The Supreme Court has overturned a contempt conviction issued against Ernest Kumi, the New Patriotic Party (NPP) Member of Parliament for Akwatia, by the High Court in Koforidua.
The apex court also barred Justice Emmanuel Senyo Amedahe from proceeding to sentence the MP. The decision follows a judicial review application filed by Mr. Kumi, challenging the High Court’s ruling.
Led by legal counsel Gary Nimako-Marfo, who also serves as the NPP’s Director of Legal Affairs, Mr. Kumi’s team argued that the High Court lacked the jurisdiction to entertain the election petition that led to an initial injunction against the MP.
According to Nimako-Marfo, Ghana’s electoral laws require that an election petition be filed within 21 days of the publication of certified results in the official gazette.
In this case, while the petition was filed on December 31, 2024, Nimako-Marfo said the results were not gazetted until June 6, 2025—well beyond the statutory timeframe.
He argued that because the court’s jurisdiction was improperly invoked, all subsequent rulings, including the injunction and contempt conviction, were invalid.
He also criticised the High Court for convicting Mr. Kumi of contempt without granting him a hearing, calling it a breach of natural justice.
However, counsel for the NDC parliamentary candidate, Henry Boakye Yiadom, opposed the claims, insisting the High Court acted within its legal mandate and that both the injunction and the contempt ruling were valid.
