Private legal practitioner Kwaku Azar has argued that the Chief Justice, Gertrude Sackey Torkornoo, has no constitutional right to be heard at this stage of the petitions seeking her removal from office.
His argument comes after the Chief Justice requested copies of petitions submitted to President John Dramani Mahama seeking her removal from office.
Her request comes after President Mahama initiated consultations with the Council of State, following the submission of three petitions calling for her removal.
Reacting to the request, Kwaku Azar explained that the central to the process to remove her from office is the requirement that a prima facie case be established before a full investigative committee is constituted, adding that this threshold determination is not a trial, nor an inquiry.
In a Facebook post, Kwaku Azar noted that because it is purely preliminary and administrative, the public officer petitioned against has no constitutional right to be heard at this stage, stressing that this is a deliberate constitutional provision.
He further stated that “Allowing a response before a prima facie determination would not only collapse the two-stage process into a single, premature inquiry—it would invite a back-and-forth: a response, a counter-response, a rebuttal—all of which are the hallmarks of an inquiry.”
“Moreover, permitting the officer to see or respond to the petition too early would risk politicizing the process and compromising its integrity. If every petition triggered a response, then every response could invite a counter-response, making a mockery of the gatekeeping role that the Constitution entrusts to the Chief Justice (146(3)) or the President (146(6) and Agyei Twum).”
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