Legal practitioner, Martin Kpebu
Legal scholar Kwaku Asare, popularly known as Kwaku Azar, has cited a landmark Supreme Court ruling to emphasize that Ghana’s apex court has no jurisdiction to intervene when a petition is filed against the removal of a public officer under Article 146 of the 1992 Constitution.
The petition for the removal of the Chief Justice has been presented through three separate petitions submitted to the President and subsequently forwarded to the Council of State for consultation.
The petition was filed by the New Patriotic Party’s Member of Parliament for the Old Tafo Constituency in the Ashanti Region, Vincent Assifauh, through the former Attorney-General and Minister of Justice, Godfred Yeboah Dame.
In a statement, Kwaku Azar referenced Ghana Bar Association v. Attorney-General & Anor [1995–96] 1 GLR 598 at p. 611, where the Supreme Court ruled that it does not have “original concurrent jurisdiction with the body empowered to exercise jurisdiction to adjudicate on matters properly falling within the parameters of Article 146.”
This ruling, he explained, reinforces the constitutional principle that when specific adjudicatory powers are granted to a designated body—in this case, the procedures outlined in Article 146 for the removal of public officers—the Supreme Court cannot assume jurisdiction or interfere in the process.
His remarks come amid growing debates over the role of the judiciary in high-profile removal petitions. However, Kwaku Azar clarified that his statement was not intended as legal advice, nor was it aimed at influencing any pending or potential case.
He concluded his post with the phrase: “It is finished. Da Yie!”