#FixTheCountry: Efia Odo, others gear up as lawyers fight restraining order

Ghanaian actress Efia Odo and other protesters championing the cause of #FixTheCountry were in court on Monday to support their lawyers who had filed an affidavit in opposition to a restraining order against the group.

An affidavit of opposition is a written document (affidavit) that a person files in protest to another document that has already been filed.

Per the law, any affidavit intended to be used in opposition must be filed not less than 5 days before the date fixed for the hearing.

A copy of the affidavit is then served on the respective parties in the case.

When the case was called on Monday, counsel for the protesters, Tata Kosi Foliba,  informed the Accra High Court that the team had filed their affidavit in opposition to the motion filed by the Ghana Police Service regarding the intended demonstration.

He, however, apologised to the court for not filing the affidavit prior to Monday, June 14.

“We sought leave to file our affidavit in opposition to the instant motion and we have done same this morning. We seek to apologise to the court for the delay in filing. This is as a result of trying to get a consensus with other protestors as the rest go through the process at the registry,” Mr Foliba told the court.

Counsel for the accused then asked for a short date to serve the state prosecution, who were eager to move the motion today (Monday).

An Assistant State Attorney, Frederick Adu Gyamfi, said he will indulge his colleagues on the other side and wait for the process to be served on them.

The trial judge, Ruby Aryeetey, granted their request and adjourned the case to June 21, for continuation.

Monday’s proceedings comes after the Supreme Court quashed a directive from the Accra High Court judge that indefinitely barred the protestors their intended demonstration.

The order from the High Court was preceded with a clause that suggested the protesters were not to hold any demonstration ever again.

The court was of the view that the order or injunction barring the protesters had a life span of 10 days, and the order became inexistent after 10 days.

The apex court therefore ruled that there was nothing to be quashed as the order given by the High court had already elapsed.

The case will continue on June 21, 2021 at the Accra High Court.

Engagement with the media after court proceedings

One of the protesters Adasti Brown who spoke to the media said they were not perturbed but continue to stand firm despite the delays.