Private legal practitioner, Justice Abdulai, has raised concerns over the discretionary powers granted to the President in the process of removing a Chief Justice (CJ), calling for a regulation to safeguard the integrity of the procedure.
His comments follow growing discussions about the constitutional procedures involved in the removal of the Chief Justice.
Citing the constitutional provision that mandates the President, in consultation with the Council of State, to appoint a committee to determine if there is a prima facie case for removal, Justice Abdulai argued that the President plays a crucial role in indirectly determining whether the prima facie case will be established.
Speaking on Channel One TV’s ‘The Big Issue’ on Saturday, March 29, the Law Lecturer pointed out that much of the decision-making power rests with the President, as he may appoint his sympathisers to form the committee, a system he believes is unregulated and creates the environment for abuse.
According to Abdulai, an unwilling President could easily dismiss any petition, even if there is a genuine case for the removal of the Chief Justice. Similarly, a determined President could orchestrate the removal by ensuring that the committee aligns with his political ideologies.
“Unless you have a president who is very open-minded. If you have a mischievous president, he would make sure will get people who are in line with his political ideologies. And if he gets three other people who belong to his political party, we are doomed. We are completely doomed.
“It is in view of these dangers inherent in the entire constitutional architecture in the removal of the CJ that I would strongly recommend that, rather than leaving these matters to discretionary powers and the whims of other people, we have a regulation to make matters simple, straightforward, forward and reliable.
“A structure must be legally, statutorily determined to remove the discretionary and the lacunas that are currently inherently existing. It is the best way we can move forward on this matter, but unfortunately, we have to deal with what we have now,” he stated.
There’s no political agenda to oust Chief Justice – Inusah Fuseini