Private legal practitioner and member of the Convention People’s Party (CPP), Yaw Anokye Frimpong, has urged suspended Chief Justice Gertrude Esaaba Torkonoo to voluntarily resign amid the ongoing process seeking her removal from office.
According to him, once a president sets up a committee of inquiry under Article 146, it indicates a firm decision has already been made to dismiss the person in question.
Speaking on GTV’s Breakfast Show on Thursday, June 26, the former CPP flagbearer aspirant said the Chief Justice would be better off stepping down before the committee concludes its work.
“I will tell you that any president who sets up a committee to investigate you intends to dismiss you. We should take caution and leave office before the report comes out,” he stated.
Justice Torkonoo, on Wednesday, June 25, held a press conference where she raised several concerns about the process, claiming it was part of a deliberate scheme to violate her rights and remove her unjustly.
At the press conference, she acknowledged receiving threats to her life from individuals seeking her resignation but said she would not resign to validate an unjust process.
However, responding to the press conference, Lawyer Anokye said her approach was wrong, arguing that a judge should use the courts, not the media, to address grievances related to judicial matters.
“By her training as a lawyer and as a judge, she knows that we don’t publicize judicial matters. You don’t do that, so the public statement she made is completely wrong,” he said.
He added, “If there is any aspect of the trial or investigation that violates her rights, the constitution gives her the right to go to the High Court or the Supreme Court to challenge it—not the media.”
