President Akufo-Addo has dismissed a petition by private legal practitioner, Prof. Stephen Kwaku Asare, for the removal of Chief Justice Gertrude Torkornoo.
Legal Counsel for President Akufo-Addo, Kow Essauman, responding to the petition on behalf of the President, described it as “unmeritorious and unwarranted.”.
He also indicated that the petition lacked prima facie evidence to constitute the removal of the Chief Justice.
“On the strength of all of the above, I find that no prima facie case is disclosed by the instant petition for the removal of the Chief Justice. The petition is devoid of any basis warranting the setting up of a committee under article 146 (6)…The petition is dismissed accordingly”.
It went on to state that the Council of State, after perusing the petition by Prof. Stephen Kwaku Asare, concluded that “the Petitioner did not seem to have a clear understanding of the laws and rules governing the administration of justice and the peculiar role and powers given to the Chief Justice for the proper administration of the judicial service.”
It was the position of the Council that the petition does not disclose any facts of wrongdoing and, therefore, no prima facie case had been made upon which the Council could make a recommendation for an investigation to be conducted.
It therefore advised the president to dismiss the petition because it was “frivolous” and “vexatious.”.
“The petitioner fails to submit any evidence to support this allegation. He also fails to demonstrate the source of these “reported incidences.” Who reported them? Where were they reported? These alleged reported incidences cannot even be treated as hearsay evidence. At best, they are conjecture and speculation, which have no place in a petition to remove a Chief Justice from office,” the letter added.
By: Rainbowradioonline.com/Ghana
