Supreme Court gives Ayine greenlight to amend case against Amidu

A former deputy Attorney General (A-G), Dr Dominic Ayine, has been given the greenlight by the Supreme Court to amend his case challenging the nomination of Mr Martin Amidu as the Special Prosecutor.

At the hearing of the case on Thursday May 17, counsel for Dr Ayine, Mr Tony Lithur, prayed the sole judge, Mr Justice Gabriel Pwamang, to allow his client to make changes to his case.

According to him, Mr Amidu had been confirmed as the Special Prosecution, and, therefore, there was the need to amend the case to reflect the current status of Mr Amidu.

The application for amendment by Dr Ayine was not opposed by a Deputy Attorney-General (A-G), Mr Godfred Dame, and Mr Amidu who were present in courtroom.

Mr Justice Pwamang ordered Dr Ayine to file his amended case within seven days, and also ordered the A-G and Mr Amidu to file their responses 14 days after being served with Dr Ayine’s documents.

First approach dismissed

A previous attempt by Dr Ayine to make changes to his case by filing a supplementary statement of case was dismissed by the court on March 19, 2018.

That was after the apex court held that filing of a supplementary statement of case was unmeritorious and “unknown to the rules of the court.’’

Ayine’s application

In February 2018, Dr Ayine filed a suit at the Supreme Court, seeking to nullify the nomination of Mr Amidu by reason of his (Amidu)’s age.

The suit was filed with Mr Amidu and the A-G as the defendants.

In his statement of case, Dr Ayine argued that, per Section 13 (3) of the Office of the Special Prosecutor Act, 2018 (Act 959), Mr Amidu, who is 66 years old, was not eligible to be the Special Prosecutor.

He further contended that the office of Special Prosecutor was a public office and by virtue of Articles 190 (1) (d), 199 (1), 199 (4) and 295 of the 1992 Constitution, the retiring age for public officers was 60 and by any extension 65.

Writer’s email: emma.hawkson@graphic.com.gh