… Group Calls in Asantehene’s Intervention
A potential legal battle is brewing between the Office of the Attorney General (AG) and the troubled Chief Justice, Justice Gertrude Araba Esaaba Sackey Torkornoo, as the AG has filed a motion at the Human Rights Division of the High Court, aiming to dismiss the suspended Chief Justice’s request for judicial review.
The AG’s office is citing fundamental legal defects in the filing.
Last week, the suspended Chief Justice in a move suspected to be calculated to delay the legal process to determine her faith, instructed her lawyers to file an application for judicial review at the High Court, seeking to declare the ongoing proceedings for her removal from office as unlawful and void.
Speaking at a press briefing in Accra on Wednesday, June 25, Justice Torkornoo described the process currently being undertaken by the committee set up under Article 146 of the Constitution as “a total absence of compliance with all known rules of fair hearing.”
“It is this total absence of compliance with all known rules of fair hearing that has caused my lawyers to file applications for judicial review in the High Court to declare all the proceedings void,” she stated.
But in a sworn affidavit by State Attorney Reginald Nii Odoi, the AG’s office contends the application contains a “grave misstatement of capacity” and fails to include mandatory parties, rendering it legally incompetent. The Attorney General’s affidavit argues that the matters raised are either already adjudicated by the Supreme Court or currently pending before it.
The Attorney General maintains the Human Rights Court lacks jurisdiction, warning that entertaining the application would constitute judicial overreach and violate established Supreme Court precedents.
The motion seeks to prevent what the AG sees as parallel litigation on matters already before the apex court.
In a recent development, the People’s National Party (PNP), a breakaway party from the People’s National Convention (PNC), has also submitted a petition to the Asantehene, Otumfuo Osei Tutu II, seeking his intervention in what the party describes as a politically motivated attempt by President John Dramani Mahama and the National Democratic Congress (NDC) to remove the suspended Chief Justice.
Speaking to the media after presenting the petition on Tuesday, July 1, PNP leader Janet Nabila condemned the circumstances surrounding the Chief Justice’s suspension.
She accused the Mahama administration of trying to exert undue control over all three arms of government and described the suspension process as “a political witch hunt.”
Janet Nabila expressed concern about what she sees as a pattern of victimisation against women, warning that the ordeal faced by Justice Torkornoo threatens Ghana’s democratic and judicial integrity.
“We came to Manhyia to petition the Asantehene because we believe our traditional authorities must intervene when state institutions fail. As women, we are deeply disturbed that a female Chief Justice is being targeted in this way. I wept listening to her speak about her suffering,” she said.
She also criticised the timing of the government’s actions, pointing to the National Day of Prayer and Thanksgiving.
“You cannot genuinely pray and give thanks while acting with such vindictiveness. What we need is a National Day of Repentance,” she added.
Responding to claims of bias for not speaking out during the removal of former Electoral Commission Chairperson Charlotte Osei, Nabila denied any double standards, insisting the PNP’s position is based on principle, not politics.
The party has called on Otumfuo Osei Tutu II to use his moral authority and influence to ensure justice and fairness in the ongoing process.
By Prince Ahenkorah