CJ Removal Demo: Rather protest to expedite constitutional review – Obuor

An astute legal practitioner, Augustine Obuor, has backed calls for constitutional review, stating that the current constitution is riddled with a lot of loopholes that ought to be addressed.

Speaking to the brouhaha surrounding the process for the removal of the Chief Justice, Gertrude Torkornoo, on Okay FM on May, 5, 2025, he stated that President John Dramani Mahama acted within his constitutional right by suspending the Chief Justice.

“Article 146 is simple. It expressly states how a Chief Justice should be removed and the president followed the process religiously. So, there’s no ambiguity about it,” he argued.

He added that instead of going on protests against the suspension and subsequent removal of the Chief Justice, people should rather be considering a protest to expedite the review of the 1992 Constitution.

“If the constitution is not good, change it. Per the 1992 Constitution, it is easier to remove a Chief Justice than even removing a High Court Judge. The discretionary power it gives people with authority is so much that I don’t like it,” he said.

Citing the case of the late Justice Charles Quist, he explained that because the constitution establishes that if a judge is incapacitated, it is enough grounds to suspend him or her from office, he was suspended.

“I have followed a number of cases on this Article 146 in the past. I was the counsel for the late Justice Quist. When he had stroke, he was suspended with the same provision and no argument could reverse it.

“So, the hue and cry over the suspension and ensuing processes to remove the Chief Justice will go nowhere. If the opponents of this action want to make a headway, the remedy would be a constitutional review,” he added.

He also added that; “At this point, even if a review is successful, the law will only take retrospective effect. So, by then this CJ would have been removed.”

VPO/AE

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