Chief Justice lauds Togo's commitment to constitutional rule

Accra, June 19, GNA -The Chief Justice, Mrs Justice Georgina Theodora Wood, has commended the President of Togo, Faure Essozimna Gnassingbe, for his commitment to constitutional rule and for deepening the bonds of friendship between Ghana and Togo.

The Chief Justice made the commendation when she called on the President in Lome, as part of a three-day working visit to the Togolese Constitutional Court.

Mrs Wood was invited by the President of the Constitutional Court, Mr Aboudou Assouma.

Mrs Wood expressed gratitude to President Gnassingbe for agreeing to receive the Ghanaian delegation at very short notice. She said the purpose of her visit to the Constitutional Court was to trade knowledge and ideas on the resolution of electoral disputes to enhanc= e democracy, peace and development in the two neighbouring countries. She said the discussions were very successful and mutually beneficial. Mrs Wood who was accompanied by three Justices of the Supreme Court comprising Justice Jones Dotse, Justice Paul Baffoe-Bonnie and Justice Sule Gbadegbe prayed for God's guidance and blessings for President Gnassingbe= .. The Togolese leader, who expressed delight for meeting the Chief Justice and her delegation, admitted that Togo's electoral system had in the past suffered major problems arising out of disagreements among the country's political parties. As a result, he said his country had found it difficult to gain international respect for the system. He said h was happy that the situation had improved because of the wor= k of its Constitutional Court.

President Gnassingbe was full of admiration for Ghana's electoral system and recounted the insightful ideas he gained from his interaction with the President of the Peace Council, Peter Cardinal Appiah Turkson, during his visit to Ghana in 2009. He said despite the fierce rivalry that exists between the country's two leading political parties, Ghana has always remained peaceful, citing the 2008 general election as a case. He said no country can live without democracy and that governments 93= can only delay it but not deny it to its people".

President Gnassingbe noted that the bedrock of democracy was a sound electoral system and a Judiciary that handled electoral disputes expeditiously in a firm and fair manner. He said he was happy to learn that in Ghana, judges were encouraged to sit every day including weekends and public holidays to hear electoral disputes and dispose of them timeously. President Gnassingbe admitted that the Independent National Electoral Commission of Togo was not a cohesive unit because its membership was drawn from the country's political parties and so the members tended to see the= ir role through partisan lenses.

He expressed the willingness of his country to modify the current arrangement along the lines of the Ghanaian example. In Ghana, the members of the Electoral Commission are appointed on a non-partisan basis while the tenure of the Chairman and his two deputies ar= e secured from political manipulation and control.

The Togolese President said his country's Constitution was 93a bit unworkable because it borrows heavily from foreign cultures". He said the time had come for the country's Constitution to tap into the experiences of its sub-regional neighbours.