Accra: A private citizen is evoking the jurisdiction of the Supreme Court in respect of the removal of Chief Justice Gertrude Sackey Torkornoo. The writ, filed by Godfred Yeboah Dame, former Attorney General, for Vincent Ekow Assifuah, against the Attorney General, is seeking the following reliefs.
According to Ghana News Agency, Mr. Assifuah, the plaintiff and Member of Parliament for Old Tafo, is seeking a true and proper interpretation of Articles 146 (1), (2), (4) (6) and (7), 23, 57 (3) and 296 of the Constitution. It is stated that the President must notify the Chief Justice about a petition for her removal and obtain her comments and responses to the petition before referring it to the Council of State for consultation.
The plaintiff is also seeking a true and proper interpretation of Articles 146 (1), (2), (4) (6) and (7), 23 and 296 of the Constitution. The writ contends that a failure by the President to notify the Chief Justice and obtain comments and responses to a petition for her removal before triggering the consultation process with the Council of State amounts to an unjustified interference with the independence of the judiciary enshrined in Article 127 (1) and (2) of the Constitution.
Furthermore, it is argued that such failure constitutes a violation of the fundamental right to a fair hearing contained in Articles 23 and 296, rendering the consultation processes for the removal of the Chief Justice, initiated by the President, null, void, and of no effect.
