Torkonoo’s removal: ‘Afenyo-Markin is using Minority to fight for his personal interest’ — Lawyer Sory

Ghanaian legal practitioner, Lawyer Thaddeus Sory, has criticised Minority Leader Alexander Afenyo-Markin’s opposition to the removal of former Chief Justice Gertrude Esaaba Torkonoo.

The Effutu lawmaker has described the removal as unfair, unconstitutional, and an attempt to infringe on the principle of judicial independence.

During the vetting of new Chief Justice Paul Baffoe-Bonnie, Afenyo-Markin led the Minority Caucus to boycott the proceedings, describing the nominee as disputed.

However, speaking in a yet-to-be aired interview with KSM, Lawyer Sory said the Minority Leader’s actions stem from his alleged personal relationship with the former Chief Justice.

He also cited how the Chief Justice constituted a panel to hear Afenyo-Markin’s case against vacant seats in 2024, as well as allegations that the lawmaker has benefited financially from services linked to the judicial service.

“The Minority Leader was one of the reasons why I, or my client, petitioned for the removal of the Chief Justice. He had set a precedent, in fact a record in the court, by being the only person who, within two hours, was able to get a full panel of the Supreme Court, presided over by the Chief Justice, to give him orders that, by the scope of the application before the court, no court in the world within the common law jurisdiction would have granted,” Sory said.

“They removed the Chief Justice’s sister. They come from the same family. When her father died, the Minority Leader hosted her visitors, and people who were there called me. There is now information suggesting that services are being rendered in the judicial service linked to Afenyo-Markin, from which he is earning commercial profits,” he added.

Sory further continued, “He convinced his colleagues that they all had to take a collective position against this, but it is actually a matter of personal interest. He is crying louder than everyone else because he has a personal stake in the woman being there.”