By: Love Wilhelmina Abanonave
Deputy Presidential Spokesperson, Shamima Muslim, has revealed that President John Dramani Mahama has no personal interest in the suspended Chief Justice, Gertrude Torkornoo’s demand for USD 10 million in compensation from Ghana through the ECOWAS Court.
Speaking on the GTV Breakfast Show today, Muslim stated that the President is only interested in upholding the rule of law.
According to her, the Chief Justice has every right to explore all avenues where she believes she can seek justice, as she feels she has been unfairly treated within her own jurisdiction.
“She hasn’t quite exhausted all the avenues within the same judicial system that she was head of, because she knows that you can go all the way to the Supreme Court to vindicate your right,” Muslim said.
The Deputy Presidential Spokesperson further added that she believes the suspended Chief Justice has the right to take her case to the ECOWAS Court if she feels she can no longer trust Ghana’s judicial system, made up of her colleague judges, but believes the ECOWAS Court can offer her a fairer hearing.
Muslim’s comments follow suspended Chief Justice Gertrude Torkornoo’s demand for USD 10 million from Ghana as compensation for reputational and moral damages in her human rights case filed at the ECOWAS Community Court of Justice in Abuja, Nigeria. The case alleges unfair treatment and rights violations in her ongoing removal process.
Torkornoo claims her suspension amounts to an effective removal from office without due process, violating her constitutional rights. This development comes after she was suspended by President John Dramani Mahama following the determination of a prima facie case against her, based on three separate petitions alleging “stated misbehaviour.”
