Chairman of the Constitutional and Legal Committee of the New Patriotic Party (NPP), Frank Davies, has defended comments made by Minority Leader Alexander Afenyo-Markin, who recently urged judges and the Ghana Bar Association (GBA) to resist any attempts to remove Chief Justice Gertrude Torkornoo, describing the call as a “good one.”
This follows Afenyo-Markin’s appeal for Ghana’s judges to stand united and push back against what he described as politically motivated efforts to oust the Chief Justice from office.
The Efutu MP also warned that recent developments suggest an attempt by the opposition National Democratic Congress (NDC) to politicise the judiciary.
Speaking on JoyNews’ Newsfile on Saturday, April 19, Mr. Davies stressed that Afenyo-Markin’s remarks were not partisan but rather a patriotic call aimed at preserving the integrity of the judiciary.
“Let us put the issues in context. If you listen carefully to Afenyo-Markin, he was making a national appeal that we should safeguard the Office of the Chief Justice,” Davies explained.
“You might not like Afenyo-Markin for other reasons,” he added, “but on this occasion, I don’t think he said anything untoward. That was the right platform for him to speak, especially as it was during an official NPP event.”
Mr. Davies also dismissed claims by former Tamale Central MP, Inusah Fuseini, who had accused the NPP of politicising the matter. According to Davies, such criticism was misplaced and lacked context.
“He’s saying that we [NPP] have politicised the issue. I totally disagree with him. The loud noises started coming from NDC political actors. Even before this Chief Justice removal process officially began, it was already being speculated all over that there was an agenda to remove the Chief Justice,” Davies argued.
He therefore called on all stakeholders to protect the office of the Chief Justice and avoid politicising the matter, especially at a time when judicial independence must be jealously guarded.