A leading member of Movement for Change, Hopeson Adorye, has questioned the rationale behind the criticism expressed by the New Patriotic Party (NPP) and others over the suspension of Chief Justice Gertrude Torkornoo.
He stated that President John Dramani Mahama has not breached any provision in the constitution but has affirmed his fidelity to the law in the process of the removal of the Chief Justice.
Hopeson Adorye is, therefore, asking those who have called for reinstatement to answer whether Ghana will not move forward or ahead should the suspended Chief Justice die.
”The constitution clearly states what the president should do when receiving a petition to remove the Chief Justice. If the president ignores the petition, he faces impeachment. He has acted on the petitions he received, and the prima facie case has been determined; a committee has been formed, and she has been suspended. The president is unable to change the committee’s recommendations. If the recommendations say she should be reinstated, the president cannot change them, nor can she be fired. The president has no control over the situation”.
He maintained that ”President Mahama has fulfilled a constitutional duty. The politicisation of the issues has made it difficult for the Chief Justice to resolve. Why are certain political parties defending the Chief Justice? Some of her problems stem from malfeasance. Aside from her incompetence and other related issues, an internal audit was conducted, which revealed that she had misconducted herself”.
He was interacting with Monarch Darkwa Young and Dr. Ren on Tik Tok.
One of the petitions claimed that in 2023, the Chief Justice misappropriated GHS 261,890.00 in public funds for her private foreign travel with her husband, Mr Francis Kofi Torkornoo, and her daughter, Miss Edem S.A. Torkornoo, as well as US$30,000 in per diem allowances, despite knowing that neither her husband nor daughter were entitled to have their travel or allowances paid for by Judicial Service funds.
She has also been accused of misappropriating GHS 75,580.00 from public funds to purchase Ethiopian Airlines tickets for herself and her husband during her vacation to Arusha, Tanzania.
The petitioner also claims that in 2023, the suspended Chief Justice received an accountable imprest of US$14,000 from the Judicial Service to travel with her husband to Arusha, Tanzania, from which she failed to retire.
Mr Adroye, for his part, noted that during one of their travels, the Chief Justice and her husband upgraded their business class tickets to first class and paid an additional $9,000 for the tickets, and when this was brought to her attention, she agreed to repay the $9,000.
‘’ Whether she has paid or not, the basic question is: Did she breach any law or did she misbehave? Her admission to pay back the money meant she had breached the law. The moment she agreed to pay back the money, it meant that she had breached the law.
If we can demand that a corrupt president or minister be punished, is the Chief Justice God who is immune from punishment for misconduct? The way the NPP is behaving is unfortunate and will prevent us from moving forward as a nation. If the NPP demands that we let the Chief Justice off the hook, it would be inappropriate to punish a corrupt minister.”
By: Rainbowradioonline.com/Ghana
