Freed General Secretary of the New Patriotic Party (NPP) Lawyer Owusu Afriyie is not an alien in the political terrain in Ghana and plays a vital role in the petitioners’ interest to seek clarification from the Supreme Court in the outcome of the 2012 Presidential Election.
But although the name ‘Sir John’ might ring a bell in even the ears of some apolitical personalities, President of the nine-member Supreme Court panel hearing the election petition case, William Atuguba, openly admitted on Wednesday that indeed he has never sight eyes on him (Sir John), despite him being a lawyer.
The first face-to-face meeting between the two can best be watched rather than described; Justice Atuguba sitting among his colleague justices high up on the bench, and Sir John in a sheepish demeanour with his hands behind his back like an obedient child facing the fury of his father.
The Supreme Court summoned the NPP’s Chief Scribe, and another communications team member, Hopeson Adorye for comments they both made on radio which the court believed was contemptuous.
Reading out the mitigated sentence in court on August 14, 2013, Justice William Atuguba publicly stated that, though Sir John as known in political circles has been witnessing the petition proceedings, personally he is not known to him.
“I understand he has been coming to court everyday but this is the first time I have seen this man (Sir John) here (Court) personally, but they say he has been coming here. The day we indicated to summon him, he (Sir John) was on the airwaves saying there was no reference to him and that the Sir John they (Judges) are referring to is not him,” he stated.