An Accra Commercial Court is to determine whether or not it has jurisdiction to hear the suit against the sale of Ghana Telecom (GT) in UK’s telecom giant, Vodafone International. The suit was filed by Professor Agyeman Badu Akosah and five others. The issue of jurisdiction was among a seven point critical issue raised and agreed on by the three parties in the case on December 23, 2008, after the pre-trial by the court. Other issues raised included whether or not the plaintiff have any locus stand in the matter, and whether or not Articles 6 (1) (6), 10 (7), 12 and 13 (21) of the Sales Agreement contravenes the country’s constitution.
Professor Akosah, Kossi Dede, Dr. Nii Moi Thompson, Naa Kordai Asiedu, Rodaline Imoru Ayarna and Kwame Jantua are suing the government over the sale of 70% of the shares state-owned telecom to Vodafone. They have initiated the action as Ghanaian citizens. The Attorney-General is representing the government. The six are asking the court to dissolve the enlarged Ghana Telecom, which was created to effect the sale, because no such company exists.
They are also praying the court to restore the fiber optic network to the VRA, and an order for a true and faithful re-valuation of assets of GT. The case was to be heard yesterday, but it had to be adjourned to February 9 because the parties had not been served with copies of the seven-point issue which needs to be determined before the case is heard.
Ghana Broadcasting Corporation
