Deputy Education Minister and Member of Parliament for Builsa South, Dr Clement Abas Apaak, has accused the Ghana Bar Association (GBA) of doing the bidding of the New Patriotic Party (NPP).
The lawmaker asserted that based on all indications and the Bar’s apparent alignment with the NPP, it should formally register as a wing of the governing party.
“If you ask me, it’s about time the GBA registers formally as a wing of the NPP,” he wrote in a post on X (formerly Twitter) on Wednesday, April 30.
The GBA has come under intense criticism from sections of the public following its call for the revocation of the suspension of Chief Justice Gertrude Torkornoo.
In a five-point resolution issued on Saturday, April 26, at its 2025 mid-year conference held at the Labadi Beach Hotel in Accra, the association addressed several national and professional concerns.
These included the Chief Justice’s suspension, the protracted Bawku conflict, and the unresolved parliamentary election in Ablekuma North.
It argued that the President’s action in suspending the Chief Justice was unlawful, stressing that the President, not being a judicial officer, lacks the constitutional mandate to exercise such discretion without a clearly established regulatory framework.
“The Ghana Bar Association calls for the immediate revocation of the suspension of the Chief Justice… in the absence of a published Constitutional Instrument, Statutory Instrument or Regulation(s) governing the exercise of his said discretion as required by Article 296 of the 1992 Constitution,” the statement said in part.
The Bar has threatened legal action should the President refuse to reinstate the Chief Justice.
However, critics say the Bar remained silent on several critical issues in the country — including matters involving the judiciary — under the NPP government, but has suddenly found its voice now that the NDC is in office.
