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$5m bribery allegation: Update from presidency in line with Constitution-ASEPA

The Alliance for Social Equity and Public Accountability (ASEPA), has proffered that the update from the Presidency response to its petition for the possible removal of the Chief Justice over the $5 million bribery allegation made against him is welcoming and in order.

It said the presidency had acted in line with its expectation and some processes had already commenced prior to being petitioned over the issue and was also in line with Article 146 of the 1992 Constitution.

According to the think tank, it was quite delightful, just as it expected the president to do adding that “there is nothing unusual about it because the 1992 Constitution is clear about what the processes were, and the president is supposed to act as conveyor belt when he received the petition”.

The response was contained in a letter to ASEPA which petitioned President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo to invoke provisions of Article 146 of the 1992 Constitution to commence impeachment proceedings against the Chief Justice.

The $5 million bribery allegations were contained in a response of a lawyer, Akwasi Afrifa, in response to a petition filed against him by his client at the Disciplinary Committee of the General Legal Council.

Although the Chief Justice, Justice Kwasi Anin-Yeboah, denied the accusation and asked the Criminal Investigation Department (CID) of the Ghana Police Service to probe the issue, Mensah Thompson, the Executive Secretary of Alliance for Social Equity and Public Accountability (ASEPA) contended that the allegations had brought the name of the Judiciary into disrepute and cast serious slur on justice administration in the country, hence the presidential petition.

A statement signed and issued by Nana Bediatuo Asante, the Executive Secretary to the President, stated that it had officially received the petition and had initiated processes to act on it.

The letter, titled Re: Petition to invoke Article 146 for the removal of Chief Justice, said, “I write to acknowledge receipt of your undated petition in respect of above subject matter and to inform you the President has, in accordance with Article 146 (6) of the 1992 Constitution, commenced appropriate processes subsequent to being petitioned for the removal of the Chief Justice”.–citinewsroom.com

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