The Court of Appeal on Monday failed to sit on the appeal filed by the Member of Parliament (MP) for Bawku Central, Adamu Daramani Sakande, against a High Court decision which directed that the state could recall a witness in his nationality trial if it wished to do so. That was because the court was not duly constituted, as one of the three judges scheduled to sit on the case was said not to have reported for work. Consequently, the court adjourned the case sine die. The court is presided over by Mr Justice S.E. Kanyoke, with Justices F. Kusi Appiah and Dennis Adjei as panel members, and it was not clear which one of them was not in court, as the decision to adjourn was made in the judge’s chamber. The High Court trying Mr Sakande for perjury, forgery of passport, election fraud and deceiving public officers to be elected as an MP on June 8, this year granted the prosecution leave to recall a witness if it wished to do so in order to clarify what it termed ambiguity arising from the MP's evidence and documents from the National Security Secretariat (NSS) which said the MP had not renounced his British nationality status before contesting the seat. But, according to lawyers for the MP, the move was tantamount to the trial judge, Mr Justice Charles Quist, directing the prosecution on how to conduct its trial and, therefore, appealed against the High Court's decision. Lead counsel for the MP, Mr Yonny Kulendi, had argued that it was wrong for the court to direct the prosecution to recall a witness months after the prosecution had closed its case and especially when it had not made such a request. According to the defence, the trial judge assumed the role of a lawyer when he directed the prosecution to recall a witness if it so wished. The MP was, on July 31, 2009, arraigned before the High Court, charged with nine counts relating to his nationality, perjury, forgery of passport, election fraud and deceiving public officers to be elected as an MP, but he was exonerated on six of those charges on July 8, 2010. He is currently facing three charges of false declaration of office or voting, perjury and deceiving a public officer.