A former Director of the Ghana School of Law and private legal practitioner, Ansah Asare, has described the recent public address by suspended Chief Justice, Gertrude Araba Torkornoo, as inappropriate, accusing her of “running amok” amid her ongoing impeachment process.
In an interview on Morning Starr with Naa Dedei Tettey on Thursday, June 26, Ansah Asare criticised both Justice Torkornoo and the Judicial Council for what he described as poor handling of the situation.
According to him, the Judicial Council has failed in its constitutional duty to properly advise and guide the suspended Chief Justice, leading to what he termed as her public outbursts.
“What she did yesterday was inappropriate. And once again, I would like to find out from the council of state why they are abdicating their constitutional responsibility of counselling the chief justice,” Mr. Asare stated.
“It appears that the lady chief justice, is running amok because she has no judicial council to lean on. She has to lean on, you know, an entity’s shoulder, and she can’t find one. That is why she did what she did.”
Mr. Asare stressed that the Judicial Council is mandated to guide the Chief Justice on proper conduct both on the bench and in public, and they should not wait to be approached before offering such counsel.
“I would rather criticise the judicial council for allowing Her ladyship to run amok, it’s not good for the image of the country. The Judicial Council as been established and among its functions is to council the chief justice how to behave on the bench when the need to draw attention to it, and how to behave in public, and what to do and what not to do. It is the job of the judicial council,” he added.
Justice Torkornoo, who is facing impeachment proceedings under Article 146 of the 1992 Constitution, held a press conference on Wednesday, June 25, where she described the process as unconstitutional, irregular, and politically motivated.
She also raised concerns about the choice of Adu Lodge, a state facility located along Castle Drive in Osu, as the venue for the proceedings, describing it as symbolically troubling.
She insisted that resigning would wrongly imply an admission of guilt and fuel political manipulation of the situation.
Source: Ghana/Starrfm.com.gh/Hamdia Mohammed
