The Member of Parliament for Suame and Minority spokesperson on legalissues, John Darko, has strongly criticised President John Dramani Mahama for removing Chief Justice Gertrude Torkornoo from office, calling it a “judicial coup clothed in flawed constitutional procedures.”
In a statement released on Tuesday, September 2, the MP, who also serves as Legal Counsel to the Minority Caucus, said the president’s action undermines Ghana’s democracy and threatens the independence of the judiciary.
“KNOW YE ALL MEN that the removal of the CJ has nothing to do with legal constitutional process; it has everything to do with politics and the president’s inordinate desire to control all the levers of government,” Darko said.
President Mahama’s decision followed a report from a committee he set up to investigate the Chief Justice. However, Darko underscored that the process lacked fairness and was politically motivated.
Darko pointed to comments made by NDC Chairman Johnson Asiedu Nketiah during the 2024 election campaign, where he reportedly said the Chief Justice and the Electoral Commission Chair must be removed
“This removal is part of a grand agenda by the NDC to bastardise the institutions of state to enable them to run the country like a gangster town,” Darko said.
He warned that Ghana now risks joining countries like Pakistan, Bangladesh, and Sri Lanka, nations that have removed their chief justices for political reasons.
“September 1st will be remembered as the day the executive finally subjugated the judiciary. It must live in infamy,” he added.
The MP called on traditional leaders, the clergy, the media, and all Ghanaians to speak out against what he described as a serious attack on Ghana’s democracy.
“By this single act, the president has set the country back. All well-meaning Ghanaians must condemn this in no uncertain terms,” he said.
