7 High Court judges suspended
Seven out of the 12 Justices of the High Court cited in the Anas exposé have been suspended by the Vice-President, acting as President of the country, on the advice of the Judicial Council.
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Those affected are Justices Francis K. Opoku, Kofi Essel Mensah, John Ajet Nasam, Ernest Obimpeh, Kwame Ohene Essel, Ivy Heward Mills (Mrs) and Gilbert Ayisi Addo.
Their suspension, according to a statement issued by the Judicial Secretary in Accra, Mr Alex B. Poku-Acheampong, followed the establishment of a prima facie case of misbehaviour against them by the Chief Justice (CJ).
Prima facie case
The establishment of the prima facie case follows the setting up of a committee to investigate the petition by Anas Aremeyaw Anas and Tiger Eye PI for the 12 Justices to be removed from office.
The statement said the Chief Justice had decided to suspend the determination of a prima facie case in respect of Justices Mustapha Logoh and Paul Uuter Dery as a result of the actions instituted by them against the CJ and Tiger Eye PI which were still pending in court.
“The proceedings against Justice Charles Quist have been deferred on grounds of ill-health, following a medical report submitted by his physician on his state of health,” the statement said.
Justice Daniel Obeng
Meanwhile Tiger Eye PI has written to the Chief Justice informing her that the inclusion of Justice Daniel Obeng, a Justice of the High Court, in the petition for his removal from office was an error.
According to Tiger Eye PI, further investigations had indicated that the judge they dealt with was rather Emmanuel Opare, a Circuit Court Judge.
The statement also said records at the Judicial Service had confirmed that at the time the investigations were conducted by Tiger Eye in August 2015, Justice Daniel Obeng had been elevated to the High Court and transferred to the Northern Region.