A former deputy attorney general Dr Dominic Ayine has prayed Justices of the Supreme Court to forgive him for going overboard in a media interview on their ruling in the Election 2020 petition hearing.
The apex court on Monday 22 February started contempt process against the member of the legal team of John Mahama for alleging that the petition has been predetermined after the court refused to allow Mahama to reopen his case.
However, appearing in the dock on Monday, Dr Ayine said he is “deeply remorseful for causing harm to the court and also to his profession. Having written a formal apology to the court before the case was called, the apex court asked him to go back to the media to retract and apologise.
“We don’t want anything from him, he should just go back to the media and retract the statement that he made,” the Chief Justice said on behalf of the bench during the contempt hearing Monday.
“I have looked at what I said that day and I have come to the conclusion that I went overboard. I crossed the lines with respect to the remarks that I made in terms of attributing impropriety to the Supreme Court of the Republic of Ghana.
“This morning, I delivered a letter to His Lordship the Chief Justice, offering an unqualified apology to the court,” Dr Ayine told the media after the case.
Dr Ayine in his post-hearing address to the press on Tuesday, February 16, 2021 said petitioner’s team had made it clear in the petition that there were a number of infractions contrary to what he says are attempts by the Court to limit the petition to a single issue petition.
“We are contesting even the constitutionality of the declaration that was made. We are saying that she violated article 23 of the Constitution because she’s an administrative body. We have also said her exercise of discretion was contrary to article 296 of the Constitution”.
“These are all germane issues under the Constitution and laws of Ghana and to reduce the petition into a single-issue petition, is rather unfortunate and smacks of a predetermined agenda to rule against the petitioner in this matter,” the former Deputy Attorney General lamented.
Source: Daily Mail GH
Email Daily Mail GH: stories@dailymailgh.com or
Whatsapp: +233(0)509928122
