Ghanaians Need To Know�Chief Justice Must Explain Her Actions

Article 128, clause 3 of the 1992 Constitution stipulates that, �the Chief Justice shall preside at sittings of the Supreme Court. And in his/her absence, the most senior of the Justices of the Supreme Court, as constituted shall preside. It is in this vein that a private legal practitioner, who has taken it upon himself to educate Ghanaians on the ruling of the momentous election petition trial, has called on the Chief Justice of Ghana to come out and explain why she did not sit on the case herself. According to Lawyer Maurice Ampau, it was obligatory on the part of the Chief Justice to have presided over the eight month long legal battle challenging the validity of election 2012 in the apex court of the land. �I am reliably informed that the CJ was around. CJ was not ill neither did she travel so what then prevented her from sitting on a landmark case? One, the Chief Justice must know that she owes us the duty. She is a public official and if the Constitution mandates you to sit on a matter and you are not sitting, give us reasons. The people are demanding reasons,� he contended on NEAT FM. He further argued that Madam Georgina Theodore Woode could not have recuse herself from presiding over the election petition simply for the fact that she attends the same church as President John Mahama, whose presidency was being challenged. To him, Ghana missed the opportunity of witnessing the CJ�s very fine legal brains at work. �We don�t care if they attend the same church or not. The Chief Justice must be bold enough to sit on these cases and she doesn�t, she must explain to us why she did not sit. I feel sorry she did not preside over this case because she is one of the finest legal brains or juries in this country. Just as JJ rated Atuguba, I will rate Madam Georgina Theodora Woode above all the nine Supreme Court Judges�. �She is the finest and why am I saying so? She is one of the few Judges who started from the scratch. After being a police officer, she started from the District, to the Circuit, to High Court, then to the Court of Appeal and to the Supreme Court�. We have lost the opportunity to see the Chief Justice display her legal prowess,� Maurice Ampau opined. He however maintains that the CJ should explain to the country the reasons for which she reneged on performing her duties as prescribed by the Constitution of Ghana.