Justice Priscilla Dikro Ofori, a judge who presided over the criminal trial of Alex Kwabena Safo Kantanka for bribery has been transferred just when she was due to deliver judgment.

Mr Sarfo-Kantanka, President Akufo-Addo’s nominee to be the MCE of Juaben in the Ashanti Region was charged with 26 counts of election-related corruption, before the High Court in Kumasi by the Office of the Special Prosecutor.

Following the conclusion of the trial, judgment was expected on Thursday morning, November 28, 2024, until the parties went to court only to be told the presiding judge had been transferred with a new judge in place.

Mr Sarfo Kantanka faces multiple charges of corruption, including allegations of offering bribes to assembly members in an effort to secure their approval for his nomination as Municipal Chief Executive for Juaben.

The court had initially fixed today, Thursday, as the date to deliver judgment. However, during Thursday’s sitting, the accused appeared with new legal counsel who argued that their client wished to file written submissions, a task his previous counsel had failed to complete.

The newly assigned judge, upon hearing the submissions, stated in open court that he was new to the case and required time to thoroughly review the docket.
Consequently, the matter was adjourned to 20th January 2025, by which time a new government would have been installed after the December 7 election.

Read Also: Rejected Juaben MCE case: High court admits viral video as evidence

Background

It is recalled that in 2022, the OSP dragged Mr Sarfo Kantanka, who was charged with 26 counts of election-related corruption, before the High Court in Kumasi.

Mr Sarfo Kantanka, who failed to secure the needed votes to become the MCE for the Juaben Municipal Assembly in the Ashanti Region after two rounds of voting in September and November 2021, was caught on camera demanding the return of monies he had paid to some members of the assembly to influence his confirmation.

The suspect allegedly gave the elected members of the assem­bly GH¢5000 each and gave GH¢2,500 to each of the govern­ment appointees.

In its statement at the time, the OSP said, “the accused admitted gifting the indicated sums of money to the respective categories of the members of the assembly to influence the outcome of the elections in his favour.”

Members of the Juaben Municipal Assembly had, for the second time, rejected Sarfo-Kantanka as MCE after he failed to reach the two-thirds threshold needed.
He received 10 ‘Yes’ votes as against 15 ‘No’ votes with one ballot rejected.

Twenty out of the 26 assembly members boycotted the previous process, citing heavy security pres­ence at the venue.

After the process, Mr Safo-Kantanka was captured in a viral video demanding his money. The OSP said that the failed nominee “went berserk and vented his wrath on the members of the assembly and angrily demanded a refund of the money he had gifted to them.”

The police arrested him and granted him self-recognisance bail on November 1, 2021.

The Kumasi High Court in June 2023 admitted as evidence a viral video in which the failed Juaben MCE nominee could be seen and heard demanding money from Assembly Members.

Read Also: Special Prosecutor closes case against Juaben MCE nominee