L-R: Vincent Assafuah, Gertrude Torkornoo and President John Dramani Mahama
The Member of Parliament for Old Tafo, Vincent Ekow Assafuah, has filed a suit at the Supreme Court, requesting the court to declare the consultation process with the Council of State by President John Dramani Mahama regarding the removal of the Chief Justice as unconstitutional.
In the application, filed through his legal team, Dame and Partners Unlimited, Assafuah suggests that, upon a proper interpretation of the 1992 Constitution by the apex court, the Chief Justice must be provided with copies of the petitions presented to the president for her removal before the president can consult with the Council of State regarding her removal.
Assafuah expressed the view that Article 146 of the Constitution mandates the president to notify the Chief Justice about the petition seeking her removal and to seek her opinion on the matter before proceeding further.
He is therefore asking the court to declare that President Mahama’s failure to comply with the processes outlined in the Constitution, and his decision to forward the petitions to the Council of State for further action, is null, void, and of no effect.
The lawmaker made this known on his social media handles, sharing a copy of the writ application filed at the Supreme Court on Thursday, March 27, 2025.
His suit follows the president’s announcement, made through the Minister of State in charge of Government Communications, Felix Kwakye Ofosu, that three petitions demanding the removal of Chief Justice Gertrude Torkornoo would be forwarded to the Council of State for consultation.
Read Assafuah’s reliefs below:
(i) A declaration that upon a true and proper interpretation of articles 146(1), (2), (4), (6) and (7), 23, 57(3) and 296 of the Constitution, the President is mandated to notify the Chief Justice about a petition for the removal of the Chief Justice and obtain his or her comments and responses to the content of such petition before referring the petition to the Council of State or commencing the consultation processes with the Council of State for the removal of the Chief Justice;
(ii) a declaration that upon a true and proper interpretation of articles 146(1), (2), (4), (6) and (7), 23 and 296 of the Constitution, a failure by the President to notify the Chief Justice and obtain his or her comments and responses to a petition for the removal of the Chief Justice before triggering the consultation process with the Council of State constitutes a violation of article 146(6) as well as the constitutional protection of the security of tenure of the Chief Justice who is a Justice of the Superior Court of Judicature stipulated in article 146(1) of the Constitution.
(iii) a declaration that upon a true and proper interpretation of articles 146(1), (2), (4), (6) and (7), 23,(57(3) and 296 of the Constitution, a failure by the President to notify the Chief Justice and obtain his or her comments and responses to a petition for the removal of the Chief Justice before triggering the consultation process with the Council of State amounts to an unjustified interference with the independence of the Judiciary enshrined in article 127(1) and (2) of the Constitution;
(iv) a declaration that the failure by the President to notify the Chief Justice and obtain her comments and responses to a petition for the removal of the Chief Justice before triggering the process for her removal, constitutes a violation of the fundamental right to a fair hearing contained in articles 23 and 296, and renders the consultation processes for the removal of the Chief Justice initiated by the President null, void and of no effect;
(v) any other order(s) as to this Honourable Court may seem meet.
This morning, I instructed my lawyers to file a writ at the Supreme Court praying the court to declare the consultation processes triggered by the President as Null and Void and of no effect. pic.twitter.com/MsOV7Pxzwn
— Vincent Ekow Assafuah, Esq. MP (@ekowassafuah_) March 27, 2025
MAG/EK
Meanwhile, watch as Adum traders hoot at interior minister, reject 1,500 bags of rice, boxes of cooking oil
Meanwhile, watch this concluding part of our sit-down with the 100-year-old World War II veteran, who was also present at the 28th February Shooting, below:
