“Resign or be sacked” – Sam Okudzeto to Dormahene
The Dormaahene, Osagyefo Oseadeayo Agyeman Badu should be sacked as a justice of the High Court for making public utterances on matters pending in the courts.
A member of the General Legal Council, Sam Okudzeto who made the call said the Judicial Council should take the action of the Dormaahene, known in private as Justice Daniel Mensah very serious.
Osagyefo Oseadeeyo Agyemang Badu II, over the weekend appealed to President Nana Akufo-Addo and the Attorney General to as a matter of urgency stop the trial of the MP of Assin North, James Gyakye Quayson.
Quayson is facing charges of forgery and perjury in relation to certain alleged offences in the run up to the 2020 parliamentary election.
He has pleaded not guilty to five counts of forgery of passport or travel certificate, knowingly making a false statutory declaration, perjury and false declaration for office.
The Dormaahene, who doubles as a high court judge, said if the trial continues it will hinder development, especially within the Assin North constituency.
He goofed
Appearing on the Asaase Breakfast Show on Monday (3 July), Okudzeto said the Dormaahene goofed with his statement, adding that the judicial council must sanction him.
“I must confess that I am saddened and shocked because the one involved is not just an ordinary chief but a paramount chief. That is a very high position to be held in high esteem,” Okudzeto told the show host Benjamin Offei-Addo.
“He should not meddle in politics,” he said, adding that, “in fact the constitution is very clear on that and the basis for that is that everybody in his jurisdiction owes allegiance to him and therefore that is why he shouldn’t involve in partisan politics…”
“And so I am shocked, because I have heard him done something like that and many lawyers were angry and thought he should be removed from the bench…, if the Supreme Court sat and analyse, what is his business… the judicial council must sanction him,” Okudzeto said.
It’s Unhealthy
The Attorney General, Godfred Yeboah Dame, has also described the comment as “unhealthy.” He said such comments have the potential to affect the fair adjudication of the case.
“I will come out with a proper statement on the matter, and it will be in respect of all comments generally, which have the tendency to subvert the administration of justice,” Dame told Asaase Radio in Accra.
“I think that it is very unhealthy for our democratic dispensation, and we must not countenance same.”
SOURCE: DAILY MAIL GH
