University of Ghana lecturer, Professor Michael Kpessah-Whyte, has been convicted of contempt of court by the Supreme Court. He was convicted on his own plea.

The former National Democratic Congress (NDC) parliamentary aspirant initially pleaded not guilty, but after giving an explanation, pleaded guilty.

The five-member panel, presided over by Justice Mariama Owusu, then convicted him on his own plea.

His legal team led by Dr Justice Srem Sai pleaded for mercy and clemency for the contempt-nor.

According to him, when the attention of the professor was drawn to the tweet, he quickly deleted it and used the same medium to apologise for his regrettable action. He also gave an apology which was published on the front page of a local newspaper, Ghanaian Times.

Dr Sai prayed the court that the contempt-nor will not allow such a sad and regrettable occurrence to ever happen again but rather will commit to defending the integrity of the court, the judges, and the judicial system as a whole.

Following a recent Twitter post where he referred to the Supreme Court as a “Stupid Court,” Dr Kpessa-Whyte apologised.

In his tweet, he criticised the current state of the judiciary, accusing it of partisanship and lack of common sense.

Dr Kpessa-Whyte’s tweets came shortly after the Supreme Court ordered Parliament to remove the name of NDC MP, James Gyakye Quayson from its records due to procedural breaches during his nomination and election in 2020.

The Supreme Court summoned Dr Kpessa-Whyte to explain why he should not be held in contempt for describing the nation’s highest judicial body in such a manner.

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