Private legal practitioner Nii Kpakpo Samoa has asserted that no aspect of the ongoing proceedings to remove suspended Chief Justice Gertrude Torkornoo can legally be made public under the current constitutional framework.
His remarks come in response to comments by Attorney General Godfred Yeboah Dame, who has opposed the in-camera nature of the hearings.
Dame, who also serves as the legal representative for the Chief Justice, argued that the hearings should be held publicly due to the intense scrutiny and reputational harm already suffered by Justice Torkornoo.
“It cannot be a secret. There ought to be light on the proceedings because she has already been damaged in the public domain,” Dame told Citi News on Thursday, May 22, emphasizing that transparency is essential to ensuring fairness, particularly given the political and public interest in the case.
However, speaking during a panel discussion on Channel One TV’s The Big Issue on Saturday, May 24, Kpakpo Samoa disagreed, insisting that the Supreme Court has already offered a definitive interpretation on the matter.
“The interpretation as it stands now from the Supreme Court is that in-camera is in-camera, and they have given very sound reasons why it is from the beginning to the end,” he said.
He further explained that the constitutional requirement for in-camera proceedings is designed to safeguard both the subject of the investigation and the integrity of the process.
“But here is also the flip side of it,” he added. “If I am the subject of the petition and I elect to make it public, am I exercising a personal right against a constitutional provision that says no? That is something the court may have to look at.”
Nonetheless, Samoa maintained that unless the Supreme Court revises its position, the process must remain confidential.
“If you try to injunct the process, according to the Supreme Court ruling, you are seeking to subvert the Constitution,” he added.
