The suspended Chief Justice of Ghana, Gertrude Torkornoo has filed a petition with the ECOWAS Community Court of Justice alleging that the Government of Ghana has violated her rights and unlawfully removed her from office as Chief Justice.
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The embattled CJ argued that her suspension and the process she is being subjected to have caused her reputational damage, and wants the Abuja-based Court to order Ghana to pay her US$10m in compensation.
Mussa Dankwah’s Opinion Polls found their way into the petition at the ECOWAS Court
The suspended Chief Justice, in her petition, told the Court that an opinion poll conducted before her suspension alleged how unpopular she was and that she had to be removed.
In a political twist to the writ, Justice Gertrude Torkonoo, however, linked the pollster to the ruling National Democratic Congress (NDC) government to back her argument of an unjust move to remove her from office.
That before my suspension, an opinion poll had purportedly been organised by a pollster known to be close to the Government in which he alleged that I was so unpopular that I had to be removed as the Chief Justice – This she ealier told the Supreme Court of Ghana for which the case was dismissed.
In a sharp response, Mussa Dankwah posted on Facebook:
“A pollster aligned to the ruling government” comment still appears in CJ’s application to the ECOWAS court, court docs shows
He has since vowed to defend himself at the ECOWAS Court over the CJ’s accusations, assuring that he will pay for his trip and stay in Abuja.
I hope the court will grant me the chance to defend myself. This one I will go. I will pay for my own trip and stay to defend Global InfoAnalytics. I am not the publisher of the poll but an employee of the company
Mussa Dankwah’s earlier response to the same accusations in the CJ’s dismissed case at the Supreme Court of Ghana:
The Executive Director of Global InfoAnalytics shot down any wrongdoing, saying, “Public opinion will remain public opinion. It should not be the basis for removing anyone protected by the Constitution from office. The law is the law, and opinion only matters when it is voters’ decision, but they will have their say, but the law will have its way.”
According to him, they conducted two separate post-event polls – after the removal process started and after the news of her CJ suspension, hence those polls could not have influenced her removal petition or her suspension.
Global InfoAnalytics conducted two polls. The first was after the process to initiate her removal process commenced and we asked voters if they supported the process to remove the Chief Justice. it was post-event and therefore could not have influenced the decision to proceed.
