Akufo-Addo sacks 3 judges; refers case to CID

Three High Court judges implicated in the exposé of ace journalist Anas Aremeyaw Anas have been removed from office.

They are Justices Ayisi Addo, Uuter Paul Dery and Mustapha Habib Logoh.

The decision was taken by President Akufo-Addo following the findings of a committee established by Chief Justice Sophia Akuffo pursuant to Article 146(4) of the Constitution to investigate a complaint lodged against the three judges by Anas after the said investigations.

The committee recommended their removal from office after it established that they had engaged in corruption and bribe-taking.

It concluded that the conduct of the three judges amounted to a criminal offence under the Criminal Offences Act, 1960, (Act 29) as amended.

The three judges were part of a larger group of judges from various divisions of the country’s court system, who were captured on the tape of Anas and his Tiger Eye PI taking bribes, including goats.

Some of the judges have already been sacked from the Bench by the Judicial Service.

More than 100 members of the Judicial Service staff were implicated in the corruption scandal that rocked the country in 2015.

Seven High Court judges were suspended, and five – Justice Kofi Essel Mensah, Justice Ivy Heward Mills, Justice John Ajet-Nasam, Justice Ernest Obimpeh and Justice Francis K. Opoku – were later sacked in June 2016 based on the advice of the Judicial Council.

Four High Court judges, during the investigations, were put on administrative leave after they protested against their culpability in the scandal.

The affected judges – Justice Uuter Paul Dery, Mustapha Logoh, Charles Quist and Gilbert Ayisi Addo – were put on half salaries, denied their allowances and barred from sitting on the bench since they took the matter to court.

Several judges, including Gilbert Ayisi Addo, who were filmed allegedly collecting bribes, challenged their suspension in court, which has since thrown out the cases.

A statement issued yesterday and signed by the Director of Communications at the Presidency, Jubilee House, Eugene Arhin, said “the President of the Republic, Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo, has, by a letter dated Thursday, 6th December, 2018, removed Mr. Justice Ayisi Addo, Mr. Justice Uuter Paul Dery and Mr Justice Mustapha Habib Logoh from office as Justices of the High Court.”

This was said to be in conformity with the provisions of Article 146(9) of the Constitution, which enjoins him to do so.

The President has since directed that a copy of the Committee’s report be submitted to the Criminal Investigations Department (CID) of the Ghana Police Service for the requisite action to be taken.