New Patriotic Party (NPP) spokesperson Yaw Opoku Mensah cautioned Saturday that Ghana faces dangerous executive overreach following the September removal of Chief Justice Gertrude Torkornoo, calling for independent legal experts to defend constitutional governance principles.
Speaking on The Forum program on Asaase Radio, Mensah characterized the Chief Justice’s removal process as reflecting patterns established during President John Dramani Mahama’s earlier administration. He serves as spokesperson for presidential aspirant Dr. Yaw Osei Adutwum in the party’s upcoming January 31, 2026 primaries.
President Mahama removed Justice Torkornoo from office on September 1, 2025, following recommendations from a five member committee that investigated petitions alleging misconduct and misbehavior. The dismissal marked the first time a Chief Justice had been removed from office in Ghana’s history.
Mensah criticized government communications surrounding the removal, urging citizens to independently verify information rather than accept official accounts at face value. He suggested systematic narrative control shapes public understanding of events contrary to actual circumstances.
“One thing that we need to understand is that we should never expect anything positive within this very development,” Mensah stated during the broadcast. He referenced conversations about the judiciary by the National Democratic Congress (NDC) before Mahama’s 2024 election victory, suggesting current actions fulfill previously stated intentions.
“On every single day with this particular development there is a system that has been created just to throw out certain narrative and give a certain understanding to the Ghanaian people,” he said, adding that information from independent sources contradicts official government messaging.
The committee investigating Justice Torkornoo concluded she authorized unlawful expenditures including travel expenses and per diems for her spouse and daughter through the judicial service. The committee determined such actions constituted misuse of public funds falling under grounds for removal defined in Article 146(1) of Ghana’s 1992 Constitution.
Mensah emphasized his concerns transcend the personality of the former Chief Justice, focusing instead on constitutional principles and historical precedent for judicial independence. He framed the issue as fundamental to Ghana’s democratic governance structure.
“We are in a democracy; we voted for President Mahama under a functional constitution,” he said. “Now you ask yourself what the legal status of those three arms of government in terms of understanding what separation of powers means. But today, it has clearly been demonstrated that strong executive supremacy is the order of the day.”
Justice Torkornoo served as Ghana’s 15th Chief Justice from June 12, 2023 until her September 1, 2025 dismissal. She became Ghana’s third female Chief Justice following Georgina Theodora Wood and Sophia Akuffo.
President Mahama suspended Torkornoo in April 2025 after determining a prima facie case existed based on petitions received in March. The suspension and subsequent removal process generated public controversy regarding constitutional compliance even before the investigating committee commenced its work.
Justice Torkornoo challenged the proceedings in both Ghana’s Supreme Court and the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) Community Court of Justice, alleging violations of her fundamental rights. The ECOWAS court dismissed her application seeking an order to halt the investigative committee’s work, ruling she failed to demonstrate urgency or imminent irreparable harm.
The court noted that three months elapsed between May 15, when the Article 146 committee began work, and July 4, when Torkornoo filed her ECOWAS action. This time gap defeated her urgency argument according to the regional court’s November 19 ruling.
Former Chief Justice Sophia Akuffo, now a Council of State member, stated in a September 3 interview that the removal process was unnecessary and weakened the judiciary as an institution. Deputy Attorney General Justice Srem Sai defended the process as constitutional and legitimate, asserting Ghanaians must decide standards for public official conduct.
Mensah directed his Saturday comments toward Ghanaians possessing legal expertise, specifically calling on them to challenge what he characterized as executive excesses threatening judicial branch independence. He suggested lawyers and constitutional scholars bear special responsibility to speak publicly on these matters.
“The most difficult aspect is that we use one of your own to do that same thing,” Mensah added, apparently referencing the committee composition that included Supreme Court justices. “We need to make the Ghanaian people understand that we need to pull the breaks on the executive.”
The investigating committee included five members: Justice Gabriel Pwamang as chair, Justice Samuel Adibu Asiedu, former Auditor General Daniel Yaw Domelevo, Major Flora Bazaanura Dalugo from the Ghana Armed Forces, and Professor James Sefah Dzisah from the University of Ghana.
Justice Paul Baffoe Bonnie, the most senior judge on the Supreme Court, assumed acting Chief Justice duties following Torkornoo’s suspension pending resolution of the matter.
Three separate petitions prompted the removal process: one from businessman Daniel Ofori, another from a group called Shining Stars, and a third from police official Ayamga Yakubu Akolgo. The petitions alleged various forms of misconduct including abuse of power over judicial staff transfers and dismissals beyond the travel expense allegations.
Between April 16 and 29, 2025, various groups including the NPP held press conferences and protests calling for revocation of the Chief Justice’s suspension. Torkornoo herself held a June 25 press conference warning the removal process would affect how all current and future High Court justices, Court of Appeal justices, Supreme Court justices and Chief Justices might be removed from office.
The constitutional process employed Article 146 provisions requiring presidential consultation with the Council of State to establish prima facie grounds, followed by formation of an investigative committee, then presidential action based on committee recommendations. Presidential spokesperson Felix Kwakye Ofosu emphasized during the controversy that rule of law requires accountability from everyone regardless of societal standing.
Mensah’s Saturday remarks arrive as the NPP prepares for presidential primaries to select its 2028 general election flagbearer. Multiple aspirants compete for the nomination including Dr. Adutwum, for whom Mensah serves as official spokesperson.
The opposition party lost the December 2024 presidential election to Mahama, who returned to office after previously serving as president from 2012 to 2017. Political observers note tensions between the executive and judicial branches often intensify during transitions between administrations representing different political parties.
Ghana’s 1992 Constitution establishes three coequal branches of government: executive, legislative and judicial. Constitutional scholars emphasize that separation of powers doctrine requires each branch to operate independently within its defined sphere without improper interference from other branches, though specific mechanisms for maintaining that balance remain subject to interpretation and debate.
The judiciary removal process debate highlights ongoing tensions in democratic systems between accountability for public officials and preservation of institutional independence. Proponents of the removal emphasized constitutional compliance and public fund protection, while critics warned of precedents threatening judicial autonomy from political pressure.
Source: newsghana.com.gh
