Resign! Dery's lawyer to Arhin

The Director of Communications at the Presidency, Mr Eugene Arhin, who issued a statement announcing the suspension of four Justices of the High Court, must resign, lawyer for three of the four judges, Nii Kpakpo Samoa Addo, has said.

His reason for demanding Mr Arhin’s head is that the statement, which announced the suspension of Justices Paul Uuter Dery, Mustapha Logoh, Gilbert Ayisi Addo and Justice Charles Quist, was riddled with legal errors, which exposed President Nana Akufo-Addo and the Presidency to local and international ridicule.

Mr Samoa Addo indicated that Mr Arhin should have sought clarification from lawyers at the presidency before issuing the statement.

The suspension letter dated 8 May 2018 and signed by Mr Arhin, said President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo, on the advice of the Judicial Council, given in accordance with Article 146 (10) (b) of the 1992 Constitution, suspended, with immediate effect, four Justices of the High Court.

The letter said: “The suspension follows the establishment of a prima facie case against them by the Committee set up by the Chief Justice to investigate alleged acts of bribery and corruption against certain persons, including the four Justices, as contained in the 29th August 2015 petition of investigative journalist Anas Aremeyaw Anas”.

But in Mr Samoa Addo’s view, this statement was needless because “they are already on suspension pursuant to the fact that they are on half salary, not sitting and are not receiving their allowances”, hence the current government cannot suspend them again.

He told Chief Jerry Forson on Ghana Yensom on Accra100.5FM on Thursday, 10 May that: “The justices are not bothered about this development because they have already been suspended. This is no news. The statement was needless and meaningless because the people are already on suspension. It shows that Eugene Arhin, who issued the statement, is uninformed and not abreast of the issues”.

“The statement is legally incompetent, it shows the presidency is made up of people who don’t know what they are about”, adding: “What prevented the Director of Communication from seeking clarification before issuing the statement? I think he should resign.”