…Threw out petitions from Labadi, SALL & ASEPA
President Nana Akufo-Addo, has fostered an environment reminiscent of George Orwell’s “Animal Farm,” where favouritism, selectivity, and personal interest, dictate leadership actions.
Those perceived as enemies are ostracized and removed for not conforming to the administration’s ideals, leading to a culture of exclusion.
Last week’s recent petition by former Special Prosecutor, Martin Amidu, has intensified scrutiny on the President’s selective governance. Amidu had urged President Akufo-Addo, to dismiss his successor, Kissi Agyebeng, for refusing to provide him with the information requested through multiple Right to Information (RTI) submissions.
The President’s decision to hurriedly refer the matter to Chief Justice Gertrude Torkornoo, has sparked controversy, highlighting his inconsistent approach to similar governance issues.
The administration’s selective actions are further exemplified by the dismissal of Charlotte Osei as chairperson of the Electoral Commission (EC). She was replaced by Jean Mensa, following a petition filed by Maxwell Opoku-Agyemang on behalf of unnamed individuals, citing misconduct, constitutional breaches, and procurement violations under the Public Procurement Act, Act 663.
These instances, have underscored a pattern of governance where decisions appear to be influenced by personal biases and political motivations rather than principles of fairness and transparency.
Ironically, ex-Chief Justice Sophia Akuffo, who was instrumental in the removal of Charlotte Osei, by promptly acting on the petition filed by Mr Opoku-Agyeman, by the President by establishing a prima facie case against her, was shielded, despite a petition against her from some opinion leaders of La in the Greater Region.
Interestingly, similar procurement infractions and other maladministration issues raised against Jean Mensah, and in a petition for her removal have been ignored by the same President. The petition against Jean Mensah had to do with her disenfranchisement of Santrokofi, Akpafu, Lolobi, and Llikpe (SALL) Traditional Areas during the 2020 general election.
The Alliance for Social Equity and Public Accountability (ASEPA) petitioned President Akufo-Addo, to remove Jean Mensa as EC chair, but the petition was dismissed at the Jubilee House – Office of the President.
This came after the governance think-tank secured a declaration from the Commission on Human Rights and Administrative Justice (CHRAJ) that Mrs. Mensa, failed to declare her assets on assumption of office in 2018.
However, the same man received a petition from Martin Amidu ex-Special Prosecutor and hurriedly put it before the Chief Justice, Gertrude Torkornoo to work and kick out Kissi Agyebeng.
Over the weekend, private legal practitioner, Justice Srem Sai expressed disappointment in President Akufo-Addo’s handling of petitions seeking the removal of high-ranking state officials.
Mr Amidu, claimed that his request for the OSP to provide him with the appointment letters and salary details of all OSP staff on a pen drive, has yielded no positive results.
On April 30, 2024, Mr Amidu, who is also a former Attorney-General and Minister of Justice, petitioned President Akufo-Addo, seeking the impeachment of Mr Agyebeng as the head of the anti-graft agency, and this has sparked questions about the President’s interest in such matter.
On The Big Issue with Selorm Adonoo on Citi TV/Citi FM, Justice Sai, noted that the President’s conduct has been “seriously disappointing” over the years.
According to Justice Sai, petitions have been ignored, delayed, or faced impediments from the presidency, raising concerns about the President’s swift action on the petition against Agyebeng.
“I think the president’s conduct when it comes to petitions for the removal of such high officers of the state has been disappointing. It has been seriously disappointing over the years. There’ve been petitions which have been sent, and some of them have not been even acknowledged in certain situations.”
“Some of the petitions will be ignored, some of them even take too long to be sent and so many impediments have been put in the way of these petitions right from the office of the presidency. That’s why it seems to be a legitimate concern when he speedily and efficiently submitted this one and everybody gets the impression that he has a personal interest in this one.”
Justice Srem Sai, insists he is not surprised by the petition filed by the former Special Prosecutor to remove current Special Prosecutor Agyebeng from office.
“It did not come to me as a surprise that someone is seeking to remove the OSP from the office and that is from the background that any office which is set up to fight corruption, as we have casually put it on the street, corruption will fight back. I don’t think this is peculiar to the special prosecutor’s office but any other office that is set up to fight corruption should be ready to face some of these instances. So I’m not surprised that there’s a petition.”
Another private legal practitioner, Martin Kpebu, has highlighted that the possible implications of this petition arguing that it has the potential to disrupt the operations of the OSP due to the petition seeking the removal of Kissi Agyebeng from office.
Mr Kpebu argued that the mere initiation of the removal process, and its public announcement, casts a shadow over the OSP, creating an unwelcome distraction at a critical time for the institution.
However, the democratic process, the legal practitioner added, must be allowed to take its due course.
“The petition will have an impact because it is going to disrupt the OSP but we just hope that he will be strong and keep the fight going. But you can’t run away from the fact that even the announcement of this alone will cause him some embarrassment for it is quite a big disruption,” he stated.
The National Democratic Congress (NDC) Tamale North Member of Parliament (MP), Alhassan Suhuyini, has since slammed Martin Amidu for seeking to remove his successor contending that Mr Amidu lacks the authority to dictate who succeeds him and how they carry out their duties.
He dismisses Amidu’s assessment of Agyebeng’s performance, arguing that his “low standards” cannot serve as the benchmark for evaluating Mr Agyebeng.
On JoyNews’ Newsfile programme on Saturday, May 18, Suhuyini, who also serves as the Ranking Member on Parliament’s Lands and Forestry Committee, rebuked Amidu for his actions criticizing him for his apparent bitterness towards individuals who surpass him, attributing it to Amidu’s failure to deliver during his tenure.
According to Mr Suhuyini, Amidu’s petition reflects his resentment towards those who outshine him, highlighting his inability to fulfil his responsibilities effectively.
