A private legal practitioner, Dr Rainer Akumperigya has described Gertrude Araba Esaaba Sackey Torkornoo’s praise-singing of President Nana Akufo-Addo as a mockery of the judiciary.
Chief Justice Gertrude Torkornoo at the 2024 Africa Conference of the International Association of Women Judges tagged President Akufo-Addo as a “champion of justice.” She said the President’s name is “etched in the legal history of this country as a most distinguished legal practitioner.”
Justice Gertrude Torkornoo added that Akufo-Addo’s “belief in the Rule of Law” is “evident during his tenure” as President. She added that the “Judicial Service of Ghana has been a happy beneficiary of exceptional levels of physical, and technological infrastructure during this period”.
While these got the President smiling, many Ghanaians have expressed opposing opinions especially due to happenings in the Judiciary under Akufo-Addo’s watch.
Dr Rainer Akumperigya enumerated the injustices suffered by Ghanaians under Akufo-Addo’s watch and doubted if that qualifies him as a believer in the rule of law.
“Families of eight Ghanaians killed during the 2020 General elections, which marked the beginning of President Akufo-Addo’s second term, are still awaiting justice. SALL, a constitutionally established constituency, has not had parliamentary representation since its creation under Akufo-Addo’s presidency. The same president was found by the Supreme Court to have unconstitutionally removed an Auditor General”.
He reminded the Chief Justice that many Ghanaians are still nursing wounds from the Akufo-Addo administration’s selective collapsing of indigenous financial institutions. Adding that the word corruption has become taboo in the President’s speeches because he supervises looters whom he freely clears of wrongdoing.
“The selective closure of financial institutions and banks has caused significant suffering, and under dubious and coercive legal arrangements, pensioners’ funds and financial assets of many Ghanaians have been confiscated by the state. The president no longer addresses corruption in his official speeches, and some of his appointees suspected of stealing have been officially exonerated by his regime. The list of grievances continues to grow.”
According to Dr Rainer Akumperigya, “Given these circumstances, it is entirely a mockery for the President to receive any praise from the Chief Justice regarding matters of law and the rule of law.”