Former Attorney General and counsel for the removed Chief Justice, Gertrude Torkornoo, has accused the committee that recommended her dismissal of disregarding crucial evidence, including the judiciary’s official travel policy.
Speaking on Joy News’ PM Express on Monday, Ayikoi Otoo said the committee failed to take into account the travel policy that was tendered as part of her defence.
According to him, Justice Torkornoo did nothing wrong by requesting to go on a regular vacation in line with her entitlements.
“When these entitlements come, it is not for you to determine anything. You are just to determine whether you want to travel. So when you tell them that I intend to take my vacation in Arusha, Tanzania, then the officers will work on whatever is your entitlement and bring it to you. This is nothing new,” he explained, stressing that the Chief Justice did not allocate allowances herself but relied on established procedures.
Mr. Otoo further argued that the committee ignored long-standing practice, noting that previous Chief Justices had travelled with a person of their choice when they had no spouse.
“There is a travel policy of the judiciary, but they never referred to it. And that travel policy, the committee didn’t refer to it, although we tendered it. She’s entitled to travel with one person of her own choice, and she chose to do this,” he said.
Dismissing claims of misappropriation, the former Attorney General insisted that Justice Torkornoo merely received what she was due under the conditions of service.
“What wrong did the Chief Justice commit? Was she the one who asked that she should be given travel expenses? Is she not entitled to the travel expenses? … Assuming it was wrongly given to you, is that not why you have an audit? Is it not the case for auditors to say that we think you should be surcharged with a certain amount which you took unlawfully? Is it a ground for removal?” he questioned.
Mr. Otoo also stressed that responsibility for financial authorisations rested with the Judicial Secretary as the spending officer, not the Chief Justice.
Expressing his disappointment in the committee’s work, he singled out former Auditor-General Daniel Domelevo.
“I’m surprised Domelevo was on it. He sat through it. He heard us. We made presentations to him. And he, in the midst of all this, in the face of all this, comes out to say that she has misappropriated money. Which money?” he asked.
Source: Abubakar Ibrahim
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