Former Minister for Commerce and Trade, Dr. Ekwow Spio-Garbrah, has weighed in on the continued controversy surrounding the suspension of Chief Justice Gertrude Torkornoo, asserting that the regulation should be utilized equally, even to the highest-ranking judicial officer.
His feedback come amid rising public debate surrounding the legitimacy of the closed-door inquiry into three petitions in search of the Chief Justice’s elimination. Justice Torkornoo has challenged the constitutionality of the method and filed an injunction on the Supreme Court docket.
Talking in an unique interview with JoyNews’ Blessed Sogah in Abidjan, Dr. Spio-Garbrah remarked that the continued authorized course of should be revered, even by these on the very high of the judicial system.
“As Chief Justice, we’re implementing the regulation. She says the regulation is the regulation—and so the regulation is the regulation—and the regulation is being utilized to her,” he stated.
“The incidents which are being cited, except she proves that they’re incorrect, should stand.”
Whereas the Chief Justice has pointed to non-public hardship and procedural irregularities in difficult the method, the previous minister declined to invest on her emotional state, selecting as an alternative to mirror on the broader human situation.
“It will depend on how every particular person responds to adversity. All of us undergo it—we lose family members, undergo accidents—and the way we take care of it varies. So I received’t touch upon what sort of adversity she claims to be going through,” he stated.
Responding to considerations raised a couple of change within the location of the disciplinary listening to, Dr. Spio-Garbrah maintained that the federal government has the ultimate say in procedural preparations.
“All I’ve heard is that the situation the place she anticipated the listening to to happen wasn’t the one the federal government selected. However in the end, it’s the authorities that decides the place the listening to ought to be held,” the previous minister stated.
On the matter of resignation, Spio-Garbrah emphasised that stepping down is a private alternative, typically formed by a posh combine {of professional} and private concerns.
“A resignation is a person determination. One should weigh all the knowledge accessible at any given time. However the excellent news, from what I do know, is that the Chief Justice—and others in related excessive public workplace—retire on their full wage.”
Dr. Spio-Garbrah questioned the rationale for persevering with in workplace when, by regulation, senior public officers such because the Chief Justice retire on their full wage.
Whereas Dr. Spio-Garbrah kept away from making direct accusations, he implied that the choice to remain could lengthen past purely skilled or authorized considerations.
“So for those who’re going to retire in your wage, why fear about staying on? Until, in fact, you wish to proceed having fun with some privileges—like the power to your husband and youngsters to journey—which you won’t have entry to as soon as you allow workplace. However the different customary advantages stay. It’s a private judgment, and I’m not ready to make that call for her,” he famous.
Supply: Emmanuel Tetteh
