It has emerged that the Chief Justice, Justice Kwasi Anin-Yeboah has referred to the General Legal Council for investigation comments made by former deputy Attorney General and Member of Parliament for Bolgatanga East, Dr. Dominic Ayine.
Dr. Ayine reportedly questioned the independence of Ghana’s judiciary in a CDD-Ghana Roundtable Discussion on ‘Presidential Election Petitions and their Impact on Africa’s Democracy’. His assertion, he explained was informed by the manner in which the 2020 Presidential Election Petition case was handled by the Supreme Court.
During the discussion Dr. Ayine among other things said that the Supreme Court in the adjudication of the election petition failed to apply the rules of procedure and continuously dismissed the plaintiff’s applications.
“I expected the Supreme Court to apply faithfully the rules of procedure to – in terms of adducing evidence – prove the petitioner’s case and so on. What we saw was a Supreme Court that was constantly putting hurdles in the way of the petitioner in terms of adducing evidence to prove the petitioner’s case.
“I am sure for ordinary Ghanaians or the electorate generally, the fact that the Supreme Court judges – all nine of them – on almost every application was unanimous in rejecting and dismissing the case of the petitioner was very telling in terms of the open-mindedness or otherwise of the Justices as far the petition was concerned and for me as a Lawyer,” he said.
The Chief Justice deems the said comments “disparaging… and totally unacceptable” and wants them investigated. He made reference to the fact that the said comments were made after Dr. Ayine had made similar comments for which he was cited for contempt of court to which he “apologized profusely” and was pardoned.
A petition date May 25 was thus addressed to the Chairman of the General Legal Council under the signature of the Judicial Secretary, Justice Cynthia Pamela Addo, for the investigations to commence.
Watch what Dr. Ayine said below:
By 3news.com|Ghana