CJ denies Prez. Mahama’s probe order

• Posted on October 16, 2014October 16, 2014
• by Nana Kwesi Coomson
• Comment

The Judicial Service has denied claim by some National Democratic Congress (NDC) appointees that President John Mahama had directed the Chief Justice (CJ) to investigate allegations of abuse of office and corruption levelled against the boss of the Commission on Human Rights and Administrative Justice (CHRAJ), Lauretta Vivian Lamptey.

Abraham Amaliba, a member of the NDC legal team, claimed on Joy FM—an Accra-based radio station—at the weekend that President Mahama, on his return from the United States recently, forwarded two petitions filed at the presidency to the Chief Justice, Georgina Wood, for immediate action.

The petitions, calling for the removal of Justice Lamptey, had been sent by the Member of Parliament (MP) for Nsawam-Adoagyiri, Frank Annor Dompreh, and the Progressive Nationalist Forum (PNF).

“The President, upon his return, has forwarded two petitions to the Chief Justice for the necessary action…The petition was based on what was submitted as an Auditor General’s report (and) the President has acted on that,” Mr Amaliba had said on Newsfile, a flagship programme of the station.

He said the President was determined to act “decisively” on any findings by the investigative committee yet to be formed by the Chief Justice and added that “if the second one comes and we need to act, true to our character, we will act…This is a clear indication that we are not sitting on those petitions.”

False Information

However, the information provided by the NDC appeared to be false, as the Office of the Chief Justice came out to deny the claim Tuesday.

Judicial Secretary, Justice Alex Opoku Acheampong, said the CJ was yet to receive any directive from the presidency.

The Judicial Secretary’s revelation followed the Nsawam-Adoagyiri MP’s resolve to contact the Chief Justice’s office personally to ascertain the veracity of Mr Amaliba’s claim.

The CHRAJ Commissioner reportedly spent $148,000 on her 33-month rent and an additional $180,000 on the renovation of her official residence.

Though Ms Lamptey had explained the circumstances under which the monies were spent, many insist she must be removed from office.

Ayikoi Otoo’s Proposition

In a related development, a former Attorney General and Minister of Justice, J. Ayikoi Otoo, has said the Chief Justice might not have the authority to investigate the embattled CHRAJ boss.

He told Joy FM that although the CHRAJ boss per law, has the status of a Court of Appeal judge, she could not be considered as such, in the strict sense of the expression.

Nii Ayikoi Otoo said, “She has the status of an Appeals Court judge but strictly speaking, she is not an Appeals Court judge,” adding that the Judicial Council, which was expected to undertake the investigations, might be limited in its jurisdiction over the matter.

“It is problematic, if she is not a worker of the Judicial Service, then where is the jurisdiction of the council, looking at the remit, they exercise jurisdiction of their members and it does not cover the CHRAJ.”

PNF Adamant

However, Sampson Lardi Ayenini, counsel for PNF in the petition, disagreed with the former Attorney General and said there was a precedent.

He cited a case involving the removal of a former Deputy Chairman of the National Commission for Civic Education, Dr Anthony Oppong, to buttress his point.

He relied on Article 228 of the 1992 Constitution which says the removal of a commissioner shall be the same as the removal of a justice of the Appeals or High courts.

Also Article 146, he noted, stipulates that before a Commissioner of CHRAJ, Electoral Commission (EC) or National Commission for Civic Education (NCCE) is removed, a petition is first made to the President, he in turn forwards it to the Chief Justice, who makes prima facie to determine whether there is a case to investigate. If there is, a committee is set up consisting of three justices of the superior court appointed by the Judicial Council and two other persons who are not lawyers, Members of Parliament or Council of state members to investigate the official in question.

By William Yaw Owusu