President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo has dismissed the US$5 million bribery allegation against the Chief Justice, Kwasi Anin Yeboah.
According to the President, the allegation raised no prima facie case for the impeachment of the Chief Justice and, therefore, dismissed the allegation.
Anti-corruption civil society organization, the Alliance for Social and Public Accountability (ASEPA), filed the petition to the President demanding the removal of the Chief Justice from office for his alleged involvement in the bribery allegation.
Following the allegation, President Akufo-Addo sent a request to the Council of State, to determine whether the allegation raised a prima facie case for the impeachment of the chief justice.
The Council, Chaired by Nana Otuo Siriboe, sent its report on the allegation to the President last Friday but the content was not made public.
The President, in a statement, observed that the petition was not anchored on any allegation made directly or emanating from the petitioner itself.
“The petitioner relies on allegations made by a certain lawyer, Mr Kwasi Afrifa, in his response to a complaint of misconduct made against the Chief Justice based on what he alleges another person (his former client), told him” the statement said.
It accused the petitioner of producing third hand or fourth hand hearsay as the basis for seeking to trigger the serious process for the removal of a Chief Justice of a republic from office
“It is correct to say that the petitioner does not possess any personal knowledge of any of the matter that the petitioner advances as the foundation of the petition,” it said
The statement said the petitioner did not make any allegation of bribery or any form of misconduct against the Chief Justice.
It described ASEPA’s petition as conjectural and speculative, providing nothing of substance to assist in proceedings for the removal of the Chief Justice.
“The petitioner fails to meet the threshold of proffering sufficiently strong evidence in support of his allegation for the opposing side to be called to answer to it”
“In actual fact, the petitioner fails to provide any evidence at all, in support of the spurious allegations made against the Chief Justice”
“It does not attempt to substantiate any of the claims in any form,” it said and dismissed ASEPA’s petition.
BY YAW KYEI
