Contemporary Constitutional Issues in our Multiparty Democracy FOREWORD Dr. Raymond Atuguba held the below published lecture at the“Re Akoto and Seven Others Memorial Lecture” jointly organised by the Ghana School of Law and the Friedrich-Ebert-Stiftung on April 22 nd 2009 at the British Council Hall in Accra. The Ghana School of Law organises this Lecture annually since 2006. to commemorate this significant case. The facts of the case of Re Akoto 1 were beautifully narrated in the first Re Akoto Lecture 2 by the Late Honourable Peter Ala Adjetey, the second Speaker of the Fourth Republican Parliament and a great and distinguished lawyer of his time, who served as the President of the Ghana Bar Associations on several occasions. “The Appellants in the case, namely, Baffour Osei Akoto, Senior Linguist to the Asantehene, Peter Alex Danso alias Kwaku Danso, lorry driver, Osei Assibey Mensah, storekeeper, Nana Antwi Kusi Busiako alias John Mensah “Nkofohene” of Kumasi, Joseph Kojo Antwi-Kusi alias Anane Antwi-Kusi, Benjamin Kweku Owusu, produce manager, Andrew Kojo Edusei, auctioneer and letter writer, Alidu Kramo, transport owner, all of Kumasi, Ashanti and one other whose name does not appear in the Report, were arrested and placed in detention on the 10 th and 11 th days of November, 1959 under the authority of an order made by the Governor-General of Ghana and signed on his behalf by the Minister of the Interior, Mr. A. E. Inkumsah, dated the 10 th day of November 1959 and made under section 2 of the Preventive Detention Act, 1953(No.17 of 1958). The order said that “the Governor-General is satisfied that this Order is necessary to prevent the persons in the Schedule to this Order acting in a manner prejudicial to the security of the State”. The persons named in the Schedule to the order were, of course, the Appellants, Baffour Osei Yaw Akoto and his compatriots. The Appellants applied to the High Court for writs of habeas corpus but their applications were refused. They then appealed to the old Supreme Court constituted by Korsah, CJ, and Van Lare and Akiwumi, JJSC. They were represented by no less a lawyer than Dr. Joseph Boakye Danquah. He was described by the well-known Watson Commission as the“doyen of Gold Coast politics”. The Commission was appointed to enquire into the 1 Re Akoto[1961] GLR 523, S.C and Re Akoto 2 G& G(Gyandoh& Griffiths), 160. 2 Peter Ala Adjetey,“Re Akoto, Its Impact on Constitutional Law Development in Ghana”, Keynote address delivered at the 2006 Annual Law Week celebrations of the Students Representative Council of the Ghana School of Law,(March 2006). 1