Suspension of Chief Justice: LINSOD urges President Mahama to ignore GBA's request
Lawyers in Search of Democracy (LINSOD), a legal and civil society organisation, has urged President John Dramani Mahama to disregard the resolution by the Ghana Bar Association (GBA) calling for the revocation of the suspension of Chief Justice Gertrude Torkornoo.
The group, which claims to be made up of members of the GBA, emphasised that the President acted lawfully in suspending Chief Justice Torkornoo, as he followed due process as outlined in Article 146(10) of the 1992 Constitution regarding the removal of such officers.
Speaking at a press conference last Wednesday, in Accra, LINSOD President, Eric Delanyo Alifo, stated that in accordance with Article 146(10)(a) of the Constitution, the President, by a warrant and on the advice of the Council of State, suspended the Chief Justice pending the outcome of investigations into allegations made against her.
“It is important to note that, in line with Article 146(6) of the 1992 Constitution and a Supreme Court decision in Frank Agyei Twum vs Attorney General and Bright Akwetey [2006], President John Dramani Mahama, upon receiving the petitions, duly consulted with the Council of State and forwarded the petitions to the Chief Justice, Mrs Torkornoo, to allow her to provide her initial response.
“This step enabled the President and the Council of State to assess whether the petitions disclosed a prima facie case against the Chief Justice,” he explained.
"The GBA in their resolution has not demonstrated any evidence of procedural impropriety, bias, arbitrariness, or unfairness in the suspension of the Chief Justice to warrant its call on the President to revoke the suspension.
“We, therefore, wish to restate that we find the Association's resolution ignominiously procured, and we call on the President of the Republic to ignore the said resolution as one of the many small noises of the New Patriotic Party (NPP) and its GBA affiliate
"The law is the law" and the GBA must not prescribe anything else other than the law," he said.
Double standards
Mr Alifo said on April 24, the GBA issued a cautious statement that found no fault with President Mahama’s handling of the process.
The statement merely advised the President and all parties involved to continue upholding the principles of the Constitution.
However, unexpectedly, on Saturday, April 26, the GBA released a purported resolution—reportedly passed by fewer than 50 of the over 8,000 lawyers in Ghana—condemning the manner in which President Mahama had managed the removal process of the Chief Justice, and calling on him to revoke the suspension.
"Upon reading the said resolution, we noted with disdain and utter shock the contradictory positions taken by the GBA in its statements of April 24 and April 29. The Association has demonstrated glaring double standards in this matter, which is deeply shameful," he emphasised.
"Having closely observed the ongoing constitutional process outlined in Article 146 for the removal of Justices of the Superior Courts—and specifically the case involving Chief Justice Mrs Torkornoo—we at LINSOD cannot help but express tremendous admiration for His Excellency President John Mahama.
His strict adherence to due process and his commitment to upholding the rule of law and constitutionalism are commendable," he added.
Prima facie
The group also argued that the GBA's demand for the President to publicly disclose the proceedings that led to the establishment of a prima facie case against the Chief Justice—while the removal process was still ongoing—amounted to encouraging the President to act unlawfully.
