The embattled Timothy Gariba
The Takoradi Circuit Court A, presided over by His Honour Michael Ampadu, on Tuesday, January 12, issued a bench warrant for the arrest of Timothy Gariba, an NPP serial caller in the Tarkwa-Nsuem constituency of the Western Region.
This followed the refusal of the suspect to appear before the court on three different occasions to defend himself on charges of threat on the life of Charles Bissue, a presidential staffer and Western Regional Secretary of the party, during last year’s electioneering campaign.
Reports indicate that Gariba, who was supposed to have appeared before the court on Tuesday, failed to do so because he had no lawyer to defend him.
The prosecutor in the case, Sgt Robert Yawson, who was not happy about the undue delay of the case, due to Gariba’s persistent absence, pleaded with the court to issue the bench warrant for the arrest.
Some party members, who were present at the court, could not fathom why Gariba continuously dodges the sittings. They, however, expressed the hope that with the issuance of the bench warrant, he would be found and brought to the court for finality to be brought to the matter.
The case
As a loyalist of George Mireku Duker, the Tarkwa-Nsuem Member of Parliament, Gariba is said to have taken a centre stage in a fight that ensued between the legislator and Mr Bissue ahead of the 2020 general election.
He was seen using social media platforms, such as Facebook, to insult and threaten Mr Bissue.
He is also said to be the one who started accusing Mr Bissue of collecting money from Joy Joycelyn Andoh, an NPP woman who contested the Tarkwa-Nsuem seat as an independent candidate, to support her candidature.
According to insiders, Mr Bissue could not contain the incessant insults and threats on his life by Gariba, hence the decision to resort to the court to seek redress.
Rashid Fuseini, the Tarkwa-Nsuem constituency secretary, however, says this is nothing but politics and should not have ended in a legal tussle between party members, especially, when the general elections are over with NPP as winners.
Apology
He told journalists that Gariba had already rendered an unqualified apology to Mr Bissue, with some chiefs in the constituency also doing so on his behalf. The constituency secretary has also added his voice to the barrage of apologies rendered. He has also appealed to the regional executives of the party to intervene by convincing Mr Bissue to withdraw the case from the court in the interest of NPP.
According to Mr Fuseini, Gariba is a hardworking serial caller who played a major role in the party’s victory at Tarkwa-Nsuem and should therefore be pardoned for his sins.
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