By Akyeampong Duodu
Ghanaians have been calling for a review of the 1992 Fourth Republican Constitution, citing the excessive powers vested in the President. President John Dramani Mahama joined this call, promising to form a constitutional review committee if elected in 2024. True to his word, he established the Prof. H. Kwasi Prempeh-led 2025 Constitutional Review Committee after winning the elections.
Given that the committee is expected, among other things, to address excessive presidential powers in the Constitution, one would expect President Mahama to exercise restraint in wielding such powers. However, he has done the opposite.
Article 146
The decision to trigger Article 146 against the suspended Chief Justice, Her Ladyship Gertrude Torkornoo, raises concerns about the President’s intentions. This move exposes him as a hypocrite, especially considering his commitment to reviewing such articles in the Constitution.
The committee set up to handle the petitions against the embattled CJ has also been reported to be exploiting Article 146, treating her in a degrading manner. The CJ revealed that the committee’s actions at the probe constituted “a complete desecration of my basic constitutional rights to a fair trial, a violation of my dignity, and subjection to inhuman and degrading treatment.”
She cited the committee’s refusal to recognize her legal counsel, denial of access to electronic gadgets despite granting the same privileges to her accusers and the choice of a high-security zone as the venue, which she argued was intimidating.
Due to these concerns, she went to court to seek an interlocutory injunction to halt the process. Again in court, the controversial Article 146 was invoked against her, as the Deputy Attorney General, Justice Srem Sai, argued that the said article bars her from making the impeachment process public. Based on this argument, her plea suffered a unanimous rejection. It is worth noting, however, that neither Justice Torkornoo nor her sympathisers subjected the justices who sat on her case to name-calling, as President Mahama and his cohorts did in the 2020 election petition case.
Hypocrisy
President Mahama’s hypocrisy is best expressed in how he exercised Article 146(10)(a) in this matter. This provision leaves the suspension of the CJ to the discretion of the President when a petition has been referred to a committee under the article.
Article 146(10)(a) reads: “Where a petition has been referred to a committee, the President—may in the case of the Chief Justice, acting in accordance with the advice of the Council of State, by warrant signed by him, suspend the Chief Justice.”
The use of the term “may” in this clause shows that the President could have chosen to allow the CJ to remain in office while the committee did its work. By doing so, President Mahama would have proven that he is sincere about the formation of the 2025 Constitutional Review Committee, which is most likely to deal with contentious provisions like Article 146.
Narrative
It is clear from the above narrative that President Mahama, the Council of State, the Attorney General’s Department, and the committee probing the CJ have all exploited Article 146 to serve the President’s interests.
This, therefore, renders the formation of the 2025 Constitutional Review Committee a mere act of hypocrisy—an effort seemingly geared towards playing on the minds and passions of unsuspecting citizens.
The author is a member of the New Patriotic Party (NPP) in the Awutu Senya West Constituency.
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