Former Attorney General and lawyer for the removed Chief Justice, Gertrude Torkornoo, Ayikoi Otoo, has strongly criticised President John Mahama’s decision to dismiss her, describing it as punishment for nothing more than adhering to established procedures.
Speaking on Joy News’ PM Express, the former ambassador to Canada rejected the grounds of “stated misbehaviour” cited by the President, insisting that Justice Torkornoo merely applied for her vacation in line with her entitlements.
“When these entitlements come, it is not for you to determine anything. You only decide whether you want to travel. Once you indicate that, officers work out your entitlements and bring it to you. You are not involved,” he explained.
Mr. Otoo stressed that the Judicial Service had a clear travel policy which permitted a Chief Justice to travel with a companion of choice — a provision the committee failed to consider.
“There is a travel policy of the judiciary. They never referred to it, even though we tendered it. She is entitled to travel with one person of her choice, and she chose to do this. What wrong did she commit?” he questioned.
He further argued that the process of allocating travel expenses was handled by other officers, not the Chief Justice.
“As I keep asking, when you are in that office and you have to travel, is it for you to determine what you want? No. It is for the organisation to process and give it to you. Assuming it was wrongly given, isn’t that why audits exist? Is that a ground for removal?”
According to him, management letters regarding such expenditures were addressed to the Judicial Secretary — the spending officer — and not to the Chief Justice.
Mr. Otoo expressed shock at the committee’s findings, particularly given the involvement of former Auditor-General Daniel Domelovo.
“I’m surprised Domelovo was on it. He heard our submissions. We made presentations to him. Yet, in the face of all this, he still came out to say she misappropriated money. Which money?” he asked.
He concluded that Justice Torkornoo was unjustly removed, punished not for misconduct but for following the very rules governing her office.
Source: Abubakar Ibrahim
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