The Minority MP for Manhyia South, Nana Agyei Baffour Awuah, has called for legislation to clearly define how prima facie cases are determined to prevent inconsistencies in judicial decisions.
Speaking on Joy FM’s Super Morning Show, Mr Awuah said he believes there is a lack of consistency between the recent dismissal of petitions against the Electoral Commission (EC) officials and the ruling that removed former Chief Justice Gertrude Torkornoo.
The Chief Justice, Paul Baffoe-Bonnie, ruled that there was no prima facie evidence to justify further investigation into petitions calling for the removal of the Electoral Commissioner, her deputies, and the Special Prosecutor.
This was confirmed by the Minister of Government Communications in a statement issued on Wednesday, February 18.
“Where there has been a specific breach of the Constitution, you claim that it hasn’t established a prima facie case. That is why we have stated that this issue about what constitutes a prima facie case in respect of Article 146 should be reduced into law,” Mr Awuah argued.
He warned that leaving the determination of such cases to discretionary power risks different standards being applied to different individuals.
“Unless it is reduced into law, it becomes a discretionary power of whoever is making the decision, and this is where it is not good. Otherwise, we risk a situation where different standards are going to be applied to different people based on the disposition of whoever is exercising that discretion and what he thinks of that person,” he added.
Mr Awuah said a clear statute would ensure uniformity and prevent scenarios where similar cases are judged differently.
“So this raises fundamental questions, and I think that we need a statute to resolve these issues because we can’t have a situation where different principles or standards are applied to different officials holding the same or similar conditions,” he said.
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