Sir John, Adorye's Day In Court

He is perhaps the only �Sir� in Ghanaian politics and was celebrated widely by his supporters when he won the General Secretary position of Ghana�s largest opposition party, the New Patriotic Party (NPP), three years ago. This time, he is in a different situation. He has been summoned by none other than the highest court of the land for allegedly making contemptuous comments against the court. He was present in court when his nickname was first mentioned on July 8, 2013 as having been quoted by a private newspaper for allegedly scandalising the Supreme Court. The matter was stood down on that day to enable the court to listen to the tape recording of Sir John�s alleged contemptuous statement and advice itself accordingly. Subsequently, the Supreme Court, on August 9, 2013, issued summons directing Mr Kwadwo Owusu-Afriyie to appear before it today and demonstrate why he should not be imprisoned for contempt of court. He is to face the nine-member panel, presided over by Justice William Atuguba. Other members of the panel are Justice Julius Ansah, Justice Sophia Adinyira, Justice Rose Constance Owusu, Justice Jones Dotse, Justice Anin Yeboah, Justice Paul Baffoe-Bonnie, Justice N. S. Gbadegbe and Justice Vida Akoto-Bamfo. In the same boat with Sir John is a member of the NPP Communications team, Hopeson Adorye, who has also been summoned to appear before the same court to purge himself of contemptuous comments he allegedly made against the Bench. The summons, jointly signed by Justice Atuguba and the Registrar of the Supreme Court, James Mensah, is asking the two to show why they �should not be committed to prison for contempt of this court, for scandalising the court, lowering the authority and credibility of this court in the eyes of the general public and exciting hatred and ill-will towards the first and second respondents herein�. The first and second respondents in the presidential election petition are President John Dramani Mahama and the Electoral Commission (EC). Sir John, a lawyer, is alleged to have accused the Bench of being biased while Adorye is alleged to have stated that the heads of members of the National Democratic Congress (NDC) would be chopped off if President Mahama, whose presidency is under challenge, was declared the winner of the presidential petition.