Veteran journalist Kwesi Pratt Jnr. says there is no court order preventing President John Mahama from appointing a new Chief Justice, despite a pending legal challenge by former Chief Justice Gertrude Araba Torkornoo.
Speaking on Metro TV’s Good Morning Ghana with Moro Awudu, the Managing Editor of The Insight newspaper said his reading of the Constitution shows no breach of the law in the president’s decision.
“For me, the issue is that no law from my reading of the Constitution has been breached. But I am not the final authority. The final authority is the court. The former Chief Justice has gone to court, but there is nothing in that process that restrains the president from exercising his power to appoint a new Chief Justice. That is my understanding,” Mr Pratt said.
He added that even if the president’s actions were to be questioned, the proper avenue for resolution would still be the courts, not political protests.
“Even giving the assumption that the president is acting in such a manner, what is the remedy? Is the remedy a walkout from the Appointments Committee? That is still a matter that has to be referred to the judiciary for determination,” he noted.
Mr Pratt also took a swipe at the New Patriotic Party, accusing it of inconsistency in its response to legal disagreements.
“Only a few months ago, anytime you had a disagreement with the NPP, the reference was ‘go to court’. Now the NPP does not want to go to court. What has changed?” he asked.
His comments follow the walkout and sharp divisions during Parliament’s Appointments Committee vetting of Justice Paul Baffoe-Bonnie, who has been nominated by President Mahama for the position of Chief Justice.
