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0 The Minister of State in charge of Government Communications, Felix Kwakye Ofosu, says President John Mahama’s decision to suspend Chief Justice Gertrude Torkornoo was grounded solely in constitutional provisions and not influenced by personal bias.
Speaking on JoyNews’ Top Story on Monday, June 30, Mr Ofosu dismissed suggestions that the government should yield to calls for the reinstatement of the Chief Justice, as proposed by the Ghana Bar Association (GBA).
He insisted that such appeals risk undermining the constitutional order.
“President Mahama has acted purely based on constitutional injunction, and there’s nothing that he has done that is extra-constitutional or undermines the 1992 Constitution,” he stated.
The GBA had earlier called for a reconsideration of Justice Torkornoo’s suspension, citing concerns about judicial independence and urging national reflection on the legacy of the murdered High Court judges.
However, the Minister rejected comparisons between the current process and past judicial tragedies.
“It is quite obvious that there are people in our country who want to use the occasion of the dastardly and unfortunate murder of the High Court judges and the military officer to draw non-existent parallels between the current constitutional processes… and those dastardly murders,” he said.
According to Mr Ofosu, the GBA’s appeal amounts to asking for “a willful and blatant violation of the 1992 Constitution” and sets a dangerous precedent where individuals in high office are shielded from legal scrutiny.
“How then can it be said that because somebody occupies a certain position… those processes must be abandoned because of the sensitivity of the position? I don’t think that is proper,” he noted.
He further criticised the GBA for what he described as a pattern of political alignment, arguing that their statements increasingly reflect the positions of the opposition New Patriotic Party (NPP).
“These calls that the GBA consistently makes are completely at variance with their mandate. They are essentially saying that justice should remove its blindfold simply because of who is involved,” he said.
The Minister stated that Ghana’s justice system must uphold the principle of equality before the law, stressing that every public officeholder, including the Chief Justice, is subject to due process under the Constitution.
Justice Gertrude Torkornoo was suspended following the establishment of a prima facie case against her by the Judicial Council under Article 146. The move has ignited a national debate, with several legal, civil, and political voices weighing in on the implications for judicial independence and rule of law.
