SAINT-AYISI SAMUEL

Patricia Asiedua Asiamah, popularly known as Nana Agradaa, has been in the news after the ruling by an Accra Circuit Court, having found her guilty on multiple counts of charlatanic advertisement and defrauding by false pretence. The charges stemmed from a televised broadcast in 2022, during which Agradaa claimed to possess spiritual powers capable of doubling money. This piece is not meant to dissect the concept of defrauding by false pretence, but to place the public uproar on the scale of justice, to find the balance between the sentencing and the applicable laws in determining the harshness or otherwise of the sentencing. There is a long-established principle in Ghanaian jurisprudence that in the absence of mandatory minimum sentences prescribed by statute, the trial judge enjoys wide discretion in sentencing. In the case of Blay v. The Republic , although the appellant was convicted on a count of defrauding by false pretence, the sentencing was subject to review with some rel...

Diverse opinions have ensued pursuant to the arrest warrant issued by the Koforidua High Court after convicting the Member of Parliament for Akwatia, Hon. Ernest Kumi, for contempt of court. The legitimacy of his seat is not the topic in contention in this article. The focus is whether the arrest warrant issued by the court is unconstitutional? Well, this has been elaborated below. The Constitution, 1992 has significant implications on the arrest of Members of Parliament (MPs). According to Article 117 of the Constitution, 1992, civil or criminal processes from any court or place outside Parliament cannot be served on or executed in relation to the Speaker, a member, or the clerk to Parliament while they are on their way to, attending, or returning from any proceedings of Parliament. Furthermore, the Constitution also provides that civil or criminal proceedings cannot be instituted against an MP in any court or place outside Parliament for any matter or thing brought by them in o...

The Office of the Special Prosecutor (OSP), has declared former Finance Minister, Ken Ofori-Atta, a wanted fugitive in connection with multiple corruption-related investigations. This declaration has sparked significant legal debate, regarding the OSP's authority and the broader legal implications of such an action. On February 12, 2025, the OSP announced that Mr. Ofori-Atta was wanted for questioning in several high-profile cases, including: the Strategic Mobilization-GRA Contract, termination of the ECG-GXC Contract, payments related to the National Cathedral, and the Ambulance Procurement Contract. The OSP stated that Mr. Ofori-Atta had failed to honor multiple invitations for questioning and had left the country indefinitely, citing medical reasons. The OSP expressed skepticism regarding the authenticity of the medical documentation provided and declared him a fugitive from justice. Legal Implications The OSP's declaration has been met with criticism from various le...

Hakimi’s case, as others see it as an eye opener, have really revealed the intensions of both men and women as they have legally accepted to be together as husband and wife. However, the principle of “Till death do us apart”, is not fully considered as both parties may envisage divorce. This therefore draws the attention of both parties to secretly plan the aftermath of divorce. At this point, the concept of spousal property comes to play, who gets what after filing for divorce. Who gets what in divorce battles can be one of the most difficult decisions a judge will have to make. These proceedings tend to be acrimonious, as each spouse is bent on benefitting as much as possible from the property distribution to be made by the court. But the bases for such distributions have varied over the years. In the 1959 case of Quartey v. Martey [1959] GLR 377-383  the court stated that under customary law it is the duty of a man’s wife and children to assist him in the carrying out of the dut...

The Writer Economic activities around the World are almost grounded to a halt due to the Global pandemic, Coronavirus (COVID-19). To ensure the control of the virus in Ghana, the President of the Republic on March 30, 2020, under the Imposition of Restriction Act, 2020 restricted the movements of persons in the Greater Accra and the Greater Kumasi for a period of fourteen days subject to review. Prior to that, some countries around the world had instituted a lockdown, which resulted in most people not being able to go by their normal businesses as they ordinarily do.  This situation has affected business operations, and the likelihood that some contracts or agreements would be affected as a result of this pandemic is very high. All around the world, there are reports of workers being laid off because of this pandemic. The issue of undischarged contracts would be discussed with the common law doctrine of frustration. What is the Doctrine of Frustration A c...

Public procurement is the process by which governments and other publicly-funded entities acquire goods, works, and services needed to implement public projects. It accounts for at least 15% of the world’s gross domestic product (GDP), and even more in African countries. The Public Procurement Authority (PPA) is the institution mandated to ensure public procurement in the country. The PPA is established by the Public Procurement Act, 2003 (Act 663) as a regulatory body responsible for the effective implementation of the Public Procurement Law in Ghana. The Authority seeks to ensure fairness, transparency and non-discrimination in public procurement in order to promote a competitive local industry and increase the confidence of varied stakeholders in public procurement processes in the country and beyond. The Public Procurement Law, 2003 (Act 663) is a comprehensive legislation designed to eliminate the shortcomings and organizational weaknesses which were inherent in pub...

The Writer Examinations at the Ghana School of Law for the professional certificate have come under huge criticisms due to massive failures of students yearly. Some complain of questions out of the syllabus, other students also complain of unknown marking schemes set, to assess the students. There is a school of thought out there who argues that there is an attempt by the General Legal Counsel and the Chief Justice, to control the legal education system by their own will. A cursory look at the utterance of the Justice Sophia Akuffo, “If people want to do their own law practice, they can go on the internet. Members of the public can go on the internet and turn themselves into lawyers if they want to.” The Chief Justices utterance gave some section of the public a view that the massive failure of some law students is a deliberate attempt to limit the number of students who would be called to the bar. In a rebuttal to some of these claims, the General Legal Counsel (G...

The Writer The Pension Scheme of Ghana as in many African nations, started as far back 1950 in the colonial times. The legislation regulating the Pension Scheme at that time was the Pensions Ordinance Number 42 (Cap 30). The United Kingdoms retirement plan for the country's working class involved the set-up of a number of provident funds, which were subsequently transferred into a basic social security scheme in 1965. The growth of the pension sector necessitated greater control and monitoring. This led to the establishment of the Social Security and National Insurance Trust (SSNIT) in 1972, to administer the Social Security Scheme. It was later identified that the existing SSNIT pension was not providing adequate security for retirees. The phenomenon led to the then President to establish a commission to deal with the matter. The Presidential Commission on Pensions in 2004 was put into place to address these concerns, and its recommendations led to the passing of ...