John Darko
The Minority in Parliament has condemned the removal of Chief Justice Gertrude Torkornoo from office, describing the decision by President John Dramani Mahama as a “judicial coup clothed in flawed constitutional procedures.”
In a statement issued and signed by John Darko, Member of Parliament (MP) for Suame and Legal Counsel to the Minority Caucus, the opposition argued that September 1, the date of the removal, “must be commemorated as the day the judicial branch of Ghana’s political institutions was finally subjugated by the executive.”
The caucus said it had long been aware of alleged plans by the administration to oust the Chief Justice but had hoped the President would refrain from taking such a step “for the sake of the nation.”
The statement warned that the move represented a “flagrant assault on the Judiciary” and signaled a dangerous weakening of state institutions.
According to the Minority, Ghana has now joined “the unenviable group of nations like Pakistan, Bangladesh, and Sri Lanka which have removed their chief justices for political purposes.”
The caucus linked the decision to earlier remarks by senior figures of the ruling party, including National Democratic Congress (NDC) National Chairman, Johnson Asiedu Nketia, who the Minority MPs claim had pledged during the 2024 campaign to remove Chief Justice Torkornoo and the Electoral Commission’s Chairperson.
The Minority insisted that the dismissal of the Chief Justice was driven by politics rather than law, asserting, “It has everything to do with the president’s inordinate desire to control all the levers of government.”
The Minority called the removal a setback to the country’s democratic progress and urged chiefs, the clergy, civil society, and the media to join in condemning what they called an executive coup against the judiciary.
By Ernest Kofi Adu