Chief Justice denies OSP’s request to remove Justice Edward Twum from Cecilia Dapaah’s case

The Office of the Special Prosecutor (OSP) has noted that its request to Chief Justice Gertrude Torkornoo to have Justice Edward Twum recused and removed from all cases involving the OSP pending before him has been denied.

The OSP made the announcement in a public notice shared on X on October 25, 2023.

According to the OSP, the Chief Justice’s decision was communicated via a letter by the Judicial Secretary.

“By a letter dated 25 October 2023, the Judicial Secretary informed The Special Prosecutor that, the Chief Justice is unable to accede to the Office of the Special Prosecutor’s (OSP) request for his lordship Justice Edward Twum to be recused and removed from all cases involving the OSP pending before him,” the notice read.

On October 12, the OSP requested the Chief Justice, Gertrude Torkonoo to recuse and remove His Lordship Justice Edward Twum from all cases involving the Office pending before him due to the well-founded belief that Justice Edward Twum appears to be highly prejudiced against the OSP and the person of the Special Prosecutor.”

“Consequently, as it stands, the OSP would not and cannot be reasonably expected to be parties to proceedings before the said judge,” a post from the OSP read.

A court granted a request from Cecilia Dapaah’s legal team to reschedule the confirmation hearing for an earlier date, rather than the initially set date of October 18, however, the OSP asserted that they could not have Justice Edward Twum preside over the request since they believed he displayed significant bias against the OSP and the Special Prosecutor personally.

In light of these concerns, the OSP decided that they cannot and should not be reasonably expected to participate in proceedings overseen by the aforementioned judge.

But on Wednesday, October 18, it was reported that the High Court has been informed by the OSP that the petition asking for a new judge for the Cecilia Dpaah case is still pending barely minutes after the judge stated that he had been notified that it had been withdrawn.

This claim has been rejected by the Office.

In a public notice, the OSP noted: “The Office of the Special Prosecutor (OSP), has not withdrawn its request to the Chief Justice for the recusal and removal of his Lordship Justice Edward Twum from all cases pending before him involving the OSP.”

“The public is urged to disregard all reports to the contrary,” the notice added.

The Office of the Special Prosecutor (OSP) commenced investigation in July 2023 in respect of suspected corruption and corruption-related offences regarding large amounts of money and other valuable items involving Ms. Cecilia Abena Dapaah, a former Minister for Sanitation and Water Resources.

The Special Prosecutor took measures, including issuing a freezing order in respect of the bank accounts and other financial assets of Ms. Dapaah to facilitate the investigation.

Subsequently, the investigation has eliminated five (5) of the bank accounts of Ms. Dapaah from suspicion of being tainted property.

On October 16, 2023, the Special Prosecutor revoked the freezing order in respect of the eliminated five (5) bank accounts of Ms Dapaah.