Retired Justice of the Supreme Court, Francis Yaonasu Kpegah has called on the 2012 flagbearer of the New Patriotic Party (NPP) to enter appearance and file a defence to claim of impersonation he [Kpegah] has brought against him in court.
Justice Kpegah also asked Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo to “desist from using his paid agents and assigns to vilify me in the media”.
Below is a full statement he issued
FROM JUSTICE: FRANCIS YAONASU KPEGAH TO: ALL MEDIA HOUSES
I hope and pray that NANA ADDO DANKWA AKUFO-ADDO in the spirit of respect for the rule of law which the legal fraternity holds dear to our hearts enters appearance to the suit I have filed against him at the Fast Track Division of the High Court and not claim he has not been served with the writ of summons and statement of claim.
As a former Attorney General and leader of the Ghana Bar, he should have respect for the sanctity of our courts and repose trust in the Ghanaian legal system. He should stop using his paid agents and serial callers to defend him and castigate me in unprintable language on the air waves. I have always trusted in the judicial system and will have my day in court. The battle to defend himself should be in a court of law and not the air waves.
1 am a former Supreme Court Judge, who had to struggle in life to achieve that feat. My judgments in high profile cases are ample testament and there for all to see. I am convinced beyond a scintilla of doubt that posterity will surely judge me in that light. 1 did not have life the easy way and that is why humility and respect for humanity have always been important to me.
Let me make the point that I am not doing the bidding of any person or group of persons as is being represented by the henchmen and paid assigns of NANA ADDO DANKWA AKUFO- ADDO. 1 have been described by one Kwame Akuffo who is a known close ally of NANA ADDO DANKWA AKUFO-ADDO as a ‘senile old man’. I am not surprised by utterances from young men like that since that has been their stock in trade.
Why rain insults on me because I have sued your pal and mentor. The young man in question I am reliably informed and verily believe same to be true trained under NANA ADDO DANKWA AKUFO – ADDOos a lawyer in his Chambers. 1 can understand the discomfort and apprehension of people like him since one of the reliefs I am seeking from the honourable court is:
•A declaration that the LAW FIRM established as AKUFO-ADDO, PREMPEH AND CO.at 67 KOJO THOMPSON ROAD, Adabraka, Accra is an ILLEGAL LAW FIRM and therefore not competent to represent any party in litigation before any court in Ghana’. If the honourable court grants this relief, the implication would be that persons such as Kwame Akufo would be deemed not to have done their pupillage which is a non-negotiable requirement by the General Legal Council. All persons therefore who after training under NANA ADDO DANKWA AKUFO ADDO established their own law firms and purported to take on pupils would also be in serious trouble.
I am reliably informed and verily believe same to be true that the said Kwame Akufo accused me of being guilty of a criminal offence by using the stamp which bear my title as a Justice of the Supreme Court on the statement of claim before signing same. He however, failed to name the offence there off. I am convinced that his knowledge of the law and common sense is in serious doubt. I will use this limited opportunity to educate him. Legal practice goes way beyond wearing expensive suits and jewellery. It entails hard work, sacrifice and denying oneself of most if not all the ordinary pleasures of life.
Per my statement of claim I pleaded a material fact that 1 am a retired Justice of the Supreme Court. Let me also state unequivocally that the title of a retired justice of the Supreme Court in Ghana remains with him until death. There is no serious lawyer who does a bit of reading who would be oblivious of this fundamental fact. That is why 1 am still referred to as JUSTICE FRANCIS YAONASU KPEGAH and not FORMER JUSTICE FRANCIS YAONASU KPEGAH.
My advice to him is that if there are any extra curricula activities taking his mind away from learning the law he should abandon same and get back on track. In the words of the inimitable Oliver Wendell Holmes ‘the life of the law has not been logic, it has been experienced’. The experiential value of learning the law is sacred. He must devote time and energy to learning the law rather than doing social commentary on radio. If an ‘senile old man’ as Kwame Akufo has described me has a better appreciation and grasp of the law than him then one wonders what he is.
Some lawyers have virtually become ‘radio lawyers’ spewing nonsense in the name of legal commentary which is an affront to the ethics of the bar. It is an elementary fact in legal circles that it is only when a party to a suit knows he has no defence and or a weak defence that they resort to speaking of peripheral issues such as the use of a stamp as alluded to by Kwame Akufo to the complete neglect of the substantive matter which is that NANA ADDO DANKWA AKUFO -ADDO stole the identity and is impersonating one WAD Akufo-Addo who was called to the Ghana Bar and is No. 1190 on the ROLL OF LAYERS IN GHANA who may have been murdered in London or Ghana . For the sake of himself, his party and the reputation of his late father I am calling on NANA ADDO DANKWA AKUFO ADDO to sit down and pray to God for guidance and do a self-introspection of himself. He should forthwith enter appearance and file a defence to my claim in court and desist from using his paid agents and assigns to vilify me in the media.
This case is a very serious one and it should be treated as such. I have nothing personal against the person of NANA ADDO DANKWA AKUFO ADDO. My interest is that the right thing must be done at all times. Let me state that the infantile attempt by NANA ADDO DANKWA AKUFO ADDO, his paid assigns and agents to use one Nelson Coffiea so called veteran lawyer who wrote an article in the Statesman Newspaper (a pro New Patriotic party Paper with strong ties to NANA ADDO DANKWA AKUFO- ADDO) appealing to me to drop the case against NANA ADDO DANKWA AKUFO ADDO will not wash with me.
This childish act only indicates to me that my writ is hitting NANA ADDO DANKWA AKUFO ADDO hard because he knows and 1 know that he was never called to the Ghana Bar. He should stop pretending he has not been served with the writ of summons and statement of claim. He should come out of his rat hole and defend himself in court and not on the air waves.
MEDIA RED ALERT 1 will be securing an order from the courts directed at the Coroner of Accra to exhume the mortal remains of the dead body that was found under very mysterious and inexplicable circumstances in the Law Chambers of NANA ADDO DANKWA AKUFO-ADDO and buried under even more mysterious circumstances. The case must be revisited for all Ghanaians to know what really happened to the victim whose right to life as guaranteed by the 1992 constitution was truncated. Those who aspire to rule this Country must come just as in the Law of equity ‘with clean hands’.
I am going to pursue my suit against NANA ADDO DANKWA AKUFO -ADDO to its logical conclusion. I consider this action as purely a public interest one and no amount of name calling, castigation on the air waves by paid agents and assigns of NANA ADDO DANKWA AKUFO -ADDO or the death threats directed at me and my family will make me renege on my decision to ensure that justice is done. 1 am challenging NANA ADDO DANKWA AKUFO -ADDO to contest the case against him in a court of competent jurisdiction and stop this cheap and vile propaganda on the media.
NO MEDIA HOUSE SHOULD CALL ME FOR COMMENT. As a retired Supreme Court Judge I believe in the Courts and will always preserve and protect their sanctity. I shall have my day in court. I promise all Ghanaians a THRILLER IN MANILA which will be replicated right here in Ghana. There will be an UNPRECEDENTED STORM. Yours in the service of our dear country:
Source: FRANCIS YAONASU KPEGAH
