KT Hammond plans to contest the GHC60,000 court fine

Kobina Tahiru Hammond, the former Member of Parliament for Adansi Asokwa, has declared his intention to contest the GHC60,000 fee levied against him by the Obuasi High Court.

On Tuesday, the court rejected a petition submitted by KT Hammond, which aimed to dispute the election of Godwin Dorani as the Member of Parliament for Adansi Asokwa, due to his absence from court on three successive occasions.

Speaking to reporters, KT Hammond criticized the imposed cost as unjust.

“I’m not too upset with the judge. There was some mix-up; there was no attendance by the lawyers, I’m told. You can understand. We filed a petition, a few things went wrong,” he said.

He asserted that the National Democratic Congress (NDC) secured the Adansi Asokwa seat not through merit but by default.

KT Hammond remarked that the 2024 Parliamentary election in Adansi Asokwa was marred by chaos, with several ballot boxes found in unauthorized areas.

He added that the issue was worsened by the choice of some New Patriotic Party (NPP) supporters to abstain from voting.

“The NDC won the Asokwa election by default. For whatever reason, we, the NPP, decided to hand over power on a silver platter. He didn’t win,” he said.

KT Hammond explained the reasons behind his absence from court on three consecutive occasions, leading to the dismissal of the petition.

“He [lawyer] talked about me not filing the suit myself, but it was filed in my name. He made a scandalous suggestion that I ask someone [a lawyer] whose name was not even registered on the bar list. I don’t even understand. This is a person who was my classmate, and we left the university and law school same year. He has been in practice for close to 35 to 40 years,” he stated.