Kwaku Ansa-Asare, former Director of the Ghana School of Law, has labeled as unconstitutional the recent legal maneuver by suspended Chief Justice Gertrude Torkornoo to stop proceedings that could lead to her removal from office.
Justice Torkornoo, who was suspended by President John Dramani Mahama under Article 146 of the Ghanaian Constitution following three separate petitions against her, has taken the matter to the Supreme Court.
She is seeking to disqualify Justices Gabriel Scott Pwamang and Samuel Asiedu from the ongoing inquiry, claiming they had private discussions with a lawyer involved in the case. Additionally, she is pursuing an interlocutory injunction to halt the work of the committee set up to investigate the petitions.
The legal application was filed on her behalf by former Attorney-General Godfred Yeboah Dame.
In an interview on Wednesday, May 21, Ansa-Asare strongly criticized the move, warning it could destabilize Ghana’s constitutional process.
“This is deeply troubling,” he said. “For the Chief Justice to attempt to block a constitutionally mandated process is itself unconstitutional.”
He stressed that President Mahama followed the correct legal steps and that the process should not be disrupted.
“The President has adhered to all the necessary procedural stages. Trying to stop it now will be an uphill, if not impossible, task,” he said.
Taking a swipe at the legal team’s efforts, Ansa-Asare concluded, “What they are doing is simply barking without the ability to bite — it’s just noise.”
