Reverend John Ntim Fordjour, Ranking Member of Parliament’s Defence and Interior Committee, has accused President John Dramani Mahama of suspending Chief Justice Gertrude Araba Torkonoo based on personal animosity rather than constitutional merit.
In a strongly-worded post on X dated Wednesday, 23 April, Rev. Ntim Fordjour described the suspension as a politically-motivated act that undermines the independence of the judiciary.
The Chief Justice was suspended on Tuesday, 22 April, upon the advice of the Council of State, following the submission of petitions calling for her removal from office. However, Rev. Fordjour has dismissed the rationale behind the decision as unconvincing.
Your Excellency Mr President, under your watch, as part of your reset agenda, politically-motivated witch-hunting has seen the mass termination of thousands of jobs in the public sector. As if that was not enough, your brazen determination to remove the Chief Justice reveals…
— John Ntim Fordjour MP (@NtimFordjour) April 23, 2025
“Yes, you may not be the first President to go down in history as the President who removed his Chief Justice on grounds of personal dislike. But that’s certainly not a noble and enviable precedent to follow either,” he wrote.
According to the MP, the move to oust Justice Torkonoo is part of a broader agenda by the Mahama administration to entrench political control over independent institutions.
“The independence of the Judiciary is paramount to the integrity of our democratic pursuit. Your palpable pursuit of removing the Chief Justice and to replace her with a politically-compliant one clearly affronts key principles of good governance and is dangerous for the future of Ghana’s democracy,” he stated.
Rev. Fordjour has called on civil society organisations, religious bodies, the diplomatic community, and all concerned citizens to oppose what he terms a “vindictive and destructive course.”
He warned that the suspension adds to a growing list of concerning actions under President Mahama’s current tenure, including “unfair mass terminations of jobs, storming of innocent political opponents’ homes with armed thugs, Dumsor, cocaine trafficking and money laundering.”
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