President John Mahama did not err in forwarding the petitions for the removal of Lauratte Lamptey, the Commissioner of the Commission of Human Rights and Administrative Justice, (CHRAJ) to the Chief Justice, lawyer Nana Asante Bediatuo has stated.
According to Nana Asante Bediatuo, the constitution is clear about the processes to be followed when a petition is submitted to the President for the removal of the Commissioner of CHRAJ.
“Article 228 of the constitution is quite clear that if you want to remove a commissioner of CHRAJ, you would have to adopt the procedure that is in place for in the case of the commissioner, a justice of the court of appeal and the deputy, a justice of the high court. In both cases, they are article 146 officer holders for the purposes of removal. It is quite clear to me that the president in referring the petition to the chief justice was quite correct in his view of the constitutional requirement,” he stated.
[contextly_sidebar id=”OGlMVA2qcR2a4qllWU3m1TiSbAOTSiWj”]A former Attorney General, Nii Ayikoi Otoo had stated that the judiciary may not have the authority to investigate corruption claims against the CHRAJ boss.
Mr. Ayikoi Otoo in an interview on an Accra based radio station said “Madam Lauretta Lamptey has the status of a court of appeal judge, but she is not, strictly speaking, sitting as a court of appeal judge within the judiciary neither is she a judiciary staff. The mere fact that she owns the position as a court of appeal judge means that it is the judicial council that has to deal with any matter involving indiscipline.”
A Member of Parliament and a pressure group petitioned the president for the removal of the Lauretta Lamptey after reports about her spending on rent and renovation of her accommodation were made public.
The report outraged many Ghanaians who have called for her removal.
President Mahama who was out of the country when the petitions were presented has since forwarded the petition to Chief Justice.
Speaking on Eyewitness News on Monday, Nana Asante Bediatuo said President Mahama followed due process in forwarding the to the Chief Justice since the CHRAJ boss is an article 146 office holder.
“The Chief Justice must establish a prima facie finding before setting a committee to investigate. Where you are a high court judge or a court of appeal judge, and a petition is forwarded to the president for your removal, the president has nothing else to do with the matter except to forward it to the Chief Justice as the constitution requires.,” he added.
–
By: Nana Ama Agyemang Asante/citifmonline.com/Ghana