The National Democratic Congress (NDC) led Government is rolling out a pre-mediated agenda to colonize the Judiciary and as part of that plot, has deliberately politicized the processes for the removal of Chief Justice Torkonoo from office, the immediate past Attorney-General and Minister of Justice, Godfred Dame, has alleged.
“I construe all that has been happening as a very calculated effort on the part of the NDC government to attack the independence of the Judiciary and shred it to the manner that they desire”, Godfred Dame noted on Wednesday night during an interview with Joy News.
One of the reasons, Dame cited to back his claim was to say that lawyers selected to represent the petitioners seeking the removal of the Chief Justice are politically exposed and notoriously pro-NDC.
On Thursday May 15, 2025, when the Committee established to probe the petition seeking the removal of the Chief Justice had its debut meeting, Mr. Tsatsu Tsikata and Mr. Thadeus Sory introduced themselves as lawyers for Shining Stars of Ghana, one of the petitioners.
Mr. Oliver Barker-Vormawor also announced that he is lawyer for another petitioner by name, Daniel Ofori while Assistant Commissioner of Police (ACP) Ayamga Yakubu Akolgo Esq, also a petitioner, represented himself.
Godfred Dame explained his reservations about Tsatsu Tsikata, Thadeus Sory, and Barker-Vormawor representing the pepitioners:
“If there is any group of people that have politicized this process, it is the NDC government. Look at the band of lawyers representing the petitioners – Mr. Tsatsu Tsikata, Mr. Thadeus Sory- a lawyer who has gone on record as representing all NDC figures for the past 8 years and who is very much associated with the NDC, and Oliver Barker-Vormawor – a young man who recently rose to popularity on accounts of all kinds of attacks against the NPP government and who very much has been associated with the NDC and worked with President Mahama in his office and all that.
“These are people who are prosecuting the Chief Justice and I feel that it is about time good men in this country stood for what is righteous and what is right”, Godfred Dame stated.
The former Attorney-General disagreed with comments that his decision to be lawyer for the suspended Chief Justice in the matter before the Supreme Court puts him in a conflict of interest position.
Dame explained there is nothing unusual about his decision to represent the suspended Chief Justice because he has over the years demonstrated his principled-commitment to defending the independence of the Judiciary and his current role is not about Justice Torkonoo as a person but rather about protecting the sanctity and independence of the Judiciary as a whole:
“As far as I am concerned, if there is any Attorney-General who right from his appointment has stood up for the Judiciary and has put in a defense for the Judiciary and spoken against attacks on it, it is myself.
“It is totally erroneous and must be corrected. It is about time that the proper thing is stood for in this country and we cannot let people misled the public and then let it go uncorrected.
“I am making a point that indeed the action I have taken is consistent with all actions I have taken right from the first day I was appointed as Attorney-General.
“I remember my inaugural speech at the Ghana Bar Association in 2021 at Bolgatanga, a very significant part of it was devoted to protection of the independence of the Judiciary and to ensure that attacks on the independence of the Judiciary as we are witnessing now do not occur.
“Indeed, what I am doing now is very much in-tune and consistent with all I have stood for all my life. The point I am making is that this is not about Justice Torkornoo but ensuring that these unwarranted attacks on the independence of the Judiciary is cut off.
“I construe all that has been happening as a very calculated effort on the part of the NDC government to attack the independent of the Judiciary and shred it to the manner that they desire”, Godfred Dame added.
