Martin Amidu has warned against allowing Chief Justice Gertrude Torkornoo to resign during an ongoing impeachment process, referencing a similar incident involving the late Supreme Court Justice Kweku Etrew Amua-Sekyi in 1998.
Amidu recounted how Amua-Sekyi’s resignation was accepted by then-President Jerry John Rawlings, allowing him to exit without facing the consequences of grave misbehaviour.
“The resignation of Kweku Amua-Sekyi was accepted by President Rawlings and Amua-Sekyi resigned without accounting for his grave misbehaviour and thereafter the committee became defunct,” he stated in a new opinion piece.
Amidu, who served as Deputy Attorney-General at the time, maintained that the committee tasked with investigating the allegations should have remained in control of the process.
“My objective position as the Deputy Attorney-General was that once the Committee had become seized of the matter it was for the inquiring committee to determine that the petitioner had abandoned his petition and to discharge Kweku Amua-Sekyi for lack of prosecution.”
Reflecting on the consequences of that decision, Amidu lamented that it paved the way for Amua-Sekyi’s return to public office under President John Agyekum Kufuor, who appointed him Chairman of the National Reconciliation Commission.
“I suspected the main qualification of the appointment was the fact that of the untimely resignation forced upon him. Kweku Amua-Sekyi mounted a vendetta against some of those involved in handling the charges against him.
“The NDC, President Rawlings, and I became victims of Kweku Amua-Sekyi’s vengeance. The snake had been left to go free to have the opportunity to kill the second time, if it could.”
In a striking political anecdote, Amidu revealed the behind-the-scenes maneuvering that prevented a significant blow to the National Democratic Congress (NDC) during the Commission’s hearings.
“Tell the Oldman that I say that if he meets with Commander Assassie Gyimah and the two of them are unable to reconcile their narratives, he should hang it on W. O. Tetteh. The two of them cannot disagree on the basic facts – it will damage us.”
Amidu emphasised that the situation at the Commission’s hearing quickly resolved in the NDC’s favour.
“The circus at the hearing of the Kweku Amua-Sekyi Commission did not last more than ten minutes when President Rawlings appeared before the Commission. The NDC had won the first round.”
Ending with a stark warning, Amidu urged today’s leadership to avoid setting another dangerous precedent. “The President should not let history rhyme again.”
