t has become public knowledge that both the Commonwealth Lawyers Association and the Bar Council of England and Wales have called for the immediate reinstatement of the suspended Chief Justice, Gertrude Araba Esaaba Sackey Torkornoo. It should not be lost on the Commonwealth Lawyers Association and the Bar Council of England and Wales that Ghana is a free member of the Commonwealth of Nations and it is no longer a British Colony as the Gold Coast used to be, no colonial master dictatorial tactics will work.
Said differently, Ghana does not necessarily yield to an imposition from a tyrannical monarchical system which prides itself with a parliamentary supremacy as can be seen in the case of Blackburn v Attorney General [1971] 2 All ER 1380 where the British courts upheld parliamentary supremacy over Constitutional supremacy.
Perhaps the Commonwealth Lawyers Association and the Bar Council of England and Wales need to be told in plain language that under Ghana’s democratic dispensation, we practice constitutional supremacy so the Government of Ghana will not yield to pressure from any dictatorial monarchical system that has its leaders thinking that they are still colonial masters over Ghana.
In any case, this is not the first time the appointment or removal of a sitting Chief Justice of Ghana has come up for determination within the legal system of Ghana. The Commonwealth Lawyers Association and the Bar Council of England and Wales may want to meticulously read the locus classicus cases of TUFFUOR V. ATTORNEY-GENERAL [1980] GLR 637—667 and Ghana Bar Association V Attorney-General and Another 1995-96] 1 GLR 598-662 (the Abban case). In both cases, the Supreme Court upheld constitutional supremacy and not parliamentary supremacy that exists in Britain.
It is trite that in April 2025, it was published that Gabby Asare Otchere Darko was appointed the Co-Chair of the Commonwealth Legal Network.
I am aware that the Commonwealth Legal Network (CLN) and the Commonwealth Lawyers Association (CLA) are distinct organizations but both are within the Commonwealth legal landscape, though both play roles in promoting legal cooperation and development. Surprisingly, the CLA is a professional membership organization focused on the rule of law and the legal profession yet this body’s call for reinstatement of Chief Justice Torkonoo is contrary to the known rule of law processes prevailing in Ghana.
It is equally true that Hon. Shirley Ayorkor Botchwey has become the 7th Secretary-General of the Commonwealth of Nations and the first woman from Africa to hold this office. Hon. Shirley Ayorkor Botchwey for the past 8 years had served as the Minister for Foreign Affairs in the Akuffo-Addo Administration. Could it the case that in unison with Hon. Shirley Ayorkor Botchwey, Gabby (an Akyem) is pulling the strings behind the calls by the CLN and the CLA for reinstatement of the suspended CJ Torkonoo.
It is not lost on us the numerous tricks played by the forebears of Gabby Okyere Darko in the trial, sentencing and execution of the eight (8) Akyem murderers pursuant to the 1944 Kibi Ritual Murder in which the 8 people conspired and murdered the Odikro of Apedwa, Nana Akyea Mensah in cold blood. Nana Akyea Mensah was murdered in 1944 for the werempe custom necessary to blacken the stool of Nana Sir Ofori Atta I who died in 1943.
The likes of JB Danquah and Edward Akuffo -Addo frustrated the judicial processes at the time in favour of the 8 ritual murderers who committed the homicidal crime within the courtyard of Okyehene’s palace during the reign of Nana Ofori II. It would be recalled that JB Danquah who was credited as the doyen of African politics led a delegation to the British Parliament and successfully lobbied the British MPs to solidarize with the Akyems against the British colonial government of the Gold Coast at the time and even called for the removal of the then Governor of the Gold Coast, Sir Alan Cuthbert Maxwell Burns.
But for the swift intervention of the then Asantene, Otumfuo Osei Tutu Agyeman Prempeh II, the British Monarch would have removed Governor Alan Burns from office in the Gold Coast and also prevented the Odikro murderers from receiving the death penalty given them in accordance with law.
It would therefore not be surprising that Garby Otchere Darko, an Akyem who is also the Co-Chair of the Commonwealth Legal Network might be the one behind the calls from the Commonwealth Legal Network (CLN) and the Commonwealth Lawyers Association (CLA) that the suspended CJ Torkonoo should be reinstated without recourse to rule of law and due process under the Constitution, 1992. If this is true, the CLN and the CLA are too renowned to be used as mere rubber stamps in this regard.
Anyway, in his book, “The Gods Are Not To Blame”, Ola Rotimi asked the following rhetorical questions that:
1. When rain falls on the leopard, does it wash off its spots? Suffice it to say that Gabby may be following the footsteps of J.B. Danquah in lobbing the British to intervene Ghana’s internal affairs.
2. When crocodiles eat their own eggs, what would they not do to the flesh of the frog? If an Akyem chief could be killed for rituals to blacken the stool of a deceased chief in a werempe custom, what else can’t a mafia from that stalk not do?
One may also ask that if the forebears of Garby could kill a chief for rituals called werempe custom just to bury Nana Sir Ofori Atta I who died suddenly at Korle Bu Teaching Hospital in 1943, then lobbying the British Government today to compel the Mahama Administration to thwart the ongoing CJ removal process is just something trivial for Garby, another Akyem to do.
Advisedly, the Government of Ghana should remain resolute and ignore the demands from Commonwealth Legal Network (CLN) and the Commonwealth Lawyers Association (CLA because the law is the law. I admire our current Attorney General’s tenacity and his swift response to those who are behind the calls for reinstatement of the suspended CJ. Truncating the ongoing CJ removal process will be sinful to the Constitution, 1992. ~Asante Sana~
Philip Afeti Korto
Hospital Administrator
[email protected]
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Away with neo-Colonialism and Imperialism. We are capable of running our own affairs against the background of Freedom and Justice. Forward Ever, Backward Never. Nkrumah Never Dies.