Gideon Tettey TettehGideon Tettey Tetteh, a lawyer and the Regional Director for Conflict Resolution of the National Democratic Congress (NDC), has accused the Ghana Bar Association (GBA) of turning into an appendage of the New Patriotic Party (NPP).
This follows the GBA’s defence of the suspended Chief Justice of the Republic, Her Ladyship Gertrude Esaaba Torkornoo.
According to him, the GBA’s posture, alongside the NPP, proves that the association is no longer acting in the interest of Ghana’s legal profession but rather doing the bidding of a political party.
“The GBA is now becoming a wing of the NPP,” he said in an interview on Accra-based JoyPrime’s Prime Morning show on Wednesday, April 30.
He added, “What at all is in this Mrs. Torkornoo that everybody, especially the NPP and the GBA, are up in arms fighting against her removal? The posture of the Ghana Bar Association is even more reason why the Chief Justice has to be removed—so that we shall see what they can do.”
Justice Gertrude Torkornoo was suspended by President John Dramani Mahama on Tuesday, April 22, after a prima facie case was established against her through petitions submitted and consultations held with the Council of State.
The suspension has sparked protests from opposition political parties, with a planned demonstration set for May 5, describing the move as unconstitutional and a blow to judicial independence.
The GBA also passed a resolution at its mid-year conference on April 26, urging the President to rescind the suspension and threatening legal action if he fails to comply.
In his reaction, the lawyer said, “Inasmuch as I have said that I’m a member of the association, I’m telling you on this platform that I dissociate myself from this particular purposeless resolution, because this is not valid in law.”
“This is an act of lawlessness. And any lawyer who believes in the well-being of lawyers and the progress of the judiciary will not support this,” he added.
