On the morning of October 11, 2023, things took an unexpected turn when Justice Edward Twum postponed the hearing until 3 p.m. to rule on a request made by Mad. Cecilia Dapaah against the Special Prosecutor for an expedited hearing of the Special Prosecutor’s application for confirmation.
Martin Kpebu, a lawyer and a frequent panellist on TV3’s weekend political affairs program, was in court for a different issue.
After the judge stood up, Mr. Kpebu was outside the courtroom with his clients. As Mad. Cecilia Dapaah and her husband left the courtroom, they were accompanied by their lawyers led by Mrs. Victoria Barth.
Mrs. Barth approached Mr. Kpebu outside the courthouse and started a dialogue with him that eventually got heated.
Mrs Barth disapproved of Mr Kpebu’s comments regarding negative media coverage, as he is a legal professional bound by ethical rules.
Mrs. Barth was heard yelling at Mr. Kpebu, “as a lawyer”, “as a lawyer,” in response to comments he made that she believed to be inaccurate and unfair to her client, especially coming from a lawyer.
Mad. Dapaah approached Mr. Kpebu and calmly pointed out the unfairness of his commentary.
She had previously shown Mr. Kpebu signs that seemed to indicate that she was trying to calm him down.
Mr. Kpebu did not disregard Mrs. Barth’s advice to pay attention to the ethical standards expected of a lawyer when commenting on legal subjects in court.
He made a strong argument to Mad. Dapaah and other people that all he was doing was providing a running commentary on the situation using the facts that were available, implying a sense of fearlessness in his commentary.
See the photos below:
