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The Supreme Court has cautioned and discharged Professor Michael Kpessah-Whyte after considering his apology and the mitigating prayer of his counsel.
This follows his conviction on his own plea of guilty and deliberation by the court panel on what appropriate sanction to be meted out to him.
Justice Mariama Owusu in reading the judgment of the court in the contempt charges indicated that while the bench finds his comment worrying, the apology and steps taken by the convict contributed to the decision.
The Lecturer at the University of Ghana was convicted on his own plea on Tuesday, May 30.
The former National Democratic Congress (NDC) Parliamentary hopeful for Shai Osudoku appeared before a five-member panel of the Supreme Court presided over by Justice Mariama Owusu and pleaded guilty to the charges.
Prof. Kpessah-Whyte was charged with contempt following a tweet deemed inappropriate by the court.
Led by Justice Srem-Sai and Godwin Tamakloe, the contemnor pleaded with the court to temper Justice with mercy as he has already apologized for his comment.
The bench is currently deliberating over what sentence to give after the mitigating prayer by lawyers for Prof. Kpessah Whyte.
Background
Prof. Kpessa-Whyte in a recent Twitter post referred to the Supreme Court as a “Stupid Court”. He also criticized the current state of Ghana’s judiciary, accusing it of partisanship and lacking common sense.
Dr. Kpessa-Whyte’s tweets came shortly after the Supreme Court ordered Parliament to remove the name of NDC MP James Gyakye Quayson from its records due to procedural breaches during his nomination and election in 2020.
The Supreme Court summoned Dr. Kpessa-Whyte to explain why he should not be held in contempt for describing the nation’s highest judicial body in such a manner.
He subsequently issued an apology for allegedly denigrating the Supreme Court.
In a statement, Dr. Kpessa-Whyte clarified that he did not intend to denigrate the Supreme Court and offered his unreserved apology.
He stated that he had no reason to slander the court and acknowledged any pain or discomfort his tweets may have caused the Chief Justice, the Supreme Court, and the entire judiciary.
“Please permit me to state unequivocally that I have no reason to slander our Supreme Court, and I hereby sincerely apologise unreservedly for any pain and discomfort my tweets may have caused the Chief Justice, the Supreme Court, and the entire judiciary.
“I hereby retract the tweet in question; accordingly, the tweet has been deleted completely, and I pray for forgiveness.”
The court, however, advised him to be of good behaviour as many people look up to him.
Professor Michael Kpessah-Whyte has accordingly been discharged after the Supreme Court had convicted him for contempt of court for scandalizing the court.
