The Chief Justice of Ghana, Gertrude Torkonoo has defended her decision to grant the Attorney General’s request for an expedited hearing of a case filed by NDC MP Rockson-Nelson Dafeamekpor, challenging the approval of certain ministerial nominees.
Torkonoo addressed members of the Judicial Press Corps on Wednesday, April 4, amid a barrage of criticism from the largest opposition party, which accused her of bias.
The Chief Justice revealed that the content of the Attorney General’s letter, insisting on the reasons for the request, was cogent enough to warrant granting the request for an expedited hearing.
“Immediately a process is filed, you have a maximum of 21 days. Give or take another three days for service, you would have another so the instruction is to wait for a minimum of 25 days. If no process is filed, then same here you notice that the thought was set,” she explained.
She added that in this particular case, as soon as the case was filed, the Attorney General filed his response and affidavit, making the case ripe for hearing. With the impending Easter break, the Attorney General cited governance matters as the reason for requesting an urgent hearing.
“So hearing notices were key issues so that the applicant who filed the case himself and he should remove a push to be interested in his case himself will come to court and all the difference and the two other respondents to also come to court,” she stated.
The Chief Justice said she knew that the applicants, Speaker of Parliament, and Attorney General had all been served, and the court dealt with the application on its merits.
On March 27, the Supreme Court dismissed Dafeamekpor’s application, deeming it frivolous and an abuse of the court process. The court concluded that the MP’s case lacked direct relevance to the nominees under consideration in Parliament, as it primarily pertained to reassigned Ministers.
