Former Chief Justice Sophia Akuffo’s resignation letter to the President should definitely contain damning details about her experience as a member of the constitutionally created advisory body, Council of State.
Membership of this Council definitely affords members rare opportunities to assess the quality of governance and how the President takes or shrugs off advice from the distinguished Ghanaians on the role of the Council.
The unpopular decisions such as the dismissal of the former Chief Justice Gertrude Torkornoo speaks volumes about the quality of the Council. Are members able to offer quality advice to the President or they just tell him what he wants to hear? Auntie Sophia from information gathered was the lone member who found certain decisions outrageous and arbitrary her position on the Sir Arku Korsah style dismissal known to many Ghanaians.
The contents of her missive to the Commander-In-Chief are not what the President and by extension his government want Ghanaians to know at this time. Not at a time when the ruling party is cornered by a waning popularity.
The damning contents which would hardly be released by government are being demanded by Ghanaians leading the crusade is Martin Amidu.
Here is to join the former Special Prosecutor to demand the release of the contents of the resignation letter so we can measure the quality of the Council’s members. Justice Sophia Akuffo did not mean to be mischievous hence her restricting the letter to the President only.
She could have divulged the contents to the public through social media of course but she chose not to.
We can bet the President and his government will rather keep such contents to their chests and pretend nothing is amiss. In any case why was the resignation kept a secret for so long? It appears the resignation coincided with the date the former Chief Justice was dismissed by the President. The auspiciousness of the coincidence was not something the President relished hence the decision to conceal it, not indefinitely anyway.
The bombshells in the letter would eventually be out just like the action was. Until then however we shall make do with the speculations which are being peddled in street gossips.
One of the ready-made contents is that Sophia who found the ouster of Chief Justice Gertrude Torkornoo distasteful and improper had cause to state her opposition.
She picketed at the Finance Ministry when the financial haircut was announced and effected during the previous regime.
She has cut herself as a principled person who would not brook any inappropriate actions from political leadership of the country and would not want to be associated with a Council of State whose rubber-stamp role rather than advisory does not inure to the interest of the nation.
The government is facing a classic case of cornering…a conundrum if you like. How will the space created by the resignation of Auntie Sophia be filled when none of the former Chief Justices is in the good books of the President? For how long will the constitutional breach be remedied?
Martin Amidu’s quest for the release of the contents has whetted the appetite of Ghanaians…they want to measure the quality of the Council of State and now.
