Legal practitioner Bobby Banson has called for urgent legislative reforms to protect the integrity of the judiciary amid mounting political tensions over the potential removal of the Chief Justice, Gertrude Torkornoo.
Speaking on JoyNews’ Newsfile on Saturday, April 19, Mr. Banson expressed concern that the current process was being turned into a political “ping pong” between the country’s two dominant political parties—the New Patriotic Party (NPP) and the National Democratic Congress (NDC).
“I think that this whole issue with the current Chief Justice, as Dr. Pumpuni said, should lead to legislative reforms for me,” Banson stated. “Otherwise, it will become a political ping pong of NDC-NPP, and at the end of the day, the institution itself is what will be bastardized.”
He warned that the increasing polarisation of the country along political lines threatens the independence and public confidence in the judiciary.
According to him, without legal reforms to clarify and protect the processes for handling judicial misconduct allegations, the system could be repeatedly abused for political gain.
Meanwhile, the Director of Legal Affairs for the New Patriotic Party (NPP), Frank Davies, has expressed deep concern over what he describes as the politicization of ongoing processes related to the potential removal of Chief Justice.
Speaking on Newsfile, Mr. Davies cautioned that while Ghana’s constitution makes provisions for the removal of a Chief Justice, the manner in which the issue is being handled risks undermining the country’s legal framework and democratic stability.
According to him, it is not the idea of removing a Chief Justice that is inherently problematic, but rather how the process is approached and presented to the public.
“It’s not the removal, per se, of a Chief Justice which is the problem,” he said.
“It is a constitutional structure where it is founded. So, if that is being exercised by citizens of this country, and there’s a valid basis for the removal of a Chief Justice, it should not be too much.”
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