Former Director of the Ghana School of Law, Kwaku Ansa-Asare, has described the suspended Chief Justice, Gertrude Torkornoo’s legal attempt to halt her removal process as unconstitutional and “very worrying.”
His remarks come after the Chief Justice filed an application at the Supreme Court on Wednesday, May 21, seeking to restrain the committee set up by President Mahama to investigate petitions for her removal.
In the suit, she is requesting an interlocutory injunction to halt all proceedings of the committee, pending the final determination of the case.
The application also seeks to bar Justices Pwamang and Adibu-Asiedu from presiding or participating in any deliberations of the committee.
Speaking on JoyFM’s NewsNight on Wednesday, Mr. Ansa-Asare said the move undermines the Constitution and accused the Chief Justice and her legal team of attempting to disrupt a lawful process.
“This is a very worrying unfolding story that the Chief Justice Gertrude Torkornoo will seek to stop the constitutional process. Any application to stop the process will itself be unconstitutional,” he stated.
He explained that under Article 146 of the 1992 Constitution, only the President has the power to initiate removal proceedings against the Chief Justice, following the receipt of a formal petition.
“The law is that when the application involves the Chief Justice, it is the president and the president alone who may initiate the Chief Justice’s removal process pursuant to the petition to that effect,” he said.
Mr. Ansa-Asare further maintained that President Mahama has complied strictly with the constitutional process.
“The President has not violated any of the chronological stages in the process. Therefore, it will be a very difficult task for anyone to halt it,” he added.
He continued, “It will be a very difficult task for anyone to seek to halt the process. What the lawyers are doing at the moment and what the chief justice herself has done is to bark but cannot bite; they are merely barking.”
