Televise Chief Justice Torkornoo's removal petition proceedings live - Prof Mike Oquaye
The proceedings of the five-member committee looking into the three petitions asking for the removal of Chief Justice Gertrude Torkornoo from office should be televised live, a former Speaker of Parliament, Professor Aaron Mike Oquaye, has said.
According to him, even though Article 146(8) of the 1992 Constitution states clearly that hearing of petitions of such nature should be held in camera, the matters involving Chief Justice Torkornoo are already in the public domain and have generated public interest.
To him, it was therefore prudent to allow the proceedings to be televised live so that there could be openness.
“Justice emanates from the people,” he said. “If justice belongs to the people, how can they be shut out from knowing what is going on? The process belongs to them,” he said in a television interview with Joy News, aired on Thursday.
According to the political scientist and lawyer, an in-camera hearing of this matter, considering the political interests at stake as of now, could undermine public confidence in Ghana’s judiciary.
Prof. Oquaye likened a secret hearing to hiring a labourer who refuses to let the farm owner inspect the work. “Would that be reasonable?” he asked. “Justice must not only be done—it must be seen to be done.”
He challenged the justification that secrecy protects the dignity of high office. “The Chief Justice has already been named. The matter is public. So what are we protecting?”
Prof. Oquaye insisted that the accused should be given the option of a public hearing.
“Why shouldn’t she be able to say, ‘Let the people of Ghana hear my case’?” he asked.
Laying a foundation for why he was suggesting that the proceedings should not be in-camera in line with Article 148(8), Prof. Oquaye, invoked both jurisprudence and history to underscore his argument.
He referenced the British Magna Carta and Ghana’s past with secretive tribunals that denied accused persons the chance to face their accusers.
“We all know the history of this country,” he said. “People were blindfolded and pushed into dark rooms. That was the past. We must not repeat it,” he said.
He called for a Supreme Court pronouncement to clarify the constitutional tension between Article 146(8), which mandates private hearings, and Article 19, which guarantees the right to a fair and public trial.
Prof. Oquaye also cited historical examples of judges and lawyers being targeted for unpopular rulings, warning against systems that enable politically motivated justice.
When asked whether he would personally appear before a secret committee if in Chief Justice Torkornoo’s position, Prof. Oquaye was clear: “No. I would not appear. You put me in a room, come out, and pronounce judgment? I don’t trust that.”
He stressed that his concerns were constitutional, not political, and urged Ghanaians to protect the integrity of the country’s judicial process.
“This is the first time a sitting Chief Justice has been taken to court. Let’s do it right. Let the process be open. Let the people see justice in action.”
3 petitions
Following the establishment of a prima facie case in three petitions asking that Chief Justice Torkornoo should be removed from office for stated misbehaviour and misconduct, President John Dramani Mahama has suspended her and formed a five member committee of inquiry in line with Article 146(6) of the Constitution.
