Former Attorney General, Ayikoi Otoo
Former Attorney General and Minister for Justice, Ayikoi Otoo, has voiced concerns over the spread of misinformation regarding the ongoing process that could lead to the removal of Chief Justice Gertrude Torkornoo.
Speaking on Joy FM’s Newsfile programme, he questioned the reliability of certain reports circulating in the public domain.
“I’m not surprised because, were we not in this country when we heard that Zanetor Rawlings had been given a post, only for us to realize that nothing of that existed?
And these were all on letterhead from the Office of the President, yet it turned out not to be true,” he remarked, highlighting past instances where false information had been widely shared.
His comments come amid heightened public interest in petitions filed against the Chief Justice, a development that has sparked intense debate within legal and political circles.
While the specifics of the petitions remain undisclosed, speculation and conflicting reports have fueled concerns over misinformation.
Furthermore, a private legal practitioner, Kwame Adofo, has raised concerns over what he describes as flaws in Ghana’s constitutional framework for removing a Chief Justice.
Speaking on The Forum on Asaase Radio, he argued that the current system leaves the head of the judiciary vulnerable to political influence.
“The question of making a prima facie case is not left to a politician or an ordinary person; it is left to a judge, who happens to be the Chief Justice,” he explained.
“But when it comes to the Chief Justice, that determination rests in the hands of the President, and that is dangerous.”
He pointed out a difference in how the Constitution treats the removal of other Superior Court judges versus the Chief Justice.
