The court set aside an earlier ruling by its commercial division on an alleged stealing case against the assembly member for the Teshei electoral area in the Bawku West District in the Upper East Region, Mr Patrick Ayaaba.

Earlier, a Tamale Circuit Court, presided over by Mr Justice William Appiah Twumasi that first heard the case of stealing against the accused sentenced Ayaaba to a fine of 300 penalty units or GH¢3,600.

The accused who was however, not satisfied with the court’s judgement appealed against the sentence at the commercial division of the Tamale High Court, presided over by Mr Justice Daniel Kwaku Obeng, who affirmed the earlier decision by the Circuit Court and increased the fine to 5,000 penalty units, about GH¢ 60,000 or in default, serve five years’ imprisonment in hard labour.

Ayaaba, however, appealed against the Commercial Court’s ruling at the Tamale High Court. And in its ruling last Friday, the court, presided over by Mr Justice Antwi, set aside the ruling by the commercial division of the court.

Opinions

The two judgements by the same High Court was what led to arguments by some legal practitioners in the area. While some of them wondered how a court with similar jurisdiction could set aside rulings by a division of the same court, others opined that there was nothing bizarre about the practice.

Meanwhile, investigations by the Daily Graphic have indicated that, the prosecution in the case was likely to appeal against the judgement at the Court of Appeal.

Facts

The complainant in the case is a registered small-scale miner and a resident of Tinga, a community near Bole in the Northern Region, while the accused is an employee of the complainant at Wasipe, a mining community.

The complainant reported the accused to the police in Bole on December 11, 2015 for stealing his sand, a by-product of gold mining called “over,’’ worth GH¢400,000 at the mining site.

The case was later transferred from the Bole District Court to the Tamale Circuit Court after the Attorney-General’s Department had advised that the accused be charged with stealing.

The case was called at the Circuit Court on March 8, 2016. Ayaaba, who was charged with stealing, pleaded not guilty to the offence and was granted bail in the sum of GH¢300, 00o with one surety.

On  September 7, 2016, the court sentenced  Ayaaba to a fine of 300 penalty units or GH¢3,600 or in default, serve two years’ imprisonment after the court found him guilty of the offence of stealing.