The Supreme Court has by a 4-1 majority decision stayed the High Court in Koforidua from sentencing the Member of Parliament for Akwatia, Ernest Yaw Kumi in a contempt case pending the final determination of a motion seeking to quash the ruling.
Justice Gabriel Pwamang, dissented while the four other members of the panel approved the stay.
In a motion on notice for an order for certiorari and prohibition, the MP through his counsel contended that the High Court judge committed a jurisdictional error of law on the face of the record when he assumed jurisdiction in the Parliamentary Election Petition at Akwatia Constituency at the time when the Electoral Commission had not published the Gazette Notification.
The MP argued that the High Court Judge breached the rules of natural justice when he proceeded to hear and determine the contempt application despite the pendency of Ernest Kumi's motion to set aside the said contempt application for want of jurisdiction.
