ASUMADU-SAKYI II vs. OWUSU AND OTHERS

JUDGMENT OF APALOO C.J. Apaloo C.J. delivered the ruling of the court. The applicant invokes the inherent jurisdiction of this court to order his release from prison where he is at present incarcerated for contempt of court. The applicant seems to have had in connection with this matter, two spells of imprisonment. At first, he was imprisoned on 30 March 1979. On 6 November of that year, he was released on certain conditions which he failed to meet. He was again imprisoned on 12 February 1980 and is still in prison now. He has been in prison for seven months on the first spell and just over nine months on the second. Accordingly, in connection with this matter, he has been in prison for an aggregate period of over sixteen months. The reason proffered for the present application, is that he should be released from prison to enable him raise the necessary funds so he can comply with the order for whose disobedience he was incarcerated. It was also alleged, in effect, that having bee...