Mahama Plotting to Rule Ghana as a ‘Gangster Town’ – Minority on CJ Removal
The Minority Caucus in Parliament has fiercely condemned President John Dramani Mahama’s decision to remove Chief Justice Gertrude Araba Esaaba Sackey Torkornoo from office, effective Monday, 1 September 2025.
In a statement issued on 2 September, John Darko, Legal Counsel to the Minority, described the move as politically driven and a direct assault on the independence of the judiciary.
He alleged that the Chief Justice’s removal is part of a calculated agenda by the ruling National Democratic Congress (NDC) to weaken state institutions and run Ghana “as a gangster town.”
“Our caucus, even though aware of the administration’s machinations to remove the Chief Justice, still held the belief that the President would appeal to his better angels and act virtuously for the sake of the nation,” Mr. Darko stated.
He warned that the action threatens Ghana’s democratic credentials and likened it to developments in countries such as Pakistan, Bangladesh, and Sri Lanka, where Chief Justices have been removed for political purposes.
Mr. Darko further argued that the decision was politically premeditated, pointing to remarks made by leading NDC figures ahead of the 2024 elections.
“From the President’s address to NDC lawyers and the repeated claims by the NDC Chairman, Johnson Asiedu Nketia, that Justice Torkornoo and the Electoral Commission Chair must be removed at all cost during the 2024 campaign, this removal clearly fits into the NDC’s broader plan to weaken state institutions and run the country as a gangster town,” he alleged.
He concluded by calling on traditional authorities, the clergy, civil society, and the media to rise in defence of democracy and denounce what he described as a “judicial coup.
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