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Case against Acting Chief Justice Adjourned

AN Accra High Court presided over by Mr Justice Yaw Appau, yesterday adjourned till today the hearing of the case in which the qualification of Mr Justice E. K. Wiredu for the post of Chief Justice is being challenged.

When the case was called, counsel for the plaintiff, Mr David Kudzoadzi, requested for an adjournment to enable him to study the case.

The plaintiff, Mr Philip Apaloo, a resident of Kaneshie in Accra, is seeking a declaration by the court that as far as the 1969 Constitution was concerned, the defendant is not qualified to sit as a High Court Judge.

According to him, on April 4, 1986, Mr Justice Wiredu was dismissed as a Judge by the former PNDC Government on grounds of corruption.

Mr Apaloo claimed that Mr Justice Wiredu did not challenge the dismissal in any court of competent jurisdiction but through some strange twist of events which were not given any official explanation, the defendant wormed himself onto the bench and has since risen to the position of a Supreme Court Judge.

Mr Justice Wiredu was not personally present in court, but was represented by a team of lawyers led by Mr Lynes Quarshie-Idun.

It would be recalled that on July 24, this year, Mr Apaloo filed a writ in an Accra High Court, seeking perpetual injunction to restrain the acting Chief Justice, Mr Wiredu, from working as a Judge of the Superior Court of Judicature.

Mr Apaloo is seeking a declaration that in terms of Article 115 (3) (C) of the 1969 Constitution, the acting Chief Justice was not qualified for appointment as a High Court Judge, and his purported appointment in that capacity is null and void and is of no legal consequence.

Furthermore, the plaintiff averred that any promotion based on the void appointment is also null and void.

He was also seeking a declaration that the purported recall of the defendant to the bench without Judicial adjudication clearing him of corruption is null, void, and of no legal consequence.

In his statement of claim, Mr Apaloo said sometime in January, 1969, Justice Wiredu was purported to have been appointed as a High Court Judge but insisted that at all material times, the defendant was not qualified as a High Court Judge in terms of the 1969 Constitution.

In an accompanying affidavit, Mr Apaloo said he is reliably informed that Parliament is about to vet the defendant in the process of approving him as the Chief Justice of Ghana.

He said unless Parliament is restrained by the court, the defendant would go through vetting and confirmation as Chief Justice to the effect that it will prejudice and undermine the case.

In his reaction to the writ, Justice Wiredu said he is qualified by training and experience to be appointed to the Superior Court of Judicature.

He described the process challenging his appointment as diversionary and without foundation.

Justice Wiredu wondered how someone can challenge the appointment of a Superior Court Judge in a High Court when the matter being questioned is purely a constitutional issue.

He said the argument that he is not qualified to hold higher post on the bench, under the 1969 Constitution, is not tenable because he was appointed by the National Liberation Council (NLC) regime before the second Republican Constitution came into force.

According to the Chief Justice, his promotion to the Supreme Court was not contingent on appointment to the High Court, saying that “after all some lawyers of several years experience are appointed direct to the Supreme Court”.

On the allegation that he was dismissed by the erstwhile PNDC regime in 1986 for corruption, Justice Wiredu said he petitioned the PNDC on the matter and the decision was reviewed.

According to him, he sent a petition dated April 29, 1986 to the then Head of State through the Chief Justice.

He said he sent a reminder on October 14, 1986, which resulted in his reinstatement by a letter signed by Nana Ato Dadzie on February 2, 1988.

 

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