Former Chief Justice Sophia Akuffo has described the public disclosure that she had testified before the Committee set up to consider the removal of former Chief Justice Gertrude Torkornoo as “bad faith”.
In an interview with TV3 on Wednesday, September 3, the former Chief Justice who is also a Council of State member, said she was left “outraged” after discovering that details about her appearance before the Committee were circulated on social media.
She questioned how such information was made public when the hearing was not supposed to be accessible to the press.
“It was supposed to be in-camera. Everything was confidential so I go to an in-camera process to give evidence and then it is out there in the public domain. Approbation and Reprobation, that’s the way I see it,” she said.
According to Justice Akuffo, she saw no sign of media presence when she arrived at the venue, which made the leak even more troubling.
“So, the Committee, whether it was not protecting itself, because as I was walking into that building, I didn’t see any paparazzi on site, nor did I see any person surreptitiously taking pictures or anything like that,” she added.
She said that the disclosure undermined the very principles of an in-camera process.
“So, how did it get to the press that I had given evidence? I think that is wrong and it was in bad faith and it was in bad form and it was not in consonance and due regard that is dictated by an in-camera process,” the former Chief Justice said.
Justice Akuffo was clear that she had no regrets about appearing before the Committee and would not hesitate to do so again if necessary.