NCA Trial: Baffoe-Bonnie Petitions CJ, Want Justice Kyei Baffour To Recuse Himself

The first accused person in the ongoing case between the state, Eugene Baffoe-Bonnie and four others has petitioned the Chief Justice Justice Anin Yeboah asking Justice Eric Kyei Baffour before whom the case is being heard to recuse himself over possible unfair judgement.

The petition dated the 20th of January 2020 and signed by the petitioner, Mr. Eugene Baffoe-Bonnie, is entitled “Petition for the Recusal of his lordship Justice Eric Kyei Baffour in suit no. CR/904/2017 – The Republic versus Eugene Baffoe-Bonnie and 4 others and Transfer of the Suit to another Justice for Trial”. The petition is a ten (10) page document and has thirty-two (32) paragraphs.

According to the petition, the main premise upon which the Accused person has decided to petition the Chief Justice is a social media video of one Kelvin Ekow Taylor posted on a Facebook wall called “With All Due Respect”.

“Your Lordship, my documented fears/anxieties about not getting a fair trial under the Lordship Justice Eric Kyei Baffour seem to have been heightened by a recent development as borne out by a video being circulated in the social media which was created by a journalist by the name of Kevin Ekow Taylor. In this video, Kevin Ekow Taylor made some serious allegations against Justice Eric Kyei Baffour regarding the NCA case. These allegations against Justice Eric Kyei Baffour are verifiable through an investigation that can be conducted by your Lordship” the petition stated.

Mr. Baffoe-Bonnie goes on to say that “In this said video, Kevin Ekow Taylor made the following “summarized” allegations; that Justice Eric Kyei Baffour is being manipulated by this government to achieve a desirable/favorable outcome for the government. His Lordship Justice Eric Kyei Baffour in one of his carlier court proceedings in 2019, made a statement to the effect that “he represents the state and therefore will not tolerate these foolish applications” this was when my defence counsel had made an Application on my behalf. This allegation made by Kevin Ekow Taylor against Justice Eric Kyei Baffour as being compromised has raised some serious concerns/anxieties which will bother on miscarriage of justice if Justice Eric Kyei Baffour does not recuse himself from this case. Hence, my humble plea to your Lordship for a thorough investigation,” the petition said.

Mr. Eugene Baffoe-Bonnie in the concluding part of his petition posited as follows; “your Lordship, based on all these unfortunate incidences of anger expressed by Justice Eric Kyei Baffour towards me, in addition to the already documented incidences of glaringly bias behavior of Justice Eric Kyei Baffour, I have come to a reasonable conclusion that I will NOT get a fair and just trial under the Lordship of Justice Eric Kyei Baffour. In this respect, I’m urgently appealing to your Lordship to call for an investigation into these matters and while these investigations are initiated, it is my humble plea to your Lordship for Justice Eric Kyei Baffour to recuse himself from this case”.

Justice Eric Kyei Baffour on the 16th of January 2020 issued an arrest warrant for the controversial social media commentator, Kelvin Ekow Taylor, for him to be presented in his Court to answer why he should not be committed to jail for comments he made concerning the NCA trial which is pending before him.

In a recent episode of his social media video reportage called, “With All Due Respect” and dubbed, “The Men in Red, Tainted Judiciary,” Kelvin Taylor picked on the Court of Appeal Judge, Justice Eric Kyei Baffour and made several allegations against him and the ongoing trial.

“Today I will tell you about the men in red, yes the men in red and how some of them have been compromised,” Kelvin Taylor said in his introduction in the said video.

Kelvin Taylor further indicated in his video that among the recent High Court Justices who were promoted to the Court of Appeal, Justice Eric Kyei Baffour, has been pened down by members of the ruling government to be used as the conduit to prosecute former government officials. He called on the new Chief Justice, Justice Anin Yeboah to investigate the Court of Appeal Judge failing which he will release audio tapes in his custody bordering on meetings the Court of Appeal Judge has had with high ranking officials of the Akufo Addo-led administration.

The social media commentator further zeroed in on a case before Justice Eric Kyei Baffour entitled the “Republic versus Eugene Baffoe-Bonnie and four others” indicating that he is deliberately twisting the law as far as proceedings in that case is concerned to favour the current NPP administration.

“Justice Eric Kyei Baffour was hurriedly promoted from a High Court judge to a court of operating on the orders of President Akufo Addo and the National Security Minister, Kan Dapaah. This is why the case of the former NCA board members was jumped straight to the Commercial Court to Kyei Baffour so that he will execute government agenda. This is basic. With all due respect my fellow Ghanaians, Justice Kyei Baffour is seriously doing the bidding of the President and more importantly the bidding of the National Security Minister, Mr. Kan Dapaah,” Kelvin Taylor said.

Kelvin Taylor also alleged that the Court of Appeal judge, Justice Eric Kyei Baffour, has recently built a mansion in Accra that has become “the talk of the town.”

“Justice Kyei Baffour has become too powerful and too rich in this short time. He recently built one of the most expensive mansions in Accra which in fact has became the talk in the corridors of the Justice Department,” Taylor said.

Justice Eric Kyei Baffour in issuing the arrest warrant said due to the fact that the said Kelvin Taylor is not in the Ghanaian Jurisdiction, the warrant will hold until Kelvin Taylor is arrested and presented to his court or until he no longer exists on planet earth.

---Starrfm.com.gh