A private legal practitioner, Austin Kwabena Brako-Powers, has backed the Ghana Bar Association (GBA)’s call to President John Mahama to revoke Chief Justice Gertrude Torkornoo’s suspension immediately.
He said the country’s 1992 Constitution “does not cast a mandatory obligation” on President Mahama to suspend a Chief Justice subject to investigation.
“This is a discretionary power that should be exercised after a careful interaction with the issue under probe, thoughtful consideration of the various perspectives, and a clear understanding of what is at stake in conformity with Article 296 of the 1992 Constitution,” he said.
He was emphatic that the brisk manner in which the President issued the warrant for the Chief Justice’s suspension smacks of a “clear attempt to settle a petty political score and nothing more.”
At its mid-year conference on April 26, 2025, the GBA passed a resolution urging President Mahama to revoke Chief Justice Torkornoo’s suspension.
The resolution came a few days after the Association issued a statement calling on all political actors to follow due process in handling the petitions seeking the Chief Justice’s removal from office.
Commenting on the resolution, the acting Chief Executive Officer of the National Petroleum Authority (NPA), Godwin Kudzo Edudzi Tameklo, said it is of “no use.”
“I won’t say it is useless, but it’s of no use; it’s of no moment. It has no effect as far as President Mahama is concerned,” he told TV3.
He said, “What President Mahama has done so far is to hold fidelity to the 1992 Republican Constitution, which he (John Mahama) has sworn to protect.”
“They want President Mahama to revoke or suspend the suspension, by what authority? You want President Mahama to do what the constitution does not say? So that the same Ghana Bar will now say that you have disobeyed the constitution contrary to the Presidential oath you have taken, and for that matter, we are bringing an impeachment process against you?” Mr Edudzi Tameklo said.
But Mr Brako-Powers said he understands the difficulties of those justifying the “illogical action of President Mahama.”
“Political power is an actual test of one’s integrity. Would those in government and their sympathisers defending the President’s action do that if they were on the other side of politics? Or is it politics as usual? Indeed, political power reflects one’s true character or stance,” said.
“The fear that the exercise of a discretionary power may be abused compelled the framers of the 1992 Constitution to design a self-checking mechanism in Article 296, which had been assigned a restrictive and narrow interpretation by the Supreme Court in Ransford France vs. the Electoral Commission and rehashed in several cases, including Gregory Afoko vs. Attorney-General,” Mr Brako-Powers said on Facebook.
He has registered his disagreement with the Supreme Court’s decision in the Ransford France case, adopted in other cases, saying it encourages bad governance, especially when Ghanaians are clamouring for transparency, accountable and open governance.
