One of the Lawyers for the 2012 election petitioners, Lawyer Akoto Ampaw, has advised state institutions to always do due diligence before dragging individuals or institutions to court.
He gave the advice after successfully getting an Accra District court to throw out the case involving policy Think Tank, IMANI Ghana and the Social Security and National Insurance Trust (SSNIT).
The nation’s pension’s regulator in a lawsuit on January 17 dragged the Executive Director of IMANI Ghana, Franklin Cudjoe to court.
The action was borne out of claims that Franklin Cudjoe evaded the contributions of his staff to SSNIT.
But Lawyer Akoto Ampaw in opposition to SSNIT’s claim told the court presided by His Worship Charles Boateng that his client was dragged before the court for delays in submitting documents covering the payroll information of IMANI staff to SSNIT.
After presenting evidence of the case, he prayed the court to acquit and discharge Franklin Cudjoe for no crime committed.
The presiding Judge in his wisdom reasoned with Lawyer Akoto Ampaw and accordingly dismissed the case and in line acquitted and discharged Franklyn Cudjoe.
Lawyer Ampaw exclusively told Citi News he would not be surprised seeing SSNIT bouncing back in a Rambo style with new charges against his client.
“It is a vindication of our client, and we are very pleased with the court’s ruling on the matter, but knowing the background to this case, we will not be surprised if they come back at us again; because the prosecutor even attempted to do so in court as she tried to raise new charges and the judge rightly said that was not part of the earlier charges brought against our client.”
By the judgment, it meant that SSNIT can no longer bring the same allegation against IMANI in respect of submission of documents in any court in Ghana.
Other members of IMANI Ghana’s legal team include Lawyer Hassan Tampuli and Lawyer Kofi Bentil who is also vice President of IMANI Ghana.