The Supreme Court of Ghana has indefinitely adjourned the hearing of two applications for interlocutory injunction to prevent President John Mahama and the Council of State from acting on three petitions against Chief Justice Gertrude Torkornoo. The adjournment was requested by the Attorney General, citing a conference currently being attended by State Attorneys.
MP Vincent Ekow Assafuah and private citizen Ebenezer Osei-Owusu filed the applications. Assafuah’s suit argues that the President must notify the Chief Justice and obtain her comments before referring a removal petition to the Council of State, as stipulated in Article 146(6) of the Constitution. Failure to do so, he claims, undermines the constitutional protection of the Chief Justice’s security of tenure and violates the right to fair hearing under Articles 23 and 296.
Osei-Owusu’s writ seeks to restrain the President and Council of State from proceeding with removal processes without determining a prima facie case against the Chief Justice and providing her with copies of the petitions. Counsel for Assafuah questioned the absence of the Attorney-General or his deputy in court, considering the importance of the applications.
Ruth Abla ADJORLOLO
