Ayikoi Otoo denies submitting a fake document during Chief Justice removal probe

Lawyer for the former Chief Justice, Gertrude Torkonoo, Mr Ayikoi Otoo, has denied allegations that he submitted a fake document as evidence during the committee proceedings probing petitions seeking her removal from office.

His response follows accusations by former Auditor-General and member of the five-member committee, Daniel Yao Domelevo, who claimed that Mr Otoo had presented falsified documents during the hearings.

Speaking in a recent interview on The KSM Show, Mr Domelevo alleged that one of the documents presented by the lawyer was a letter purportedly signed by the Judicial Secretary, which claimed to appoint the Chief Justice.

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He stated:

I find it very interesting. He said he has provided all the evidence, a former auditor general, and I sat there and I didn't take it and other people, I was whatever influenced my decision, he doesn't know. I want to put it on record that he provided us with evidence that were fake evidence.

However, in an interview with Joy News, Mr Otoo dismissed the claim as unfounded and politically motivated. He clarified that the Chief Justice’s appointment was officially televised and publicly confirmed by the President, who presented her with a warrant of office.

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He said:

When the Chief Justice was appointed Chief Justice of this country, it was on television. And I think everybody saw the President presenting with a warrant of office. It is this warrant of office which another President, I say, has now revoked. So I don't see how they will say that what we tendered was a warrant.

Mr Otoo further described the basis for Justice Torkonoo’s removal as unjustified. He explained that the Judicial Secretary had merely written to the Chief Justice’s office regarding her official entitlements, including approved annual travels.

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He added:

In this case, the Judicial Secretary, after the Chief Justice had assumed office, wrote to a tally that these are some of the privileges of your office that you are entitled to at least travel twice in a year. It is this kind of thing that we're trying to prove that it was not an unapproved travel, but it was part of a conditions of service.

On Monday, 1 September, President John Dramani Mahama, acting in accordance with Article 146(9) of the 1992 Constitution, removed Justice Torkonoo from office with immediate effect. The decision followed the submission of a report by a committee constituted under Article 146(6) to investigate a petition filed by a Ghanaian citizen, Mr Daniel Ofori.

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A statement signed by the Minister of Government Communications, Felix Kwakye Ofosu, confirmed that after assessing the petition and evidence, the committee found that the grounds of stated misbehaviour under Article 146(1) had been established, thereby recommending her removal.