Heritage digital May 21 2020

02
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CONTENT
ANNIVERSARIES
Good Friday — Fri, 10 Apr 2020
Easter Monday — Mon, 13 Apr 2020
Labour Day — Fri, 1 May 2020
DAILY HERITAGE THURSDAY, MAY 21, 2020
Published by: EIB
Network / Heritage
Communications Ltd.
Managing Editor:
William Asiedu:
0208156974
Acting Editor:
Kweku Gyasi Essel:
0244744973
ISSN: 0855-52307
VOL 7
Location: Meridian
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Road. Box AD 676,
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www.dailyheritage.com.gh
Honyenugah, 3 others
cleared for S/Court
NEWS DESK REPORT
MEMBERS OF
the Minority on
the Appointments
Committee
of Parliament
have joined hands with their
colleagues in the Majority to
approve the nomination of Justice
Clemence Jackson Honyenugah
as a Supreme Court
judge.
A report by the Committee
sighted by the DAILY HER-
ITAGE showed a unanimous approval
of the judge and three
others, including Justice lssifu
Omoro Tanko Amadu, Mr. Emmanuel
Yoni Kulendi and Professor
Henrietta JAN. Mensa-Bonsu,
who appeared before the House
for vetting.
The minority appeared to have
rescinded their earlier objection to
Justice Honyenugah’s approval
over his endorsement of President
Nana Addo Akufo-Addo for reelection.
Justice Honyenuga, during his
vetting, apologised for appearing
to have endorsed President Akufo-
Addo during a durbar in the Volta
Region early this year.
Justice Honyenuga, in his welcome
address to President Akufo-
Addo at a durbar of chiefs and
people of the Afajato South District,
had commended the President
for various development
policies introduced under his leadership.
He said “with the vision of the
President and the gains made in
his first term, Ghanaians may consider
giving him another four
years” and this responded to with
loud cheers of people at the durbar
grounds.
Many, including legal luminaries,
who felt the judge probably
erred in this open declaration took
to social media to criticize his conduct.
Some media reports suggested
the comments were meant to endear
him further to the current
government for his nomination to
the Supreme Court.
Answering questions during his
vetting, the then Supreme Court
Judge nominee apologised for endorsing
the President, saying he
was only reading a statement
handed him on behalf of the
paramount chiefs.
“In reading that statement, we
didn’t intend in endorsing the
president, our understanding was
that we were wishing him well…
This is what has been happening
in this country for a very long
time…On my part, if out of political
dissatisfaction some people are
unhappy with whatever I am supposed
to have said, then I am
sorry,” Justice Honyenuga said.
High Court fixes June 23 for ruling on injunction case
against Establishment of Emergency Com. System
BY MUNTALLA INUSAH
muntalla.inusah@dailyheritage.com.gh
THE HIGH Court in Accra,
presided over by Justice Stephen
Oppong, has fixed June 23, 2020
to rule on an interlocutory injunction
suit challenging the directives
of the President over
Executive Instrument (EI) 63,
which seeks the establishment of
Emergency Communications
System-Instrument, 2020.
In court on Wednesday, when
the case was called, the applicant,
through his lawyers, led by Justice
SremSai, filed their amended
version of the interlocutory injunction
with its accompanying
statement of case.
The court, prior to adjoining
the case, said there would be no
oral argument, while ordering
that should anybody have any
processes to file, they must do so
before June 15, 2020.
DAILYHERITAGE’s
Court Correspondent Muntalla
Inusah reports that the Respondents
in the case, Vodafone,
MTN, National Communication
Authority, Kelni GVG and Attorney
General Department,
were all served with the
amended processes this morning.
A private legal practitioner,
Francis Kwarteng Arthur, has instituted
a court action against the
government seeking to stop the
President, KelniGVG and the
National Communication Authority
(NCA) from relying on
Executive Instrument 63 to procure
his personal information
from Vodafone Ghana and
MTN Ghana for purposes of
contact tracing in the COVID-19
pandemic fight.
Background
It is the contention of MrKwarteng
Arthur that the Executive
Instrument issued by
President Akufo-Addo on the
23rd of March 2020 directing
MTN and Vodafone to make
available to Government the details
of their subscribers, including
his, based on powers vested
in the President under provisions
in the Electronic Communications
Act, 2008, (Act 775), would
amount to a breach of his fundamental
human rights and his
right to privacy in his personal
information, which is in the possession
of Vodafone and MTN.
“The applicant is alarmed by
this development; and disagrees
vehemently with the claim that
the President followed the law
and due process in requesting or
causing a request to be made for
the body of personal information.
The applicant believes that
even though the President has
the power to procure his personal
information under the appropriate
circumstances, taking
into account the appropriate factors,
the manner in which he is
seeking to procure the information
at this particular time
breaches the law and, consequently,
violates his right to administrative
justice, to privacy
and equality, hence the present
action”. The facts in the Statement
of Case were filed at the
High Court on the 6th of April
2020 said.
About EI 63
The Executive Instrument
(EI 63) titled the “Establishment
of Emergency Communications
Systems Instrument, 2020”,
states in the first paragraph that,
“Whereas, under the power conferred
by section 100 of the
Electronic Communications Act,
2008(Act 775), the President
may, by Executive Instrument,
make written requests and issue
orders to operators or providers
of electronic communications
networks or services requiring
them to provide user information
or otherwise in aid of law
enforcement or national security”,
President Akufo-Addo ordered
network operators or
service providers to make available
“all caller and called numbers,
Merchant Codes, Mobile
Station International Subscriber
Directory Number Codes and
International Mobile Equipment
Identity Codes and Site location
to the National Communications
Authority to facilitate locationbased
tracking” in this time of a
public health emergency.
The applicant, according to
his affidavit in support of his
case, among other reliefs, is seeing
an order of the High Court
“to quash the President’s directives
in EI 63 to the extent that
they have violated, are violating
or are likely to violate his fundamental
human rights and freedoms”.