Clemence Honyenuga, Justice at the Supreme Court
•Justice Honyenuga has dismissed Opuni’s application asking him to recuse himself
•Lawyer for Dr Opuni is alleging bias on the part of the trial judge
•Chief State Attorney Evelyn Keelson insisted it has no merit whatsoever
Supreme Court Justice, Clemence Honyenuga has squashed an application seeking to have him recuse himself from the case of the Republic against former COCOBOD CEO, Dr Stephen Kwabena Opuni.
Dr Opuni is accused of causing a 217 million dollar financial loss to the state and has been standing trial since 2017.
Judge Clemence Honyenuga is hearing the case as an additional High Court judge.
Dr. Opuni, in an application filed by his lawyer, Samuel Codjoe, is alleging bias on the part of the trial judge, stating that Dr. Opuni may not be given adequate time to defend himself before the court and would not get a fair trial.
Another ground for his application against the judge is the allegation of bias against Justice Honyenuga following his ruling in dismissing a submission of no case filed by the accused persons.
“I state further that in the ruling dismissing my application for submission of no case, the learned judge made final determination of fact which determination can only be made at the final determination of the case and not after the prosecution has closed its case. This shows real likelihood of bias by the learned judge,” he said.
He added that “the learned judge having made this final determination of fact when I have not yet opened my defence has shown that I would not have a fair trial in that the learned judge has already determined the case against me and I cannot, therefore, get a fair trial.”
“I have been advised by Counsel and verily believe same to be true that in the circumstance the learned judge should recuse himself from the suit and refer the suit to the Chief Justice for same to be transferred to another judge by the Chief Justice,” he concluded.
The embattled judge has however thrown out Dr. Opuni’s motion in one sentence, saying, “It is my candid opinion that the application was brought in bad faith. Accordingly, the motion is hereby dismissed”.
Chief State Attorney Evelyn Keelson also called on the court to dismiss the application as she said it has no merit whatsoever.
According to her, “there is no basis in law for this present application. He has also not been able to convince this court of any credible evidence of bias. It is our submission that this application as we have always stated is therefore calculated to further delay this trial.”
By dismissing the application, Justice Clemence Honyenuga directed Dr. Stephen Opuni to open his defence at the next court date on June 18, 2021.