THE REPUBLIC v. TSATSU TSIKATA

The Ghana Court of Appeal, per Adjei JA, reviewed Tsatsu Tsikata’s conviction by the High Court for three counts of willfully causing financial loss to the state and one count of intentionally misapplying public property arising from GNPC payments and a Valley Farms investment. During trial, Tsikata sought to subpoena the International Finance Corporation (IFC) for documents on the Valley Farms project; the High Court refused and later vacated its own stay, delivering judgment while a Supreme Court interlocutory appeal on IFC’s compellability was pending. The Attorney-General’s cross-appeal for sentence enhancement was struck out as incompetent. The Court held that presidential pardon does not erase a conviction or bar appeal; appeals from the High Court to the Court of Appeal are constitutional rights. Relying on the Supreme Court’s determination that IFC is compellable and finding breaches of Article 19(2)(g), the Court of Appeal concluded there was a substantial miscarriage of justice. It set aside the High Court judgment and acquitted and discharged Tsikata on all counts.