14 Madina market traders charged with contempt freed

The Adentan High Court, presided over by Justice Fred Kwasi Awuah, has acquitted and discharged 14 traders of contempt charges.

The charge was brought against them in Republic vs Aboloway, Naa, Carpet Boys, Gifty, Daniel, Kasimu, Solo, Last Hour, Akpala, Yayar, Eazi, Opro, Abena Bankye and Akua (Tomatoes).

The said contempt application was brought by one Nana Adu, owner of Nikkies Restaurant at Madina Zongo junction with a claim that the frontage of his house is being occupied by the market women.

However, the market women argued that they did not occupy the land of Mr Adu and explained that they have been put in occupation by the La Nkwatanang Municipal Assembly and they pay their taxes to them.

The lawyer for the applicant, Vincent Arkins, argued in his affidavit that they had filed an action against the La Nkwatanang Municipal Assembly, and also filed an application for an order for eviction, hence their continuous occupation of the disputed area amounts to a disregard of the court order.

The lawyer for the respondent, a renowned human rights lawyer, who is also the Member of Parliament (MP) for Madina, Francis-Xavier Sosu, together with lawyer Elizabeth Owusua and Belinda Narkey Quanor argued that the application is unmeritorious.

He raised preliminary legal objection and the proprietary of the action.

Lawyers for the respondents further argued that their clients are law-abiding citizens who are incapable of undermining the authority of the court.

The court on Friday, July 2021, held that the 14 traders had not willfully disobeyed the others of the court on grounds that the exhibits attached to the application did not show that the traders brought before the court were the people in the picture.

Mr Sosu and his team of lawyers had also argued that, from the applicant, it was also not clear whether there was any substantive order of a court, served on the traders and that the said non-existence of such order makes the contempt application unmeritorious.

The traders were full of excitement and thanked their MP for coming to their aid.