Minority Leader, Alexander Afenyo-Markin seated in the middle addressing the press
Alexander Afenyo-Markin, the minority leader, has counseled Supreme Court justices to stand by one another in the event that the Mahama government tries to remove Chief Justice Gertrude Torkornoo.
Speaking at a press conference held after a National Executive Committee meeting of the NPP in Accra on Wednesday, April 16, 2025, he said any attempt to split their ranks should be opposed.
“We are aware of attempts by persons in government to push for the removal of the Chief Justice from office. The judiciary should not be seen as part of the party-political system in our country. All we need is an impartial judiciary to dispense justice. What is happening is unacceptable and it is clear that the NDC wants to infiltrate the judiciary and make it partisan. But my advice to the judiciary is to stand together. Let not somebody create an impression of one of you and think that just be dislodging one of you, you will be the next. The next day, you will be the next.”
He therefore urged Justice Torkornoo’s colleagues on the apex court to solidarise with her. He described the petitions against the Chief Justice, based on which President John Mahama has activated processes for her removal, as baseless.
“The judiciary must stand together as one body and make a full statement and condemn this action. The Ghana Bar Association must stand for the judiciary, Civil Society Organisations must stand for the judiciary. All these flimsy pedestrian excuses, looking at what is out there, you wonder whether these are real grounds for the removal of a chief justice.”
Afenyo-Markin urged President Mahama to show his statesmanship throughout his last term in office.
“So, I would plead with President Mahama. This is his last term, so he is no more part of the mainstream politics. He should be looking at leaving a legacy. The hardliners in the NDC should be kept on the fringes. They should not be allowed in the middle to disrupt the governance process. They would want to remove everybody and that will not be good for our democracy,” he said.
Minority Leader Alexander Afenyo-Markin is calling on the judiciary to stand united against what he describes as a deliberate attempt by some individuals in government to oust Chief Justice Gertrude Torkornoo.
He warns that such actions threaten the independence and integrity of… pic.twitter.com/2SgivgVFfF
— CITI FM 97.3 (@Citi973) April 16, 2025
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