Justice Gertrude Torkornoo is certainly almost out of the Chief Justice seat she occupied as head of the judiciary.
For many who have observed the posturing of President John Mahama, the flurry of ‘petitions’ to herald the removal process was not surprising.
Be it as it may, the ‘resetting’ of the judiciary as per the standard of President Mahama has been kick-started at cruising and destructive speed.
As a dream come true for the President, the announcement about the suspension was lapped excitedly by National Democratic Congress (NDC) faithful on social media.
Before the suspension fiat made it to the public domain, NDC platforms were busy sharing a chart listing the membership of the Supreme Court and which President appointed them in a rehearsed fashion.
It turned out that all of them were appointed during the tenure of President Akufo-Addo.
It is as if President Akufo-Addo tampered with the justices’ ages so he could have the opportunity to make nominations to the bench when they hit the age bar. In any case, this uncontrollable act of fate could not have let go the duty of filling the vacancies as per the Constitution established.
The social media entry about the suspension as aforementioned is a journey towards a narrative to justify the resetting project of the President.
Resetting the judiciary as being done by the President comes at a cost.
A new order has been born in the country even though it is one not captured in the Constitution – new government, new Chief Justice and possibly judges of the superior courts.
Undoubtedly, the judiciary has been fully politicised, the repercussions of which action shall live long after President Mahama has completed his resetting agenda and retired.
So many commentaries are being churned out in social, traditional media and street-side parleys.
While some of such commentaries are emanating from non-legal minds, others stem from concerned citizens who understand the implications of politicising the judiciary.
We have reached a stage where judgments and rulings will be given political colours, and that is not good for the image of the judiciary.
Couldn’t we have done better under the circumstances as citizens who would rather the independence of the judiciary is enhanced?
We are in choppy waters and those who deny this might not be aware about the short or long-term fallouts from the injury inflicted on the judiciary by the action and whims of President John Mahama.
Any campaign or action which serves the best interest of the independence of the judiciary should be vigorously explored.
We have reached a stage where members of the bench are either NDC or NPP, their rulings assigned partisan colouration. Their decisions regardless how legally poignant would suffer a political twist and destroyed by wagging tongues.
Even more worrying is the fact that people have started predicting where the resetting pendulum is heading for. According to such persons, the final destination is the Electoral Commission.
Whether that is the case or not will be determined by time.