NPP GERMANY
PRESS RELEASE
03—09—2025
Chief Justice Torkonoo Sacking: A Brutal Assault On Democracy And Dangerous Pathfinder—NPP GERMANY
Ghanaians woke up on September 1, 2025, to yet another brutal reminder that under John Dramani Mahama and the ruling National Democratic Congress (NDC), our democracy is nothing but a fragile ornament to be smashed at will.
The sudden removal of Justice Gertrude Araba Esaaba Sackey Torkornoo as Chief Justice and from the Supreme Court bench marks a dark day in Ghana’s constitutional history — one that sets a dangerous precedent of political interference and institutional intimidation.
President Mahama, acting on the recommendations of a committee clearly set up to do his bidding, has dragged the head of the judiciary into the dust in a manner that reeks not of accountability but of vendetta and raw political calculation.
The NDC has long been uncomfortable with an independent judiciary. Now, with Mahama back at the helm, they have shown their hand: dismantle, humiliate, and control the last line of defense of Ghana’s democracy.
Yes, the committee cited “stated misbehaviour” — from travel expenses on family trips to the reassignment of staff and even an alleged breach of judicial appointment processes. But any fair-minded Ghanaian can see through the smoke.
These so-called infractions are flimsy at best, political weapons at worst. Every seasoned public official has been accused of similar administrative lapses, yet none has been thrown to the wolves in such a calculated public lynching.
The NDC has chosen to weaponize oversight to purge those they see as inconvenient. The irony is staggering.
This is not justice. This is brute force, pure and simple — the calculated demolition of judicial independence by a desperate regime.
Let’s be clear: the charges against Justice Torkornoo are flimsy, laughable, and insulting to the intelligence of Ghanaians. Travel expenses? A staff transfer? A recommendation letter on judicial appointments?
These are the “crimes” for which Mahama has unleashed the guillotine? If every public official were to be measured by such petty infractions, Mahama himself would have been politically executed long ago.
Where is the moral high ground when Mahama himself presided over scandals far bigger than per diem payments — from SADA to GYEEDA to the infamous Airbus bribery saga? This is not about misconduct.
This is about control. Mahama and the NDC have decided that the judiciary must be tamed, humiliated, and brought under their heel.
By destroying Justice Torkornoo, they have sent a chilling message: no judge is safe, no verdict is sacred, and no institution will be allowed to stand in the way of their political agenda.
It is sheer hypocrisy. Mahama, who once cried himself hoarse about “judicial independence” under Akufo-Addo, now sits comfortably as the executioner of that very independence.
His regime has weaponized Article 146 into a political hammer, smashing the head of the judiciary to intimidate the rest. This is dictatorship wearing the mask of due process.
Ghanaians must wake up. If today a Chief Justice can be tossed aside like a pawn on a chessboard, tomorrow it will be an Electoral Commissioner, an Auditor-General, or any citizen who dares to challenge the regime. This is how democracies collapse — not overnight, but piece by piece, as leaders like Mahama chip away at the institutions that protect us.
This is not just a disgrace. It is a betrayal. A betrayal of the Constitution. A betrayal of the separation of powers. A betrayal of every Ghanaian who still believes in freedom and democracy.
History will remember September 1, 2025, as the day Mahama and the NDC declared war on the judiciary. But Ghanaians must ensure it also becomes the day we rose up, spoke out, and refused to let one man’s thirst for power dismantle the Republic.
Mahama has crossed the line. And Ghana must not stay silent.
This is the same Mahama who, in opposition, wailed endlessly about judicial independence and accused the Akufo-Addo government of interfering in the judiciary.
Yet today, he has presided over the most vicious attack on the judiciary in the Fourth Republic.
Removing a sitting Chief Justice on such grounds is not just an attack on one individual — it is a calculated move to bring the entire judiciary under political control.
Who will dare speak truth to power now? What judge will rule against the regime when they have seen what has been done to the very head of their institution?
The NDC has long mastered the politics of double standards, but this act stands out as a glaring betrayal of Ghana’s constitutional order.
It undermines judicial independence, compromises the separation of powers, and exposes the fragility of our democratic guardrails.
By yielding to partisan pressure and sacrificing the sanctity of the judiciary, President Mahama has put personal and political expediency above national interest.
Ghanaians must ask: if a Chief Justice can be removed with such brazenness, what hope is there for the ordinary judge, civil servant, or whistleblower? This is not about Justice Gertrude Torkornoo anymore. This is about the survival of our democracy.
The removal of Justice Torkornoo will go down in history not as an act of accountability, but as one of the most shameless political overreaches of the Fourth Republic.
Mahama and the NDC may celebrate their conquest today, but history will judge them harshly for this authoritarian maneuver. Ghana’s democracy deserves better.
God Bless Our Homeland Ghana!!!
Long Live Ghana, long live the Elephant Party!!!!
Kukruduuuu Eeeessshiii!!!
Signed:
Nana Osei Boateng
NPP GERMANY
Communications Director
