Private legal practitioner Bobby Banson has urged Ernest Kumi, the Member of Parliament for Akwatia, to voluntarily appear before the court to avoid further embarrassment following the issuance of a bench warrant for his arrest.

The warrant was issued after Kumi failed to comply with an interim injunction barring him from being sworn in as a legislator.

“As it stands now, I think that going forward at least on the next day to avoid further embarrassment because once the bench warrant has been issued it must be executed and so to avoid all of that he can just voluntarily appear before the court with his counsel and give his evidence of the processes that have been filed,” Banson stated on The Big Issue on Channel One TV on Saturday 22, 2025.

He emphasised that the conviction is already on the record and has not been set aside, with only the sentencing remaining.

Banson suggested that if Kumi appears before the court with the necessary documents, the judge may consider adjourning the sentencing until all applications have been filed.

“I want to think that the judge, if he is minded seeing the processes that have been filed because the conviction is already on the record, it has not been set aside yet what is left with is the sentencing.

“So if the judge will deal with the documents that are before him I want to expect that they will adjourn the sentencing till all the other applications have been filed,” Banson explained.

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The Accra Sports Stadium will host Ghana’s 2026 FIFA World Cup Qualifier against Chad.

The fixture, a matchday five encounter, is scheduled for March 17, 2025.

Sources have told JoySports that the Ghana Football Association decided against submitting another facility to be considered by the Confederation of African Football (CAF) for inspection.

The stadium last hosted Ghana’s 2-1 loss to Niger in a 2025 Africa Cup of Nations Qualifier, in November last year.

Since then, the Accra Sports Stadium has been closed down, as the National Sports Authority engaged Green Grass Technology to begin pitch maintenance.

Three months later, the pitch is in an improved condition.

Although CAF inspectors have not physically been to Accra, they have shared correspondence with the Ghana Football Association and the Ministry of Sports and Recreation.

After years of playing second fiddle to the Baba Yara Sports Stadium as the Black Stars preferred home venue, the Accra Sports Stadium is back as the nation’s home venue after CAF rejected the stadium in Kumasi.

In September 2024, CAF withdrew it’s approval of the Baba Yara Sports Stadium due to “technical infractions including an unsuitable playing field”.CAF said it arrived at the decision after several warnings for non-compliance.

When CAF announced the decision, the National Sports Authority (NSA) re-engaged Green Grass Technology to maintain the Accra Sports Stadium.

Within a month, the company was able to restore the deteriorated pitch, while the NSA fixed the other facilties before it was subsequently approved for Ghana’s penultimate home game against Sudan.

Before CAF withdrew it’s approval for the Stadium in Kumasi, the continents governing body had already announced a similar decision on the Cape Coast Stadium, in March 2022.

That leaves Accra Sports Stadium, the only approved venue for CAF and FIFA Category A Matches, as the venue for next month’s fixture.

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