The removal of Chief Justice Gertrude Araba Esaaba Sackey Torkornoo continues to dominate debates, with the Minority in Parliament issuing a dire warning about the future of Ghana’s democratic institutions, including the Electoral Commission (EC).
Speaking passionately on the floor of the House on Tuesday, October 21, 2025, Minority Leader Alexander Afenyo-Markin asserted that the process used to dismiss the Chief Justice creates a perilous precedent that threatens to destabilise every independent state body, ultimately compromising the integrity of future general elections.
The most significant warning from the Minority centred on the chilling effect the action could have on Ghana’s electoral processes.
The judiciary is the final arbiter of electoral disputes, making its perceived independence crucial for the legitimacy of election outcomes.
Mr Afenyo-Markin’s statement directly linked the alleged manipulation of judicial independence to the credibility of future national elections.
“If judicial independence can be manipulated in this manner, we should not expect free or credible elections in future,” the Effutu MP stated.
This statement highlights the Minority’s fear that the executive is setting a precedent that could be used to intimidate or remove heads of constitutional bodies (like the EC Chairman), thereby influencing key decisions related to voter registration, results compilation, and electoral justice.
The Ghanaian electorate, numbering over 17 million registered voters in the last general election, relies heavily on these institutions to ensure a free and fair contest.
Mr. Afenyo-Markin further argued that the Minority’s opposition extends far beyond the fate of one individual—Chief Justice Torkornoo—who was removed by President John Mahama on September 1, 2025, following the recommendation of an Article 146 Committee.
He detailed the potential domino effect of the precedent.
“Mr Speaker, this matter goes beyond one individual. If this false and irregular process succeeds, it endangers every independent constitutional body: the Auditor General, the Electoral Commission, the National Commission for Civic Education, and even the Public Services Commission could be targeted,” he stressed.
Mr Afenyo-Markin stressed that allowing the integrity of the Article 146 removal process to be compromised would erode the foundational safeguards of accountability and probity in Ghana’s governance structure, a critical concern for a democracy that has experienced multiple constitutional crises.
“This will destroy the safeguards of accountability and erase the principle of probity from our governance.”
Mr. Afenyo-Markin concluded his address by vowing that the Minority Caucus would not permit the sanctity of the judiciary to be undermined.
“Mr Speaker, the judiciary is the last line of defense for our democracy, and any act that undermines its independence strikes at the heart of our constitutional order. The minority will resist any attempt to compromise the sanctity of the judiciary.”
He confirmed the Caucus’s commitment to defending constitutional governance:
“Ghana’s institutions must be protected from political manipulation, and we will not sit idly by whilst dangerous precedents are set.”
The ongoing political fallout from the Chief Justice’s removal, which followed the recommendation of an investigative committee over allegations of “stated misbehaviour”, remains the biggest constitutional debate in the country, pitting the executive’s adherence to the letter of Article 146(9) against the legislative opposition’s concerns regarding the spirit of judicial independence.
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