A leading member of the Convention People’s Party (CPP), Lawyer Kwame Jantuah, has hit back at claims that President John Dramani Mahama is masterminding the removal of Chief Justice Gertrude Esaaba Torkonoo.
He dismissed the claims as misleading and politically motivated, stating that President Mahama only acted in accordance with constitutional provisions after receiving petitions from private individuals.
His comments follow growing concerns from the opposition New Patriotic Party (NPP) and its sympathisers, who accuse President Mahama of deliberately seeking to oust the Chief Justice through politically engineered petitions.
But reacting to the claims on Accra-based Joy Prime on Thursday, May 22, Mr Jantuah said the petitions were not authored by the President and urged the public to separate facts from political mischief.
“Who brought the petition? There were individuals. Was it the President? No,” he stated.
Mr Jantuah explained that President Mahama acted in line with Article 146 of the 1992 Constitution, which outlines the procedure for handling such petitions, including provisions for suspension based on the advice of the Council of State.
“If the President had left the petition, did nothing about it, wouldn’t we have blamed him for not taking action? Is there no process in the Constitution that states what the President should do?” he asked.
“Why does the NPP think it is the President who wants to sack the Chief Justice? The Constitution is clear. The President has only followed due process,” he added.
Meanwhile, the embattled Chief Justice, who was suspended on April 22, has filed a lawsuit seeking a reversal of her suspension, an interlocutory injunction on the work of the committee probing the petitions against her, as well as a demand for a public hearing.
