order of the High Court and thereby bringing the administration of justice into disrepute.
According to the Applicant, his late wife and mother owned two contiguous plots of land at East Legon, Accra and have been in possession of the land since 2002 until the Respondent forcibly took over from them.
According to the Applicant, even though the Respondent knows the interest of his family, contrary to the Rules of Court, he invoked the jurisdiction of the District Court, Madina by an ex-parte motion to have possession of the lands.
The application, the applicant said, was granted and with the assistance of the Police, he (Respondent) took possession of the land.
The Applicant said he filed an Application for Certiorari to quash the order of the Madina District Court on grounds of “want of jurisdiction, and/or excess of jurisdiction, violation of the rules of natural justice and nullity” and same was granted by the High Court on June 9, 2020.
The Applicant deposed that “the record of proceedings Exhibit “A” showed that the Respondent was represented by his lawyer who was in Court on June 9, 2020.
The Applicant further deposed that, notwithstanding the ruling of the Court, the Respondent remained in possession of the land and “is contumaciously developing the land.”
The Applicant further argued that “a penal notice and a copy of the ruling was filed for service on the Respondent but all attempts at personal service having failed, an order was obtained to serve him by substituted service with a copy of the ruling/order of 9th June 2020 and the penal notice as well as the day’s courts notes in the following manner:
“By posting copies on the Notice Board of the Honourable Court, …. on the wall on the land, the subject matter of the suit and resultant application for certiorari and by posting a copy at the offices of McDan Group, Okponglo-East, Legon, Off the Madina, Accra Highwayand one-time publication in a National Daily” and “a copy of the Order has been attached as Exhibit “B,” he said.
The further deposition of the Applicant was that he complied with the order made by the Court and posted copies at all the places ordered to be posted and published a copy in the Ghanaian Times Newspaper of Thursday, March 24, 2022.
A copy of the publication was attached as Exhibit “C’.
The Applicant contended that despite the service of the order and the penal notice, the Respondent continued to build on the land in flagrant disregard of the order of the Court.
He tendered in photographs embossed with dates showing workers alleged to be on the land after the service of the order of the Court, contending that Respondent’s continuation of the construction “is a contumacious disrespect of the orders of the Court and constitute contempt of Court which must be punished.”
He, therefore, prayed the Court to convict him and punish him since the Respondent had no excuse to say he was not aware of the order because his lawyer was in Court when the order was made.
In a 16-paragraph affidavit in opposition to the application, the Respondent argued that he had not done anything wrong that required him to be punished.
He argued that, “I acquired a parcel of land situated at Mpehuasem from one Yaw Adomako Koduah sometime in the year 2016 and had (sic) since been issued with a Land Certificate numbered GA53817. See Exhibit “A.”
He said upon the said acquisition he obtained an order from the Madina Magistrate Court to take possession of the land.
He argued that he then started developing the land into apartments to be sold to prospective purchasers and subsequently the order obtained from the Madina Magistrate Court was quashed by this Court on June 9, 2020.
He contended that the decision of the Court was not brought to “my attention in goodtime” and that sometime in March 2022, “it’s almost two years after the said ruling that my attention was drawn to the decision by my workers who saw copies posted on the walls of McDan Group of Companies building at East Legon.”
According to him, at the time the decision was brought to his attention, he had already “finished construction of the apartments and even sold them.”
He also deposed that the Applicant has issued a fresh writ of summons against him and his grantor at the Land Division of the High Court for declaration of title to the land and served him by substituted service.
According to him, “by the time both the Writ of Summons and the application for committal for contempt were served on me I had already finished with the construction of the apartments.”
He said “it is not true that I have disobeyed the Court’s Order. The fact is that the said Order was not served on me or brought to my attention in good time.”
He, therefore, prayed the Court to dismiss the application.
Source: GNA
