Martin Amidu has cautioned that any attempt by President John Dramani Mahama to accept the resignation of Chief Justice Gertrude Araba Esaaba Sackey Torkornoo after the establishment of a prima facie case and her suspension would amount to a breach of his constitutional oath and a direct obstruction of justice.
The former Special Prosecutor and Attorney General argued that accepting such a resignation would undermine citizens’ constitutional rights to pursue petitions against justices of the superior court and defeat the very purpose of Article 146’s accountability framework.
“By parity of reasoning, the President who is the recipient of petitions for the removal of the Chief Justice will be abusing his oath of office to obstruct the right of a citizen petitioner to prosecute his petition against the respondent Chief Justice by accepting her resignation after the determination of a prima facie case, the appointment of the pursuant committee to inquire into the petition and her suspension from office. What is good for the goose is good for the gander!” he wrote in an opinion piece.
Amidu recalled a rare precedent in 1998 when Supreme Court Justice Kweku Etrew Amua-Sekyi was allowed to resign after a prima facie case had been established against him. He revealed he personally opposed that decision.
“The only occasion in Ghana when a justice of the superior court’s resignation was accepted during the pendency of an inquiry by the appointed committee by a Chief Justice after the determination of a prima facie case against the respondent was in the case of the late Mr. Justice Kweku Etrew Amua-Sekyi in 1998 when he was a Supreme Court judge,” Amidu explained.
He recounted that the Chief Justice at the time, Philip Archer, determined a prima facie case following a petition filed by fellow Supreme Court judge Isaac Kobina Abban. A committee chaired by Justice Acquah was constituted to investigate the case, and the docket was forwarded to the Attorney-General’s Office to assign prosecuting counsel.
However, before the process could unfold, Justice Amua-Sekyi submitted his resignation. Amidu said he strongly opposed it.
“When the resignation letter was brought to my notice, I told the Judicial Secretary that, when one wounds a snake one must decapitate it otherwise it will live to kill the next time round,” he recalled.
Even though Justice Abban later suggested letting Justice Amua-Sekyi go, Amidu said he maintained his stance.
“Justice Abban called me to say that if he wants to go let him go after all that was the substance of what he wanted with his petition. I repeated the snake proverb to him. I repeated the proverb to the Attorney-General and President Rawlings when my position was reported to them,” he added.
