Lawyers for Dr. Gabriel Tanko Kwamigah-Atokple, Council of State member and Sesi-Edem Company Limited, have filed a contempt application at the High Court against media personality Abubakar Ahmed, popularly known as Blakk Rasta.
The application follows a series of alleged broadcasts that the lawyers say scandalise the judiciary and undermine the administration of justice.
The application, brought under Article 19(12) of the 1992 Constitution, is seeking an order to commit the broadcaster to prison for contempt of court.
“I am accordingly advised and do verily believe that the Respondent is in clear and continuing contempt of this Honourable Court, and that it is in the interest of justice that the Court intervenes to uphold its authority and protect the integrity of its processes by committing the Respondent to prison for contempt, to safeguard the administration of justice,” the lawyers stated.
According to the motion and supporting affidavit, the case stems from multiple broadcasts published on the respondent’s media platforms, including his widely followed YouTube channel, concerning ongoing proceedings before the High Court involving the Economic and Organised Crime Office (EOCO) and Dr Kwamigah-Atokple.
The affidavit says that between April 13 and April 28, 2026, the respondent produced at least six broadcasts on the matter, addressing issues such as a court order freezing the applicant’s accounts and a pending motion for stay of execution.
Counsel for the applicants, Mawunyo Kofi Adjaho of Knightscild Chambers, argued that the broadcasts formed a sustained and deliberate campaign targeting the court, the presiding judge, Justice Richard Appietu, as well as the parties and their legal representatives.
The filing points to several statements in which the respondent allegedly used harsh and derogatory language, describing the court’s decision as fundamentally flawed. He is specifically accused of stating that the judge had “messed up the whole thing” and attributing comments to other judges suggesting confusion and disassociation from the ruling—claims the applicants say falsely portray the judiciary as divided.
In another instance, the respondent allegedly suggested that a judge declined involvement in the matter to avoid “soiling” his hands, which the applicants argue implies impropriety or corruption.
The affidavit also cites a separate broadcast in which Blakk Rasta is alleged to have said:
“Tanko is going to the court, where we all are supposed to get justice ultimately. But again, our courts are seen to have some rodents in there who can just do anything, as Anas Aremeyaw Anas exposed to us the other day in his exposé… Congratulations to EOCO for not getting frightened or hindered by any court or anything that has to do with the law.”
The lawyers further argued that, “The description of the judges as ‘rodents’, made in the same statement and in the same context as the Anas corruption exposé references, further compounds the scandalisation of this Honourable Court and reinforces the Contemnor’s broader campaign of undermining judicial authority in the proceedings.”
Lawyers for the applicants contend that the remarks not only use offensive language against members of the judiciary but also encourage disregard for judicial authority. They argued that praising EOCO for not being “hindered by any court or anything that has to do with the law” amounts to endorsing defiance of court orders and poses a threat to the rule of law.
The applicants maintained that the statements, taken together with other broadcasts, form part of a continuous narrative aimed at undermining public confidence in the judiciary and exerting improper external pressure on a sitting judge in an ongoing case.
According to the affidavit, the conduct constitutes the common law offence of scandalising the court, with an additional ground of contempt being the alleged intimidation of officers of the court.
The case is expected to be heard at the High Court in Accra in May 2026.
Blakk Rasta is yet to respond to the contempt application.
Click here to read the motion filed by the lawyers of Kwamigah-Atokple
