I hoped against hope — Elizabeth Ohene says Mahama’s CJ removal marks dangerous political shift

Veteran journalist Elizabeth Ohene has accused President John Mahama and the governing National Democratic Congress (NDC) of undermining Ghana’s democracy by removing Chief Justice Gertrude Torkornoo.

“I had been hoping against hope that President Mahama would not want to go down in history as a President that removed a Chief Justice,” she said.

Ohene recalled that during the 2024 campaign, several NDC leaders openly declared they would remove the Chief Justice if elected — but she refused to believe they would follow through.

“Even though members of the governing party had said over and over before the elections that they would remove the Chief Justice if they won, I did not want to believe they would.”

She contrasted President Mahama’s approach with that of the late President John Evans Atta Mills, who faced a similar situation in 2008 when petitions were filed against then-CJ Georgina Wood.

“President Mills invited her to his office and gave her the two petitions. After reading them, she reportedly said she was happy to be investigated but asked that the hearings be done in public at Black Star Square so the whole country could follow. President Mills did not pursue removing her.”

But for Ohene, President Mahama’s “Supreme Leader” status — with control over Parliament, the Executive, and significant judicial influence — has emboldened decisions like this.

“President Mills was nothing like his then Vice President, the current President, John Mahama. Maybe the fact that President Mills became president on a razor-thin majority, whereas President Mahama now rules as a Supreme Leader, had something to do with it.”