Several few years ago, the Electoral Commissioner Charlotte Osei was removed by President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo under conditions that many still believe today undermined the independence of the Electoral Commission.
Fast forward about eight years, the current President, John Dramani Mahama, has had occasion to remove the Chief Justice, Gertrude Araba Torkornoo from office.
Many view the two cases as eerily similar, and both as politically motivated.
Additionally, both situations have the very real effect of undermining independence of the institutions they headed.
At the time that Charlotte Osei was removed, many described the act as political and immature, and the latest decision is criticized for the same reasons.
It must be noted that the framers of the 1992 Constitution went to extreme lengths to ensure that people placed in certain positions have security of tenure and protection from strong men with weak conscience. It was to guide against arbitrariness and politicization of institutions that must be necessarily independent.
Unfortunately, it seems that the very real obstacles that the framers of the 1992 Constitution put in place to protect certain key positions, have been unable to withstand the obstinacy of strong men, strong arm tactics, and weak-willed place servers; the latter of which must be necessary for the strong men to engage in their wrongful conducts.
It is the belief that the removal of Torkornoo, just as the removal of Gertrude Osei, is a sign of our national lack of maturity. We are marking time, instead of growing into our true potential.
It is doubtful that we would find any other nation on the planet earth which has, within the space of ten years, found spurious reasons to get rid of the Electoral Commissioner and the Chief Justice.
And unfortunately, with our penchant for electing men like Nana Akufo-Addo and John Mahama, we are unlikely to see an end to the phenomenon.
We are disgracing ourselves, and the sooner we realize that these antics only paint us as a ‘Banana Republic’, the better.
(Editorial of the Daily Searchlight of 3rd September, 2025)
