Mr Kwaku Ansa-Asare, former Director, Ghana School of Law, Saturday said the recent press conference held by the suspended Chief Justice constitute a betrayal of the 1992 Constitution.
He said Chief Justice Gertrude Sackey Torkornoo, by her actions, was “betraying the very constitution she swore to protect,” describing the current judiciary as an “ailing” institution in need of serious reform.
Mr Ansa-Asare, speaking on a television discussion monitored by the Ghana News Agency, said though the press conference was unexpected, it gave critical grounds to analyse the Constitution and do the necessary amendments.
He said the frustrations expressed by the suspended Chief Justice over the processes for her removal meant that “she has supervised a judicial system that can frustrate litigants.”
Mr Ansa-Asare’s remarks come amid public discussion surrounding the Chief Justice’s suspension and the press conference she organised earlier in the week.
He expressed concern that Chief Justice Torkornoo “went out there into the public” when the committee set up by President John Dramani Mahama to probe the petitions against her was still doing its work and underscored the importance of respecting the constitutional framework when addressing judicial issues.
Mr Ansa-Asare said the President acted based on his respect of the Constitution, guided by Article 146, adding; “If Chief Justice Torkornoo will take my advice, she should write and apologise to the President.”
He said successive governments had historically deviated from constitutional provisions regarding judicial appointments and the administration of justice, leading to a lack of public confidence in those institutions.
Mr Ansa-Asare, however commended the Chief Justice, in her current predicament, for exposing the systematic weaknesses within the justice delivery system, confirming what the majority of the public perceived the Judiciary to be.
He noted that the public had long held the belief that “there is something fundamentally wrong with the way justice is administered” in the country.
Mr Ansa-Asare argued that the Chief Justice’s public assertion of not taking bribes was an admission that corruption was “quite pervasive” in Ghana’s judicial system.
Touching on her concerns of secrecy and alleged cover-ups, he said that suggested a “bad state” for Ghana’s judiciary and called for an overhaul of the judicial system.
He expressed the hope that Chief Justice Torkornoo’s plight could spur actions to address the deep-seated problems within Ghana’s justice delivery system.
Chief Justice Sackey Torkornoo, in her press conference on Wednesday, said she would marshal every effort in law and leadership to demand justice in the process being used to remove her from office.
She said she had been confronted with “a model of injustice” she never would have thought possible if she had not been exposed to the circumstances surrounding her removal process.
“Let me assure everybody that I do not seek to cling to a title or position…I consider it my onerous duty and obligation to speak up concerning the administration of justice in the country,” she said.