Private legal practitioner, Oliver Barker-Vormawor, has reacted to the dismissal of Justice Gertrude Torkonoo from office as the Chief Justice of the Republic of Ghana.
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In a Facebook post, the activist “A chief justice has been removed. But as someone with a front row seat through the process, hear me clearly, when I say there is nothing to celebrate here.”
According to him, “The removal of the Chief Justice is not a victory, but the closing act of a disappointing chapter. Araba held the highest seat of justice at a time when courage and integrity were desperately needed, yet too often her “leadership” chose silence when the people cried out for answers. She enabled mampam’s [former President Akufo-Addo] worst impulses and chose the convenience of power.”
Instead of standing as the guardian of our Constitution, she presided over a judiciary that slipped further into mistrust and estrangement”
Lawyer Vormawor seized the occasion to commend members of the investigative committee for standing firm despite pressures and deliberate misinformation about the process.
“In the midst of this, it is important that we commend the committee of her peers who, in the face of pressure and deliberate misinformation, chose duty over expedience. I am certain that their recommendation was not an easy call, but their restraint and quiet stoicism preserved the dignity of the process, despite Araba’s own best efforts to ensure the opposite.”
Read his full post:
Let’s Talk Araba
1. A chief justice has been removed. But as someone with a front row seat through the process, hear me clearly, when i say there is nothing to celebrate here.
2. The removal of the Chief Justice is not a victory, but the closing act of a disappointing chapter. Araba held the highest seat of justice at a time when courage and integrity were desperately needed, yet too often her “leadership” chose silence when the people cried out for answers. She enabled mampam’s worst impulses and chose the convenience of power.
3. Instead of standing as the guardian of our Constitution, she presided over a judiciary that slipped further into mistrust and estrangement. Fixing and removing judges as political paymasters calls for.
4. It is all the more disappointing because the office she held demanded more. The Chief Justice is meant to be the moral compass of the Republic. Yet her tenure will be remembered for opportunities missed; for moments when the Office could have been a shield for the weak, but too often became a fortress for the regime.
5. In the midst of this, it is important that we commend the committee of her peers who, in the face of pressure and deliberate misinformation, chose duty over expedience. I am certain that their recommendation was not an easy call, but their restraint and quiet stoicism preserved the dignity of the process, despite Araba’s own best efforts to ensure the opposite.
6. Sadly? Araba’s removal is a reminder that leadership without courage corrodes institutions from within. It is my prayer that what has fallen today is not just a person but the lack of confidence in the idea that justice in this Republic can ever be impartial and bold.
7. May we find our path to restoring faith soon to the Judiciary before it is too late. Araba is gone, but her signature and the culture she symbolizes remains stuck on every wall, like dried blood.
8. Our Judiciary is not fit for purpose. Reform it or we will perish.
9. Let us not sweep the cracks under the carpet. I hope the 4th Republic learns from the fate of the 1st.
Salam Aleikum!
