Minority Leader Alexander Afenyo-Markin isn’t holding back—and this time, his fire is aimed at what he sees as creeping political pressure on the judiciary.
Speaking just after the NPP’s National Executive Committee meeting on April 16, the Efutu MP called on judges across Ghana to hold the line and resist what he describes as a “coordinated move” by the current NDC government to oust Chief Justice Gertrude Torkornoo.
“The judiciary isn’t supposed to be a tool in the political game,” Afenyo-Markin said at a press briefing. “What’s happening now is dangerous—it’s clearly an attempt to turn the courts into a partisan playground.”
His bold call comes in the heat of a legal standoff.
President John Mahama’s government has initiated a process that critics fear could boot the Chief Justice out under what Afenyo-Markin calls “questionable” terms.
The situation is so tense, it’s already landed in the Supreme Court—but a scheduled hearing hit a bump after one of the five justices failed to show up.
The case now continues on May 6. In the meantime, Afenyo-Markin is pushing hard for the Ghana Bar Association to drop its silence and join the chorus defending judicial independence.
