In November 1994, Dr Charles Wereko-Brobby, in defiance of the law, set up Radio Eye and began broadcasting without a license. The government stormed the station, seized its equipment, and shut it down.
In Parliament, to defend the government action, Kofi Totobi Quakyi, then Minister of Information, said Dr Brobby had acted like a Tarzan, “behaving as if there are no laws in Ghana”.
Today, Alexander Afenyo-Markin, Minority Leader, is behaving like a Tarzan. In his commentary on the administration of justice in Ghana, he speaks as if there are no laws governing speech in Ghana.
Nobody is above criticism, and criticism is no crime; it is an opinion. Under our 1992 Constitution, no one can be arrested merely for criticising anyone.
But there is a difference between criticism and personal insults, and to my mind, Afenyo-Markin’s remarks against judges who have ruled against the NPP and former Chief Justice Torkonoo have been nothing but insults, impugning the integrity of Justices.
November 26, 2025: The Minority Leader, commenting on the Tamale High Court’s decision to annul the 2024 parliamentary election in the Kpandai Constituency, described the court’s conduct as “shameful,” alleging that judges in Ghana were “serving the interests of their paymasters.”
Calling a ruling “unprecedented and legally troubling” is not an insult; it is a criticism, but to publicly allege that a judge is “serving the interest of his paymaster” is a personal insult. It requires proof.
On May 17, Afenyo-Markin held a press conference to comment on a judge’s decision to remand Abronye DC into custody. He declared that he could not respect “a judge who does not uphold the law”.
It was such a low blow that even the Ghana Bar Association felt offended. On May 18, the GBA condemned the insults as “unprofessional and unethical”, accusing the Minority Leader of “violating professional ethics by questioning the competence and qualifications of the judge in public. It is very unpalatable, unbecoming of a senior lawyer… Is this the kind of example he wants to give his constituents?”
The GBA reminded him that “The appellate system is not there for fun. If the judge didn’t act within his jurisdiction, he knew what to do. He shouldn’t go to the press… Per our etiquette rules, we don’t do things like this by attacking the qualifications or competence of a judge.”
And now, this week, it is Afenyo-Markin versus the Chief Justice of Ghana. On Atinka TV on Monday, August 17, the Minority Leader accused the Chief Justice, Paul Baffoe-Bonnie, of being part of what he describes as a “grand conspiracy” that led to the removal of his predecessor, Justice Gertrude Torkornoo, because he wanted the CJ position for himself.
He also attacked Justice Gabriel Scott Pwamang, who chaired the committee that investigated petitions that led to the removal of former Chief Justice Gertrude Torkornoo.
Hear Afenyo-Markin: “As my Lord Baffoe-Bonnie is exiting, I am aware you (Pwamang) are also lobbying to become the next Chief Justice.”
I don’t know about ethics and good judgement but I know that elderly people don’t talk like that.
The Effutu MP and lawyer remarked that the (Pwamang) committee had completed proceedings on only one of the petitions but proceeded to submit its report and recommendation to remove Justice Torkornoo from office.
Again, I know no law, but my simple logic leads me to ask: if there are three petitions, all seeking to remove the CJ, does it not follow from Aristotelian logic that if one petition is sufficient to convict, the other two will not have a contrary effect?
Was ECOWAS Court also anti-Torkonoo?
I have a feeling why Afenyo is talking like this. He is comfortable in the knowledge that, like most judges, the CJ or Justice Pwamang will never come out publicly in their own defence. The majority of the public does not know this about judges, so, in their minds, the CJ and Pwamang are quiet because they are guilty as charged by Afenyo.
And why wouldn’t Afenyo speak for the former CJ? When, as Minority leader, he filed a lawsuit at the Supreme Court of Ghana on October 15, 2024, to challenge and block a ruling by Speaker of Parliament Alban Bagbin regarding vacant parliamentary seats, Chief Justice Gertrude Torkornoo promptly took up the matter.
The suit was filed on October 15, 2024. Three days later, on October 18, 2024, a Supreme Court panel, presided over by Chief Justice Gertrude Torkornoo, urgently heard the application and issued a stay of execution.
Meanwhile, something else is very troubling. If Afenyo promises that a future NPP government will reinstate Torkonoo, will non-legal minds like mine be wrong in concluding that the law is not the law; that anybody with clout on the Supreme Court can win any case any day, irrespective of what the law says, as long as the government side also has the majority on the bench?
And now, see how Afenyo-Markin bristles at Sammy Gyamfi’s “brothel” comment. He takes it as an insult!!! Executioners fear even the shadow of the gallows.
