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An Accra Fast Track High Court presided over by Justice Kwame Asiedu will on July 27, 2012 determine whether the 90-day suspension of Kofi Adams, the deputy general secretary of the National Democratic Congress(NDC), was lawful and in accordance with the party constitution. The court will also decide whether or not to declare the action by the party executives null and void and to restrain the party from taking any further disciplinary moves against Adams. This was after Stanley Ahorlu, counsel for Adams, filed an application for summary judgment on grounds that the NDC party had not been able to raise any single issue for trial in the case in which the deputy general secretary had taken the party executives to court over his alleged unlawful suspension. He said Adams, the applicant, was not given any hearing before the National Executive Committee of the party decided to suspend him and noted that this contravened the NDC constitution. According to him, the party constitution said before a member was suspended, the party had to write a petition to that member but said that was not done by the party executives who rather relied on oral evidence to suspend the applicant. Mr. Ahorlu said the party failed to practice the audi alterem Patem Rule which talked about the need for one to be heard before he was condemned and which talked about impartiality and fairness in hearing a matter. Counsel for Adams said the party already found the applicant guilty before he had any opportunity to tell his side of the story and prayed the court to grant his application. Samuel Cudjoe, counsel for the NDC, in response said the application was misconceived and an abuse of the process. He said the party had a recording of the voice of Kofi Adams which was given to the party executives as evidence and noted it was not oral evidence that was used in arriving at a decision to suspend the applicant. Counsel for the NDC noted that the issues they had raised in the course of the trial were ones that could be tried and prayed the court to dismiss the application, which he said was premature. The case has been adjourned to July 27, 2012. The usual reconciliatory tone of counsel of Samuel Cudjoe towards Kofi Adams at the last hearing was missing as he seemed ready for the legal battle with Adams over his alleged unlawful suspension from the NDC by the party executives. When the case was called, Mr. Cudjoe opposed a prayer by Stanley Ahorlu to stay the matter for him to properly withdraw an appeal against the decision of the court to order the parties to settle the matter out of court. Counsel for the NDC stated that under Rule 27, an appeal did not operate as an automatic stay and said he was ready for the matter to go on. However, the trial judge said the case could be adjourned once the appeal was not properly withdrawn from the Court of Appeal. Counsel for the NDC afterwards asked for costs to be awarded against Adams, to which the judge said if he wanted the court to pay costs then he was ready to award costs against his own court, otherwise any prayer of costs against the deputy general secretary would not be granted. Kofi Adams returned to the Accra Fast Track High Court hearing the matter a few weeks ago and told court that efforts to have the matter resolved as directed by the court were unsuccessful. Mr. Adams is contesting his suspension and has asked the court to declare it null and void. Mr Adams was suspended after the National Executive Committee (NEC) of the NDC said a male voice on an audio recording believed to be his was heard allegedly saying he was planning to ensure that President Atta Mills does not win the 2012 elections.