A new judge will be assigned to handle the Office of the Special Prosecutor’s confirmation application against Cecilia Dapaah by Chief Justice Gertrude Esaaba Torkonoo.
Prior to this, the OSP had written to the Chief Justice requesting that the judge recuse herself from all cases, including those involving Cecilia Dapaah, on the grounds of perceived bias against the office and the special prosecutor.
This is now required since Edward Twum, the judge overseeing the case, is about to take his vacation.
The Chief Justice had issued a warrant for the High Court Judge to sit during the legal vacation; he is currently scheduled to take his annual leave.
On October 25, however, the petition to remove the judge from the case was turned down by the head of the judiciary.
This cleared the path for a possible hearing and decision on the application to uphold the order to freeze certain bank accounts connected to the former sanitation minister and to seize the money discovered in her residence.
However, on Wednesday, November 8, Judge Edward Twum invited the parties to appear in his chambers when the case was called. Cecilia Dapaah, her husband, and their attorneys were present in court, along with attorneys from the special prosecutor’s office.
The parties postponed the substantive application in order to await the Chief Justice’s response in response to the petition.
The Chief Justice denied the OSP’s request for Justice Twum to recuse himself, citing his alleged bias against their office in the petition.
The Judicial Secretary informed the OSP that the Chief Justice was unable to fulfill their request, the OSP stated in a social media statement in response to the request.
The OSP had justified their call for Justice Twum to be removed from cases involving their office by claiming that he had demonstrated bias against them and the Special Prosecutor.
