ASEPA violated confidentiality clause in petition against CJ–Lawyer

Edudzi Tamakloe, a private legal practitioner, has accused the Alliance for Social Equity and Public Accountability (ASEPA) for violating the confidentiality clause on how it handled the petition for the removal of the Chief Justice (CJ) from office.

He said details of a petition of that nature, per the 1992 Constitution, should not be in the public domain however, all the details were published in the public space adding that “it has its own constitutional challenges because of the precedence in the petition of this nature needs a certain level of confidentiality”.

According to him, the threshold was in public domain which violated confidentiality clause because proceedings should be in camera and the issue that triggered proceedings was the petition, “if the petition has a defect then it cannot originate the processes of the enquiry and petition removal of Chief Justice is highly confidential issue”.

President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo on August 23 dismissed the petition filed by Mensah Thompson, the Executive Director of ASEPA when he invoked Article 146 (6) of the 1992 Constitution for removal of the Chief Justice Kwasi Anin-Yeboah which follows an allegation by private legal practitioner, Kwasi Afrifa who alleged the Chief Justice demanded $5 million bribe from his (Afrifa’s) former client for favourable judgment.

Accordingly, the president in a letter dated July 20, 2021, consulted with Council of State per terms of Article 146 (6) to determine whether petition discloses prima facie case against the Chief Justice and such determination should precede appointment of a committee under Article 146 (6) to hear the matter.

The Council of State conveyed its conclusions on whether or not a prima facie case has been established to President Akufo-Addo on August 20 and in making determination on whether or not prima facie case has been established against Chief Justice Anin-Yeboah to warrant appointment of committee for purpose of inquiry, the president stated on generality of fact available vis a vis applicable legal rules, petition fails to meet threshold specified in law.

The presidency further said Mensah Thompson should not only be mindful that the processes were confidential, but be guided accordingly so as not to be in contempt of the Supreme Court. -3news.com