Ansa-Asare Stages Walkout

The committee of enquiry investigating the Director of the Ghana School of Law, Mr. Kwaku Ansa-Asare, was yesterday taken aback when Mr. Kwaku Ansa-Asare, the director, after a brief confrontation with the panel, walked out on the committee, with the explanation that he had been treated unfairly.

Mr. Ansa-Asare also threatened to drag four of the committee members, namely the chairman, Mr. Justice A. Akamba, Mr. E F A Agbolosu, Mr. Tetteh Mensah and Mr. George Amegah, for allegedly involving themselves in the resurfacing of the missing file of his daughter, Irene Ansa-Asare.

According to Ansa-Asare, the statement presented to the committee by Mr. Peter Worglo, Officer-in-charge of Students' Records at GSL, was a caution statement inspired by the four members of the committee.

Mr. Worglo had stated that when he was directed to report to the committee that he had been assigned to open a file to regularize the admission of Irene, who had already completed the Post Law Course at the Law School, he did not meet the committee chairman, but Mr. Ansa-Asare insisted that Mr. Worglo met the chairman.

Mr. Agbolosu said that the incident was reported to Mr. Tetteh-Mensah in the presence of Mr. Amegah, who is the secretary, adding that all statements by potential witnesses were taken down by the secretary and that had been the procedure from the beginning.

Mr. Ansa-Asare applied that the person who interviewed Mr. Worglo and the person who took down the caution statement be summoned to appear for him to cross-examine them for him to know, what was taken down.

When Justice Akamba refused his application, Mr. Ansa-Asare said, "Then at this stage I want to inform the GLC that three members of the committee and the chairman have been mentioned and therefore I do not think I am safe in their hands."

Mr. Ansa-Asare said since he had been excluded from the proceedings he would want to leave, but Justice Akamba emphasized that he, Ansa-Asare, had excluded himself.

Justice Akamba further noted that if Mr. Ansa-Asare fails to take part in the sitting of the committee, which had been adopted by GLC, whatever petitioners would submit against him would be presented to GLC.

"I have to present results at the GLC's meeting now, the documents are ready, I have to present this year's examinations results to the Chief Justice, so I would come back when the committee feels that in the interest of justice they may be fair to me," were the parting words of Mr. Ansa-Asare.

He initially complained about the one hour the committee had set for cross-examination of witnesses, adding that when it got to the turn of Mr. Opoku-Agyemang, he was given more than an hour to make his case.

But in a sharp rebuttal, Justice Akamba said it was a new rule that had been taken by the committee.

Further, he explained that previously cross-examination of witnesses took lot of time but with some new systems put in place things had changed.

"I am announcing this publicly that no witness would be allowed to be cross-examined beyond maximum of one and half hours."

Mr. Ansa-Asare said under the constitution there must be a fair trial, but again Justice Akamba stressed that no one was being tried, adding that the committee was just conducting investigations.