Are Dr. Opuni and Mr. Agongo now assured of a fair trial - and should we salute Chief Justice Gertrude Torkornoo for that?

Dear critical-reader, the question to ponder over is: Are Dr. Stephen Opuni and Mr. Seidu Agongo now assured of a fair trial - and should we salute Chief Justice Gertrude Torkornoo for that?

It will be recalled that some of us did say, not too long ago, dear critical-reader, that the moral uprightness bedrocking the character of the current Chief Justice of Ghana, Her Ladyship Gertrude Torkornoo, whose commitment to ensuring that the highest ethical standards underpin her own work, and that of all magistrates and judges nationwide, is legendary, would soon be reflected in the work of all Ghana's magistrates and judges, as well as that of the supporting career legal professionals, who together with magistrates and judges, collectively make up the Judiciary Service of Ghana.

We went further to say that under Her Ladyship, Chief Justice Gertrude Torkornoo, all those legal professionals working for the Judiciary Service, would commit to ensuring that their bedrocking-system is efficient and productive in delivering justice for all who seek reliefs from law courts, nationwide, going forward into the future.

Dear critical-reader, in light of that, regardless of the nature of the self-serving spin put on the issue by the Attorney General and Minister for Justice, Hon. Godfred Dame Esq., the decision by the Chief Justice, Her Ladyship Gertrude Torkornoo, to select a new panel of judges, with herself heading it, to hear the ongoing trial of Dr. Stephen Opuni, the former CEO of the Ghana Cocoa Board (COCOBOD), and the second accused in the matter, Mr. Seidu Agongo, the Mahama era business tycoon, is meant, essentially, to enable the Judiciary Service to end the widespread public perception that the trial of Dr. Stephen Opuni, is a clear cut case of political persecution cloaked as prosecution for allegedly causing financial loss to the COCOBOD, the state-owned entity he once led. Ditto Mr. Seidu Agongo, the second accused.

So regardless of the forked-tongued-glibness of Hon. Godfrey Dame, Chief Justice Gertrude Torkornoo is clearly determined to ensure that Dr. Stephen Opuni and Mr. Seidu Agongo get a fair trial - which obviously wasn't the case before her elevation, under the previous Chief Justice, His Lordship Justice Anin-Yeboah.

Alas, critics of Chief Justice Anin-Yeboah, according to bush telegraph sources, allegedly claimed that he was politically biased - and favoured the ruling party in some of the cases heard by him and other Justices of the Supreme Court - criticism that some of us felt was unfair to him and those Justices who voted with him, in delivering majority judgments, in some of the cases heard by

the apex court, during his tenure as Chief Justice, it ought to be pointed out, dear critical-reader.

Be that as it may, what matters most now, dear critical-reader, is that Dr. Stephen Opuni and Mr. Seidu Agongo are now both assured of a fair trial going forward into the future - a huge relief to both of them no doubt. We salute Chief Justice Gertrude Torkornoo for that positive development in this Kafkaesque case!