Court rejects Mustapha Abdul-Hamid lawyer’s request for long adjournment

The trial of former National Petroleum Authority Chief Executive Officer Mustapha Abdul-Hamid and seven others will return to court immediately after the Accra High Court refused a request by the defence for a longer break.

Lead counsel for Dr Abdul-Hamid, Joseph Kpemka, had asked the court to adjourn the case for several days, citing ill health, exhaustion and the upcoming Ghana Bar Association conference.

The court, however, declined the request and directed the parties to return tomorrow for the continuation of the case management conference.

Dr Abdul-Hamid and the other accused persons are standing trial over allegations that they extorted money from players in the petroleum sector.

They had earlier attempted to stop the case by asking the court to strike out the charge sheet.

That application was dismissed, allowing the pre-trial process to continue.

Speaking after the proceedings, Mr Kpemka said the defence had attended court throughout the legal vacation and had not stayed away from any sitting.

He said the lawyers had previously written to the Office of the Chief Justice seeking relief from vacation sittings, but were informed that adjournments were matters for trial courts.

“You recall that when we applied to the office of the CJ to waive the holidays for us to have the vacation, he actually indicated that adjournments are actually at the discretion of trial courts and not the CJ, and that if we needed that, we should pass it through the court. And we have attended court throughout the holidays. There’s no adjournment that we have been absent,” he said.

Mr Kpemka explained that the latest request was based on the health of counsel and the pressure of work during the legal year.

He also pointed to the upcoming Bar conference as another reason the defence wanted the matter pushed to October.

“Counsel has been unwell. That’s one. And two, you know that the bar conference is coming next week. And subsequently, we have other activities just before, and we are exhausted. I mean, the legal year took a toll on us. We are all exhausted. And we also needed that maybe we could get the judge’s attention to give us a few more days after the legal year so that we come back in October,” he said.

The court was not persuaded.

Mr Kpemka said the judge ordered the parties to return the next day, and the defence would comply.

“But my lord said that we should come back tomorrow. And that he was not acceding to the prayer. And we are obliged to be in court tomorrow, and we will so be,” he said.

He insisted that the request was not an attempt to delay the matter without justification.

According to him, the defence team had gone through a demanding period and needed time to recover.

“As I indicated, there were good reasons why we wanted the adjournment. It wasn’t a frolic of our own that we wanted to embark upon,” he said.

Dr Abdul-Hamid, a former Minister of Information under the Akufo-Addo administration, was appointed Chief Executive Officer of the NPA in 2021.

He and seven others are facing charges linked to alleged extortion from petroleum sector players.

The parties are expected back in court tomorrow for the continuation of the case management conference.