Alliance for Social Equity and Public Accountability (ASEPA) criticised Ghana’s Chief Justice, Justice Gertrude Torkonoo, following reports of sudden changes in the Supreme Court panel overseeing the appeal of Dr. Stephen Opuni, the former CEO of COCOBOD, and businessman Seidu Agongo.
In a statement released on Monday, May 13, 2024, the civil society organisation asserted that the Chief Justice’s abrupt alterations to the panel handling the case of the former COCOBOD CEO constitute interference in the administration of justice.
ASEPA added that the action of the Chief Justice is a violation of Article 157(3) of the 1992 Constitution, which provides that “no person sitting in a Superior Court for the determination of any cause or matter shall, having heard the arguments of the parties to that cause or matter and before judgement is delivered, withdraw as a member of the court or tribunal, or as a member of the panel determining that cause or matter, nor shall that person become functus officio in respect of that cause or matter, until judgement is delivered.
“We find it extremely unusual that a panel would be reconstituted in such fundamental terms without an explanation from the Court.
In our view, the sudden move raises the possibility of judicial interference, undermines judicial independence, and casts a negative slur on the administration of justice,” part of the statement signed by the Executive Director of ASEPA, Mensah Thompson, reads.
“We remind the Chief Justice that her power to empanel is not a constitutional power. It is exercised as a result of the Court’s norms.
Furthermore, she has no power to interfere with the operations of a constituted panel. Therefore, if she reshuffled the Opuni panel, then she acted ultra vires the Constitution.
We have no doubt that the reshuffling of panels is contra to Article 296, which calls for administrative powers to be exercised without caprice,” it added.
The group also noted that “it is this propensity for abuse and interference that forms the basis of why ASEPA has always advocated for the amendment of the law to make the process of empanelment a purely administrative process, away from the quasi-political clutches of the Chief Justice and putting it right in the hands of the Registrar of the Supreme Court, who is a permanent officer of the Court.”
A report by theheraldghana.com revealed that the panel for the case underwent a last-minute change on the day of judgement, leaving many legal experts, including Dr. Opuni’s counsel, Lawyer Samuel Codjoe, perplexed.
Both the legal teams of the plaintiff and the accused individuals had presented their arguments before an earlier panel and submitted their written submissions, anticipating the court’s verdict.
The original panel, consisting of Justice Mariama Owusu (presiding), Justices Yaw Darko Asare, Emmanuel Yonny Kulendi, George Kingsley Koomson, and Henry A. Kwofie, was replaced. The new panel was composed of Chief Justice Gertrude Torkonoo (presiding), Justices Mariama Owusu, Henrietta Mensa-Bonsu, Yaw Darko Asare, and Ernest Gaewu.
Dr. Opuni, businessman Seidu Agongo, and Agricult Ghana Limited are facing 27 charges, including defrauding by false pretences, wilfully causing financial loss to the state, corruption by public officers, and contravention of the Public Procurement Act.