Member of Parliament for Ofoase Ayirebi and Ranking Member of Parliament’s Economy and Development Committee, Kojo Oppong Nkrumah, has described the ongoing process to remove the Chief Justice as political and premeditated.
Speaking on JoyNews’ AM Show on Thursday, May 29, Mr. Oppong Nkrumah asserted that although the Chief Justice would defend herself, the entire process is more political than legal.
“I think for her, she will fight for her rights in the ongoing process. But I think any honest person knows that what is going on is politics and not law,” he said.
He criticised claims that the process falls purely under constitutional provisions such as Articles 146 or 147 of the 1992 Constitution.
“Anybody who says that this is Article 146 or 147 is either complicit in it or is being naive. Everybody knows what is going on is politics,” he argued.
According to the MP, the plan to remove the Chief Justice was deliberate and long-planned.
“This was premeditated, this was preannounced, this was preadvertised,” he said.
He cited public remarks made by now-President John Mahama while in opposition, suggesting that the NDC had plans to reshape the judiciary.
“There are clips of now-President Mahama announcing that they have a plan to appoint more NDC persons onto the benches. He clearly stated they believed the current judiciary was not favourable to them,” he alleged.
Mr. Oppong Nkrumah also accused the then-opposition NDC of persistently attacking the judiciary.
“They bastardised the Chief Justice and the Supreme Court extensively when they were in opposition,” he added.
Recalling the 2020 election petition, the lawmaker, who was part of the New Patriotic Party’s legal team, recounted attempts to discredit the Chief Justice on social media.
“You see all the remarks that are made about her on social media—calling her all sorts of names and trying very hard to link her to the NPP,” he said.
He maintained that the motive behind the current efforts was never hidden.
“The intention was clear from the beginning. If that had not been the case, then people could actually believe that there is an innocuous constitutional process going on,” he said.
In conclusion, Mr. Oppong Nkrumah warned that the legal provisions are being used as a smokescreen to execute a political agenda.
“What is going on is a pre-advertised, pre-orchestrated, pre-planned exercise now using the legal processes as a cover. I don’t think anybody is fooled by that. But what I will say is that the consequences of our actions are ahead of us,” he warned.
Source: Clara Seshie
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