THE REPUBLIC vs. ABUSUAKPANYILI KOFI ARKO & 2 ORS EX-PARTE: NANA ETEASE II, EGY ERZOAH

JUDGMENT The Applicants herein have brought this contempt application against the Respondents herein to vindicate the dignity of the court. They accuse the Respondents of displaying gross contempt for the authority of the court by willfully disrespecting an order of this Court and thereby bringing the administration of justice into disrepute. Applicants are inviting the court to sanction the Respondents through imprisonment. Contempt of court is a procedural mechanism deployed by the court through its inherent power to protect its integrity and authority from wanton interference. The interference includes willful disobedience of an order of the court, conduct that tends to obstruct court processes and acts that tend to bring the dignity of the court into disrepute. In the case of Republic v High Court ex parte Laryea Mensah [1997-98] 2GLR 1002 the Supreme Court explained contempt as follows: “A person committed contempt and might be committed for contempt to prison for willfully.....