“Mr Martin Amidu’s standards are not the ones by which we should judge Kissi Agyebeng’s performance because Mr Martin Amidu’s standards are low. And in his petition, he seems to be suggesting that his standard was the best standard and that was the way Kissi Agyebeng should have proceeded and that again in my view is typical Martin Amidu for you.”
Mr Amidu’s petition, dated April 30, 2024, was swiftly forwarded to Chief Justice Gertrude Torkonoo on May 6, 2024, indicating the seriousness with which the matter was regarded.
The Chief Justice has since instructed the Special Prosecutor Kissi Agyebeng to provide his comments on the matters raised in a petition seeking his impeachment.
According to her, this step is crucial in determining the appropriate course of action to be taken regarding the impeachment process. Per the directive, the Chief Justice, Gertrude Sackey Torkornoo underscored the judiciary’s commitment to upholding due process and fairness in handling the matters.
“This is to forward to you a copy of the petition dated 30th April 2024 sent to the Office of the President which was forwarded to the Office of the Honourable Lady Chief Justice, on 6 May 2024.
“Kindly provide your comments to the matters raised to enable the Honourable Chief Justice to determine if a prima facie case has been made out,” portions of the letter said.
Per information, as required by Article 146 of the Constitution, the Chief Justice is in the process of deciding if there is prima facie evidence to establish a committee for Mr. Agyabeng’s impeachment.
In the letter sighted dated May 16, 2024, the Chief Justice said, the SP’s comments on the issues raised will “enable the Honourable Chief Justice to determine if a prima facie case has been made out.”
Speaking to Starr News, Alhassan Suhuyini, accused President Akufo-Addo of selectivity in handling petitions brought to his office admonishing the President who is a lawyer should not be openly biased and selective in dealing with issues of national concern.
“The bad blood that existed between them ever since Mr. Martin Amidu exited from that place. But, my issue has to do with the selectivity with which the President forwards petitions of that nature to the Chief Justice. I am very well aware that after he did the same involving a petition against Madam Charlotte Osei, two other petitions were sent to him against Madam Jean Mensah to date. The petitioners have not even received acknowledgment or receipt of that petition.
“Again, I know that another petition was sent to him against the former Chief Justice, Sophia Akuffo but the President did nothing about that petition. Yet, his handlers want us to believe that the constitution uses the article shall, and that he has nothing to do with the petition when it comes to his table beyond forwarding or transmitting them straight to the Chief Justice,” Mr Suhuyini stated.
He continued: “So the President as we discuss this will have to explain to all of us why he does the automatic transmission of some of these petitions to the Chief Justice but withholds some. Is it the case that when the petition coincides with his interest, he is already interested in removing the Special Prosecutor so quickly with alacrity before the seven days he transmits it to the Chief Justice just like he did in the case of Charlotte Osei? But has decided not to respond to the petition against Jean Mensah and the former Chief Justice because in their cases it was not in his interest.”
Interestingly, the forty-six petitioners convened by the Fixthecountry pressure group to petition President Akufo-Addo regarding what they maintain as the egregious conduct of the EC Chairperson and her deputies through which the citizens of Santrokofi, Akpafu, Likpe and Lolobi were denied their right to vote in the 2020 Parliamentary election, were forced to withdraw their petition.
The petitioners noted that after it was forwarded to the Chief Justice, they witnessed a contrived gesture which for them signal a clear intention to undermine and extinguish the constitutional mechanisms for accountability and judicious conduct.
The group in a statement noted the refusal to act on the petition was due to a deliberate and collaborationist decision by the then Chief Justice, Kwasi Anin Yeboah to hide behind contrived proceduralism to allow room for the frivolous filibustering devices of Madam Jean Mensa.
“We the petitioners, after 2 years of seeing various constitutional officers fail to live up to their constitutional responsibilities in this matter, have become convinced of a lack of interest or urgency in pursuing the justice of our plaint and have as such lost faith in the integrity of the process.”
It added: “We feel compelled to exercise our democratic right to withdraw this petition, in order that the Constitution will no further be mocked by the indolence of actors who have been assigned the task of its protection. In reaching this decision, we have considered the best interest of our democracy, and taken further account of our refusal to lend ourselves to any process that will ultimately be used to whitewash clear evidence of egregious misconduct. In addition, we see no reason why we should participate in the persistence of what has so clearly become a charade.”
Speaking to Prince Derrick Adjei alias “PDA”, one of the petitioners in the case of the ex-Chief Justice Sophia Akuffo, over the weekend, he told The Herald that he knew President Akufo-Addo, was not going to act on the petition against his paternal cousin.
“She bought Prime Cantonments State Land for GHc7000” yet “She sat on the Jake Obetsebi-Lamptey Ridge Bungalow Case knowing that she and Jake had been fraudulently allocated State Lands in Cantonments”.
“She ruled against Jake Obetsebi-Lamptey but still held on to the Cantonments Land. The La Mantse through a Petition to President Akuffo Addo had indicated that La was preparing to go to court to retrieve its lands, but didn’t expect Justice in a Sophia Akuffo court”.
“So I wanted her out of office as the Chief Justice to empanel judges in our land cases”.
“Duke Ofori-Atta at the Office of the President signed for it. No letter came from the President’s office subsequently.
“Kweku Baako confirmed on Newsfile that he had checked with the President and that the Article 146 Petition for the removal of Chief Justice Sophia Akuffo, had indeed been received.
“I kept checking with the Council of State if any Communication had been received from the President regarding the Petition until they finally wrote to say the matter was moot because Sophia Akuffo had retired at age 70.
“I never expected Akufo Addo to act on the Article 146 Petition for the removal of Chief Justice Sophia Akuffo especially as I included the long list of Land Looters in the appendix…
