Former Special Prosecutor has condemned the Chief Justice, Gerturde Torkornoo over the recent closure of courts in the Upper East Region over security concerns in Bawku and its environs.
In a statement issued on Sunday, November 10, 2024, he argued that the Chief Justice's handling of the situation demonstrates her limited understanding of Ghana's geography and history. "The conduct of the Chief Justice in closing those courts on spurious grounds demonstrated her lack of high moral character and proven integrity to have been entrusted with the exercise of the administrative and supervisory powers vested in her under Article 125 of the 1992 Constitution which enshrines, inter alia, that: 'Justice emanates from the people and shall be administered in the name of the Republic by the judiciary which shall be independent and subject only to this Constitution.' "A Chief Justice of any country who does not know the history and geography of her country and acts discriminatorily, unfairly, and without candour in the performance of her administrative and supervisory functions is clearly unfit to be the head of the administration of an independent judiciary," portions of the statement indicated.
noted that the Chief Justice's decision extended to courts which were not even close to Bawku. "Her decision included courts in locations like Bolgatanga, Zebilla, and Garu, which Amidu argued were neither geographically close to Bawku nor relevant to the security advisories," he noted.
He further challenged the rationale behind the closures, questioning why similar measures were not applied in other regions with similar security concerns. "The website of the Ministry of the Interior, where I was once also the Minister, shows that between the end of September 2024 and the end of October 2024, the Minister for the Interior imposed curfews on ten towns and their environs. "In almost each case the curfew narrative was similar and as having been done on the advice of the Regional Security Council.