Lead counsel for Ashanti Regional Chairman of the New Patriotic Party (NPP), Chairman Wontumi, has expressed deep frustration over delays in the judicial process, citing the inability of court officials to retrieve the docket necessary for the prosecution of an appeal filed more than three months ago.
Speaking to journalists on Monday after filing an application to withdraw as legal counsel for Chairman Wontumi, lawyer Andy Appiah-Kubi criticized what he described as an unacceptable delay in the handling of the appeal against a ruling of submission of no case.
“I’m disappointed with the court. In any case, I filed the notice of appeal against the ruling of submission of no case as far back as March 18, 2026, and till today the registry cannot get hold of the docket to prepare the documents to be transmitted to the Court of Appeal,” Appiah-Kubi said.
According to him, efforts to settle the record and move the appeal forward have stalled because the necessary court documents remain unavailable.
“We have not been able to settle the record even three months down the line. If we expect goodwill from the bench, is this the way to go? Is this how to operate?” he questioned.
The legal practitioner noted that additional grounds of appeal had already been filed and that he had expected the appeal process to have advanced significantly by now.
“We’ve filed additional grounds of appeal. We expected that we would settle records and by now the appeal would have been heard. But three months now, it hasn’t happened. Is this justice?” he asked.